Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1910-02-01
new AMMUNITION,
By MILTON W. TowNE.

| a. 1AteE tue close OF
me american civil war small Zee, !,
United States wooden men-of.war was
sihg ~ anchor In the harbor az char.
Dourg. II was gala day for 49,
IN III, then emperor Of France. ana
.us Empress Eugene were IN cher.
oufg ana had accepted an inyitatIon
rom the admiral to visit his aagsh,,,
nut DeIore doing so the imperial com
pie inspected a French man-of-war
NOW, It SO happened that 4 mess cool
on board the French shin. the Esnar.
ance' was wholly unmindful Of the
Important ceremony that was about ~
laAe place. Indeed. his captain had
NOT considered 1t necessary to inform
hlm. 1t would have been better haa
ne done 80. His failure resulted n !
oitter feeling between the crews Of the
Esperance and the fagshin az ths
American admiral.
NOT knowing that the emperor ana
empress were about to come aboard
the Esperance, Francois, a little bit ~
sawed on Frenchman, with A tinv
goatee and mustache to match was
cleaning knives, forks and spoons on
the gun deck. ~
But, suddenly looking up, he saw
Lieutenant Du Bots coming from the
other end of the vessel. Francois
knew by the bells that struck AZ the
time that the lieutenant was going Off
DUTY and would go, as was his custom.
70 MS cabin for change of uniform
40 reach his cabin he would be obliged
70 pass the point where the cook sat
securing. Francois. not caring to in
cur an officers displeasure for per-
forming his mental duty on deck. bur-
riediy threw the table articles into n
mess pot, stepped to the muzzle OF
ten inch gun, took out the hampton
the wooden plug kept in the mouths Of
cannon when not in use-thrust in the
mess kit and put the hampton back in
It's place. When the lieutenant came
BY Francois was standing respectfully
at attention.
Francois" said the officer. bring
some biscuits and a glass of wine TO
my cabin"
Yes, Monsieur lie Lieutenant"
well, hurry. have but little time
before the ceremony takes place"
At the word ceremony Francois took
fright. Ceremony meant salutes. He
did not wish to leave the mess kit in
the gun for fear the latter would be
required for saluting purposes and the
kit would be lost But the lieutenant
glared at him. and he dare not delay.
He went below, carried the biscuit to
Lieutenant Du Bots cabin and was
about to hurry back on deck when
another officer, seeing him go by his
open door, directed him to bring him
glass of wine. Aud so it was that
the little cook was kept hurrying to do
the bidding of one person after an
other till something happened.
The officer of the deck, seeing
crowd gathering at the dock, raised his
glasses and, after a moments inspec-
ton, cried out, THE emperor is com
ing" In a few minutes a barge left
the dock. and poor Francois, still run
ming about below, heard the guns
above begin to boom in salute.
Now, it happened that several petty
officers, including Pat DOnagan, on
board the American admlrals flag
ship. had secured permission to bring
aboard their sweethearts-at least their
vice sweethearts-and the party were
enjoying themselves. when suddenly
the air filed with flying knives. forks
and spoons. In another moment they
heard the boom Of a gun. A fork
stuck In a girls cheek, knife cut
of mans nose. and Pat Donagan re-
ceived an injury which cost him an eye.
All knew that the Esperance In salut-
ing the emperor and empress had ae-
cidentally fired volley Of tableware
at the American flagship. Pat Dona-
gan, who was gunner, mad with
pain and the indignity Of being
wounded with butter knife, swore he
would have revenge.
1t was late in the afternoon when
the emperors barge was seen APP
preaching the flagship. DOnagan was
in the saluting squad. The surgeon
had ordered him to remain In his bunk,
with his eye bandaged, but Pat had es-
capped and took position at his gun.
which pointed toward the Esperance.
Pat trained it on the galley Of that
ship and waited. He purposely forgot
something. the hampton. which he left
in the muzzle of his gun.
Presently the emperor's barge was
seen heading toward the flagship
Guns began to boom from the sides;
bands played; the yards were manned.
When it came Pat DOnegan's turn TO
fire his gun the report was a few mo-
ments late. He was taking a sure
aim. Presently he fired, and hampton
went dying into tie waters Of the
harbor
The imperial visit was a short one.
the hour being late. The imperial
couple departed amid a similar cere-
mony that had attended their arrival.
They had been gone but a few minutes
when through the smoke that hung
over the water group Of officers
standing on the quarterback diseoV-