Books Should Be Free Loyal Books Free Public Domain Audiobooks & eBook Downloads |
|
The Great War Syndicate By: Frank Richard Stockton (1834-1902) |
---|
![]()
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON Author of "The Lady or the Tiger," "Rudder Grange,"
"The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs.
Aleshine," "What Might Have Been
Expected," etc., etc.
THE GREAT WAR SYNDICATE.
In the spring of a certain year, not far from the close of the
nineteenth century, when the political relations between the United
States and Great Britain became so strained that careful observers on
both sides of the Atlantic were forced to the belief that a serious
break in these relations might be looked for at any time, the fishing
schooner Eliza Drum sailed from a port in Maine for the banks of
Newfoundland. It was in this year that a new system of protection for American
fishing vessels had been adopted in Washington. Every fleet of these
vessels was accompanied by one or more United States cruisers, which
remained on the fishing grounds, not only for the purpose of warning
American craft who might approach too near the three mile limit, but
also to overlook the action of the British naval vessels on the coast,
and to interfere, at least by protest, with such seizures of American
fishing boats as might appear to be unjust. In the opinion of all
persons of sober judgment, there was nothing in the condition of
affairs at this time so dangerous to the peace of the two countries as
the presence of these American cruisers in the fishing waters. The Eliza Drum was late in her arrival on the fishing grounds, and
having, under orders from Washington, reported to the commander of the
Lennehaha, the United States vessel in charge at that place, her
captain and crew went vigorously to work to make up for lost time.
They worked so vigorously, and with eyes so single to the catching of
fish, that on the morning of the day after their arrival, they were
hauling up cod at a point which, according to the nationality of the
calculator, might be two and three quarters or three and one quarter
miles from the Canadian coast. In consequence of this inattention to the apparent extent of the marine
mile, the Eliza Drum, a little before noon, was overhauled and seized
by the British cruiser, Dog Star. A few miles away the Lennehaha had
perceived the dangerous position of the Eliza Drum, and had started
toward her to warn her to take a less doubtful position. But before
she arrived the capture had taken place. When he reached the spot
where the Eliza Drum had been fishing, the commander of the Lennehaha
made an observation of the distance from the shore, and calculated it
to be more than three miles. When he sent an officer in a boat to the
Dog Star to state the result of his computations, the captain of the
British vessel replied that he was satisfied the distance was less than
three miles, and that he was now about to take the Eliza Drum into port. On receiving this information, the commander of the Lennehaha steamed
closer to the Dog Star, and informed her captain, by means of a
speaking trumpet, that if he took the Eliza Drum into a Canadian port,
he would first have to sail over his ship. To this the captain of the
Dog Star replied that he did not in the least object to sail over the
Lennehaha, and proceeded to put a prize crew on board the fishing
vessel. At this juncture the captain of the Eliza Drum ran up a large American
flag; in five minutes afterward the captain of the prize crew hauled it
down; in less than ten minutes after this the Lennehaha and the Dog
Star were blazing at each other with their bow guns. The spark had
been struck. The contest was not a long one. The Dog Star was of much greater
tonnage and heavier armament than her antagonist, and early in the
afternoon she steamed for St. John's, taking with her as prizes both
the Eliza Drum and the Lennehaha. All that night, at every point in the United States which was reached
by telegraph, there burned a smothered fire; and the next morning, when
the regular and extra editions of the newspapers were poured out upon
the land, the fire burst into a roaring blaze... Continue reading book >>
|
Genres for this book |
---|
Literature |
Science |
eBook links |
---|
Wikipedia – Frank Richard Stockton |
Wikipedia – The Great War Syndicate |
eBook Downloads | |
---|---|
ePUB eBook • iBooks for iPhone and iPad • Nook • Sony Reader |
Kindle eBook • Mobi file format for Kindle |
Read eBook • Load eBook in browser |
Text File eBook • Computers • Windows • Mac |
Review this book |
---|