The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1917-06-28

4 DCCu larger, IlOL a HlCIlDCl W lAN
board would have escaped. But,
sir, you know all this a S well as ].
s wish to refresh my memory"
Delcasse explained. 81 wish to see
if your memory, which | admire
so much, agrees with mine. Now
tell me this what was done to pre-
vent a recurrence of such an ac-.,
cident?'
"The powder in all French mag
azines was overhauled, and that
which there was any reason to
suspect was destroyed. To pre-
vent future deterioration, the
magazines of all u ~battleships
were equipped with a special cool
ing apparatus. In this, we were
soon followed by all other ma
|tions.o
"And vet said Delcasse, in a
low voice, ssthe latest and best of
our battleships blew up this morn
'ing!o
II have brought my best men
with me, as you suggested, sir"
said Lepine. IF there were any
suspicious circumstances attend
ing this explosion, depend upon it,
they will be laid before you when
you awake!"
Do not waitfor me to awake!"
cried the minister. elf any such
circumstances comes to light, wake
me-wake me on the Instant"
Iepine bowed.
81 will do so, SIR he prom
ised.
1t was some time past midnight
when the train reached Toulon;
but apparently no one Of her 1OO,-
600 inhabitants had thought of
sleep. The streets before the sta
ton were crowded from house
front to house front. The car
rage containing the president and
his ministers had the greatest diff
fculty in proceeding. Everywhere
there were cries for vengeance.
shouts Of treason, threats, wild I'M
precautions. Men stood with arms
extended cursing the heavens. The
Place, de la Liberte was massed
with people, facing the fountain in
honor of the revolution, bare
headed, singing the Ca Ira. It
seemed as though the wheels of
time had rolled back a century,
and that at any moment the Sea-
green Incorruptible himself might
arise to thunder denunciation. But
at last the president and his. staff
reached their hotel.
M. Lepine, after final instruc-
tons to Pigot, joined them there,
and listened to the reports made
by the surviving officers Of La
Liberte. They were in despair,
these men, ready to kill them
selves at a word; their faces we're
1blackened, their uniforms in tat.
tiers, their hands torn and bleed.
ing, for they had labored all day
at the work of rescue. They spoke
between sobs, but it was little they
had to tell.
Commander Jaurcs, it seemed.
had been absent on leave, the sec.
ond in command was ashore, SO
that Senir Lieutenant GARNER
was in charge Of the ship. just be-
fore dawn, the watch had discoy-
cred a small fire IN one Of the
store rooms, but it was SO insignif-
cant that no one thought Of dam
ger; the fire was not near the mag
azines in any event, the maya
zines were allssecurely elcsed-the
officer in charge had seen to that.
Suddenly, apparently without
cause, there had been three ex-
.plosions, about a minute apart.
first Of the forward magazine, then
of the after magazine, then Of the
man magazine-it seemed almost
as though they had been fred at
spaced intervals, like q heavy gun.
There had been time to get the
crew on deck, but the fnal explo-
sion had come before the boats
could be lowered. 1t had broken
the ship instwo; the forward part
had turned over and sunk with all
board the after part was i
mere mass Of twisted wreckage.
The explosion had been 10 violent,
that the neighboring ships also