The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1908-01-20
~suTLKR's POWDER SHIP"
chrI.,mas Gun in ,,sA".

[Copied from Tales and Trs=
dilions of the Lower Cape Fear"
and sent to The Robesouian wish
the request to publish.
In the course of his admirable
address TO 8, ZOO ex-union soldiers
at Steinway Hall, New York City,
on May 8, 1875, our silver-tongued
orator of the Cape Fear, Colonel
Alfred N. Waddell, said:
while it may be difficult to
determine in~what engagement
f the war the severest concen- |
trated ire Of small arms occur
ed, there can be no doubt az TO |
the place where the power OF
heavy artillery was exhibited in
it's most terrific form. The
bonn bardment of Fort Fisher was
by far the most frightful that has
ever happened Size the invention
of gun powder. All the testi-
mony taken before the commit
tee on the conduct of the war
goes to establish this fact; bat in
addition to this, and to the uni
versal admission Oh the Confed
crate side, there was still strong
er evidence which was given in
my presence the day after the
capture of the fort, by a compe
tent and DISTINGUISHED witness.
The siege Of Sebastopal is admit
ted to have been the greatest
bombardment in history up to
that time.' An English officer,
however, who had run the block
| ade, and who was present a. Fort
Fisher under an assumed name.
was giving an account OF it after
his escape, and, as preliminary
to his remarks, said that he had
been at Sebastopal and thought
there could never be aything like
it again. But said he, '6ebasto-
pal was the merest child's play
compared to what l have witness
ed in the last two days. 1t was
simply inconceivable and indie
scribable in its awful grandeur.
I had no conception sill now Of
what an artillery FIRE 'csdld be. ,
You remem Der. perhaps, that
there was no cessation for more
than forty eight hours, and there
we're, besides the other pPojec-
tiles, as many as twenty-five IL
inch shells in the air at the same
/ instant throughout the whole
time. Fifty thousand shells
we're expended by the heet. Dur
ing the continuance Of the FIRE ID
would have been impossible for
any living thing 10 remain on the
parapets which faced the sea for
q mile, and wheh the assaultinR
> column was formed there was,
along that whole front, bat single
gun remaining, and that could only
be fed once before the fort was
reached, and that long, desper'
ate hand to- hand fight began. A
month before this the celebrated
=. poWder-ship explosion occurred
which vas intended TO blow dow
this solid earthwork. a mile il
extent, with forty feet traverse
every few yards. The best in
cident of this huge joke was re
> lated to me by q distin guishe'
> officer of the navy several year
= ago. The night after the explc
sion of the powder-ship some @
! our pickets on the beach wer'
captured and carried on boar
the Admiral's ship. Anon
. them was a very solemn-lookint
: fellow, who sat silently and sadl
= chewing tobacco. AS there va
= intense curiosity among the Of
ficers of the feet to know the RI
= suit of the remarkable exper
!. ment, one of them asked the so
20 20 emn locking 'Reb' il he was j
= = the fort when the powder-shi
= exploded; to which he replied j
- the affirmative, but without e.
:. hibiting the least interest in Ii
,. matter; whereupon the oficel
, ga thered around him and begs
10 Ito ask questions:
q You say you we're inside Il
" ~ fort?"
=, Yes; / was thar p"
''o What was the effect of the e
plosion?"
At Mighty bad, sir-poWsrf
=. bad" .-
~ Well, what was it? Did
=, kill any rebels, or throw dow
20 any Of the Wor ks7"
" No, sir; hit didn't do that. :"
~ well, what did it do? Spe'
10 out"
ID Way, stranger, hit walked I
in pretty nigh every nan in 81
= foTt"
John What kind Of tea do y
! like best1'' PrisciIla-"6o-teG