PICKERING his peril blown up with the off by a confederate boat commodore C W pickering of the united states navy now 73 years old was it daring officer dur ing the civil war IQ had one of the most thrilling escapes from death recorded in the annals of the navy in the vinter lie leveart st augustine fla it was while m migrating to his winter quarters that he avas ind by a zail ani i prea I 1 reporter at the windsor hotel tile commodore looks like a french man of napoleons 0 old guard his huir and mustache are snow syl lite and in strong contrast to ilia swarthy complexion aoe of tile leg a is paralyzed and eight or ten of his ribs have been broken his escape from death when he was ill own up on the war vessel houkal tonic was little short of the mirace ilia own recount 4 it I 1 as follows I 1 the blockade runners during the wa r would imas alti lost under the shallow of a ai ar chip with the chances of being sunk by a few shells I 1 had command of tile w ere smaller cannon an d howitzers howit and was stationed at the mouth of charleston I 1 arbor one night 1864 we were in february on the lookout for blo kade run I 1 liers it was a beautiful I 1 night I 1 I 1 Y it 1 tal f wal I 1 I 1 1 I 1 1 I at the shifting elleds now nod then reye albig vill stara and tb ocean for miles to seaward fort sumter was near black and frowning in the distance with its dint lights mado us long to be ashore when tile batir grew late I 1 gave instructions to tile off leera on leek bull went below we were an but tall ready to get underway in a fow Iiii thae no blockade etero expected list night bill they were liable to combat any time lence lily constant precaution I 1 maa talk irig to lily clerk charles 0 of boston when I 1 heard tile abarin gong sounding on deck the goda instead of a bell or a cannon report wa out signal to prepare for action I 1 at night I 1 seized my double barrelled gun and rushed in deck lily clerk following me ly idea was to shoot t he man at the wheel on the blockade run ner while it was passing one of tile officers sang out it is a ter beai I 1 but I 1 did not bear him and still a blockade runner was going by I 1 looked around then the officer in end tones sang out a gain i torpedo boat I 1 I 1 gave the order to slip the chain of the that tile ves fel might swing around and bly the turp I 1 J do boat to my surprise I 1 did not hear the chain rl ittle I 1 asbeil wily and the official replied the chain is gone ile had cut it on the instant and the veasel was swinging around then I 1 saw the torpedo boat 0 rather a email glass roundhouse large enough for one man to stick his hend n and look over the surface of the water I 1 knew that destruction awaited us unless I 1 could stop that little submarine sub warine bouster mouster amov ing swiftly toward the stera of the housatonic I 1 aimed at the glass above the water and fired both barrels of my guu then I 1 sang out f or for our vessel to go astern faster it was too late there was a smothered sound like a howitzer r e x tinder water and I 1 felt I 1 nye if going up into the air for at leaba a second or two I 1 w A a cone and then everything grew dark in eight minutes from the time af tha explosion I 1 regained conse i oneness and found myself in the water floating on the debris of the vessel I 1 was bleeding from several wounds but still I 1 revolved repol ved to escape if I 1 aible 0 ible A small boat showed itself above water and I 1 scrambled to it but it rolled and I 1 abandoned it I 1 that part of the housatonic was not gone and swam ar it catching hold to some ropes an officer anti a marine asdall ing on the davits I 1 managed to 9 t I 1 n to the boat with them and I 1 orders to cut the ropes the officer bad no knife nod just moment tile veasel or rather that p e rt of it left rolled over and we fell into the sea the officer never came IP again I 1 sank twice and finally caught an oar from the boat slid managed to reach the wree k again where it e marines in the fore rigging of the vessel assisted me the list of killed ed was only six when the housatonic began to settle the men in the fore rigging rushed to the stern and managed to sa ve those who were there str ag gling to extricate themselves aly c lerk who came on deck with me must have been blown all to pieces for we rever 8 aw his body I 1 think I 1 must have gone at least thirty feet into the air and my impression is that I 1 did not lose cons until I 1 reached tile where I 1 began to descend abat became of the torpedo boat I 1 sank it when I 1 fired into it or a very few minutes afterward the glass lookout yu see was watertight water tight and my dis charge of buckshot broke it and the water rushing in finally sank it there we re six in the torpedo boat and all were drowned I 1 had lyzen several broken and was para