The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-26

burg and attack the city from the rear He had about 3O.00o men and strong artillery in addition to Admira Porter's hotilla of gunboats.
 At about s:45 o'clock on the night before Christmas Operator Daniel and Major E. c. Earnhart were playing 'old sledge" in their little shanty look out station near the river. A small negro girl who lived on the plantation rushed Into the shack, crying:
 'Marse 'Arnhart. yo' an Marse Dan- iel better come out hyahl An heahs boat a-comin'."
 Come. now. Artie." said the major. shufiiing the cards; you must be
 No sah. An heahs 1t say choo-choo- pat-pat-pat!''
 By this the girl meant the sounds of the steam escape and the paddle wheels. Earnhart and Daniel went out stde and listened intently, The major carried in his mouth the stem of big meerschaum pipe. which he was puff ing placidly. The placidity evanesced. however. when presently there came to the ears of the two Confederates the "choo-choo- -pat-pat-pat" which had been caught by the keen ears of little Artie. The men had not heard that sound for mouths. They ran to the bank of the river and peered far up- stream in the darkness. They watched. and in a short time their eyes be- held coming around bend in the river two miles about the huge black hulk of 6 steam vessel.
 "Gunboat!" said Daniel in a whis- per. at the same instant snatching the meerschaum from the majors mouth. Some sparks were flying from the pipe. Daniel extinguished the fire un- der cover.
 The men stood still, watching. Short iy the black monster was abreast of them. her engines puffing, her paddle wheels batting the water rhymthicaily with each downward chug. Back of the first black monster was another and another and yet another. Seven gunboats the men counted, and vessels were coming around the bend seeming ly without end. .Fifty-nine trans ports loaded with Uncle sam's blue coats they counted. Satisfied at last that there were no more vessels in the fleet. Daniel leaped to the back of the little bay mare he kept close by and dashed for the telegraph station three miles back in the wood. His dear old home, Vicksburg. was in imminent per- fl. It was just after midnight when he reached his instrument.
 T was simply frantic" he said many years later. It took less than half . minute to call up Fall, who was right on his job but 1t seemed hours to me before he responded 'Golly, old fellow, whats up? was Falls greeting" Operators show nervousness on the wire, just as men do speaking orally. Fall knew that Daniel had something startling to tell. The man in the woods swiftly ticked of his news:
 "River lined with gunboats and transports-almost a hundred-just passed my lookout-counted seven gun boats and ffty-nine transports chock full of men"
 God bless you. Lee! Goodby. We may never meet again" answered Fall, who made dash for his skin. The night was dark. cloudy, cold and drizzly. The sharp wind tossed the Mississippi's surface into angry whitecaps. The frail craft which Fall was pulling across. right in front of those terrible batteries trained down on the stream. rocked frightfully on the tumultuous current, Fall feared that his red light would go out. That meant that his own side would anni- hilate him with cannon shot before 1 he could reach the eastern bank. He did reach there safely and broke up the ball, as related. Up at his end of the line Daniel shortly tried the wire again but found no battery. Later he learned that the huge fo- tila had landed men at several points below and cut down the poles and chopped the wires for mile.