OCR Text |
Show IN STRANGE COMBAT NEW ENGLANDER FOUGHT SLOOP OF WAR SINGLE-HANDED. Remarkable Engagement That Took; Place In Beverly Harbor In 177&. British Commander Finally Glad to Withdraw. - r In Devcrly harbor, Off tho point on Which President Taft will mako his-6ummcr his-6ummcr home, a picturesque engagement engage-ment of the revolution was fought. A quiet autumn day in 1775 Deacon Joseph Stephens, happily storing his goldon harvest of corn, was startled by a cannon ball that crashed through tho wall of his barn and knocked tho nigh-wheel nigh-wheel from his favorite chalBO. A loud boom enrno up from tho har bor. With it, tho deacon's indignation-rose indignation-rose to fighting point. Dropping his corn fork nnd seizing his musket, ho ran to tho water front to punish whoever who-ever it was that had damaged his vehicle. ve-hicle. Ho threw himself behind the hugo bowlders of Washington street beach. Thrusting his musket through a crevice, he opened flro on tho enemy, tho DrltiBh ship of war Nautilus. Foi a whllo tho strango and unequnl en- ngement of ono man against a shin; of wnr was maintained. Gunners of tho Nautilus not being-able being-able to see tho deacon behind his hugo natural fortress, turned their guns upon a moro shining mark, and Hred. upon tho town, making tho splro of tho Old South church their special target. In tho lino of flro lived a Btout dame; who was baking brend when tho can nons began to boom. She had Just put n batch or bread Into tho oven, and sho refused to niovo, even though, tho entire DrltiBh force came. Curiosity Curi-osity got tho hotter of her" determination, determina-tion, howover. Sho peeked out to see-what see-what was going on. A cannon ball whizzed by. Sho turned In terror and, fled, nnd sho did not atop running until un-til Bho was In tho depths of tho doop est vnlley on Rial sldo. MInutemen hurried to ro-enforco tho deacon. Cannoneers manned tho guns on Hospital point, Beverly, und on fort Loo nt Salem Willows. A cross fire ot cannon balls nnd a sprinkling of musket mus-ket bullets wns poured Into tho Nautilus. Nau-tilus. Tho privateer Pilgrim, in pursuit pur-suit of which the NnutiliiB had come Into tho hnrbor, ran around the cornor of Hospital point into shallow waters, und wnB 8uro from pursuit. In his engorness for prey tho Drlt " lsh captain forgot the falling tide. Whon tho flro upon him mndp his position po-sition uncomfortnblo ho gaVo orders la withdraw, but tho falling tldo had left his ship fast aground. For n whllo tho Yankees mado a target tar-get or tho NautlluB. Dut tho guns and cannons or tho tlmo wero not armor piercing, nor ovon oak plank piercing, nt n rnngo of half a mllo. So practice In marksmanship nnd what pleasure thero was in shooting at an enemy was nil that tho Yankees got for their efforts. When the tldo roso tho NautlluB put-out put-out to sea, Doacon Stephens wont back home and mended the nigh wheel of his fuvorlto chaise and tho stout dnmo roturncd home and took tha bread from tho ovon. |