Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-04-11

ted row. From war time photograph.
elevation. a very little, and the battery
would have bene smashed so thought
/ the sergeants, for they had great faith
4 in the power CT their gun; and they
determined TO try a second shot The
gun was reloaded, feat of some diff
! Guilty for two men, but to run it in
/ battery" was beyond their powers. IT
/ required the united efforts of six men
/ to throw the carriage lin gear" and
\ the two sergeants could not bulge it,
\ Things were getting desperate around
them. The secessionists had noticed the
I first shot, and had now turned every gun
that would bear on that ten-iueh gun.
They were just getting the range, and 1t
/ was beginning to be uncomfortable for the
! sergeants who in a fit Of desperation de-
ternined to fire the gun "as she was.
The elevating screw was given half a turn
less elevation. and the primer was insert
ed in the vent. Thso enc of the sergeants
ran down the spiral stairs to see If the
coast were clear, leaving his comrade in
| very uncomfortable position at the end
of the lanyard and lying nat on the floor
! 1t was getting hotter up :nere every
second, and perfect hurricane OF shot
was sweeping over tie PROSTATE soldier
! Human nature could stand ii no longer.
The lanyard was pulled and the gun was
| fired.
The other sergeant was fastening up
! the stairway, and had almost reached the
\ top, when he met the gun coming down,
or at least trying TO- Having been fired
from battery" it had recoiled over the
counter-hurters. and, turning back SOM
I ersault, had landed across the head of
the stairway,
/ Realizing in moment what had hap
( pened and what would be 70 pay if they
were found out, the second sergeant crep,
to the,head Of the stairway and called his
comrade who, scared almost to DEATH
not at the danger he was in, but at the
accideut-was still hugging the floor with
the lanyard i'm his hand. Both got safely
down, swearing eternal secrecy to each
other; and it is doubtful If Major An
derson ever knew how that ten-inch gun
came to be dismounted.
THE GARRISON THREATENED WITH
FIERY DEATH.
The second days bombardment began
! as the same hour as did the first, that is,
on the Sumter side. The enemy's NOR
tars had kept up a very slow fire all
night, which gradually warmed up afteI
daylight as their batteries seemed to
/ awaken, until its vigor was about equal
to their fire of the day before. The fee.
was still off the bar-perhaps waiting t.
\ see the end.
I Fire broke out once or twice in the
officers quarters, and was extinguished
/ 1t broke out again in several places at
once and we realized the truth and let
\ the quarters burn. They were firing
red-hot shot. This was about O'Clock.
\ AS soon as Sumter was noticed to be
on fire the secessionists increased the
I . hot 10 q m vi
| In the perfect storm of shot and shell
/ that beat upon us from all sides the
\ flagstaff was shot down, but the old
! flag was rescued and nailed to new
staff
The scene inside the fort as the fire
gained Roadway and threatened the
magazine was an exciting one. 1t had
already reached some of our stores Of
loaded shells and shell-grenades. These
must be saved at all hazard Soldiers
brought their blankets and covered the
precious projectiles, and thus the most
of them were saved.
But the magazine itself was in dan
ger. Already it was full of smoke, and
the flames were rapidly closing in upon
it. It was evident that 1t must be
closed. and IT would be many hours be-
fore it could be opened again. During
these hours the fire. must be maintained
with such powder as we could secure
outside the magazine. A number Of
| barrels were rolled out for this pur-
pose. and the magazine door-already al
most too hot to handle-was closed.
/ 1t was the intention to store the
powder taken from the magazine in
/ several safe corners. covering it with
damp soldiers blankets. But safe cor
ners were hard to find, and most of the
/ blankets were already in use covering
! loaded shells The fire was raging
more fiercely than ever and safety de-
manded that the uncovered powder be
\ thrown overheard This was instantly
done, but the tide was low, and the
pile of powder-barrels rested on the
riprapping in front of the embrasure,
some shell guns were turned upon the
pile. producing an explosion which
blew the gun at that embrasure clear
out of the battery, but did no further
damage.
The fire had now enveloped the mag
azne and the. danger of an explosion
was imminent. Powder had been car
ried out all the previous day, and it
was more than likely that enough had
sifted through the cartridge-bags to
carry the fire into the powder chamber.
Major Anderson, his head erect as if
on parade, called the men around him.
directed that shot be fired every five
minutes; and mentioned that there was
some danger of the magazine exploding
Some of the men rushed to the door of
1 the magazine and hurriedly dug a
\ trench I'm front of it, which they kept
i filled with water until the danger was
considered over.
II A VISITOR FROM THE ENEMY.
\ It was during this excitement that
i ex-senator Wigfall, of Texas, visited the