BLOWING UP OF THE TIEN-TSIN.
The Secretary of the Navy was as good as his word. He was on hand five
minutes before five, and Oscar arrived ten minutes earlier, accompanied
by Andy Greggs, who had had the model shipped on by express, in a stout
coffin-like box.
The government experiment station boasted of a large pond of water,
where all sorts of models were tried and experiments made.
In the presence of the secretary and two of his assistants the model
was produced.
At this moment the President of the United States, Jefferson McKinley
Adams, a descendant of John Adams, the second President, came in to see
what was going on, having heard that something unusual was in the air.
"We need such a boat, if it will work, now the Hollands are no more,"
he murmured to the Secretary of the Navy.
"Wait--we will see if this is all right or a humbug," answered
Secretary Short.
The model was placed on a stand and Oscar gave a little lecture
concerning the working parts and what the craft was designed to do.
The model went to the bottom of the basin and arose without an effort.
Then it went down as far as desired, ran forward, backward, and then
turned in circles right and left. The screws were next shifted slightly
and the model went forward in saw-tooth fashion, first up and then
down, but all under water.
"Wonderful!" murmured the President. "The old Hollands could not do
that."
"He has certainly solved the science of under-water navigation,"
answered the Secretary of the Navy.
A model of a warship was now placed in the basin, at one end. Then the
model of the submarine craft was set in motion to place a torpedo under
the warship's keel. The work was performed with great accuracy and it
was shown how easily the warship could be destroyed and how quickly the
other boat could get away without being discovered.
"Good! It is perfect!" cried the Secretary of the Navy. "But how about
air for your crew while under water?"
Oscar then went into the details of his scheme for storing air and for
manufacturing it as well. Everybody listened with close attention.
"How much will your craft cost to build?" was the next question asked.
"Two hundred thousand dollars," was the answer. "For into that
construction must go the best of everything."
Those who had witnessed the exhibition consulted together for a few
minutes.
"How long will she take to build?"
"Give me that sum and I will build her in three months; give me a
hundred thousand dollars more and I will have her ready for service in
two months."
"You shall have your answer to-morrow noon," said the Secretary of the
Navy.
The night to follow was an anxious one, both for Oscar Pelham and his
faithful friend, Andy Greggs.
Would the government accept the offer?
At ten the next morning came a telephone message from the Navy
Department.
"We are willing to appropriate half a million dollars if that submarine
boat, to be called the new Holland, can be built inside of one month."
Even Oscar was staggered at this.
"A month!" he gasped. "But I'll do it if I have to set every shipyard
and every steel plant at work to push it through."
For thirty days Oscar Pelham hardly ate, drank or slept.
He was here, there and everywhere, now inspecting this work done, now
that work done, and anon sending telegrams and telephone messages in
every direction.
Some refused to do any work for him, thinking him mad. But when his
orders were indorsed by the Navy Department, owners of shipyards and
steel plants quickly changed their minds.
Work went on night and day, without interruption, and on the afternoon
of the twenty-ninth day the new Holland was slid into the waters of New
York bay and a telegram was sent to Secretary Short that the vessel was
ready for service.
In the meantime the war had gone on and another naval battle had been
fought in Cuban waters. Here an Italian cruiser had been sunk by
the gunboat Yankee Doodle, but the Americans had lost four of their
old-fashioned types of war vessel.
It was reported that a flotilla of sixteen foreign warships was in the
vicinity of Cuba, and that soon there would be an active bombardment of
the whole Cuban coast.
"If they capture Cuba they will use the island as a base of supplies,"
said the Secretary of the Navy, "and they will be able to land millions
of soldiers there. We must stop this movement."
Ten first-class warships had been dispatched to the seat of trouble,
and now the new Holland was ordered thither, after a trial off the New
Jersey coast to see that the new vessel worked perfectly.
The crew of the new Holland, or Holland XI., as she was officially
registered, consisted of ten all told. Oscar was placed in supreme
command, with a rank in the navy as captain. Next to him came Andy
Greggs, as first lieutenant. The head engineer was George Dross, the
old shipbuilder, who had stood by Oscar when he was building his model
at Bridgeport.
The Holland was stored with provisions and fresh air and a number of
powerful torpedoes, along with a large amount of other explosives.
"Good-bye to land," said Oscar, as he stepped on board. "We are running
a great risk, Andy. Perhaps we will never see home again."
"I don't care. Hurrah for Uncle Sam!" responded the first lieutenant,
recklessly.
Soon the Holland--we shall at all times call her by her simple
name--was moving southward at a lively rate of speed.
As there was no need to draw on the air in the reservoirs the boat was
kept on the surface of the ocean, skimming along like some monster
sea-fowl.
Four days later Captain Oscar Pelham was able to report to Commodore
Garrison, in command of the fleet in Cuban waters.
Another great naval battle was expected daily and Commodore Garrison
was glad to see the Holland put in an appearance.
"I have heard that there is one monster Chinese armored cruiser coming
up here from the coast of Brazil," said the commodore. "She is one of
the swiftest and most dangerous craft in the world. She is named the
Tien-Tsin. If you can blow her up it will be a great work accomplished."
"We shall do our best," replied Captain Oscar promptly.
He passed the word around and the Holland ran along the Eastern coast
of Cuba, on the lookout for the Tien-Tsin.
Soon several warships were sighted and two days later the Tien-Tsin
hove in sight and began to bombard the Cuban city of Baracoa.
It was the intention of the Chinese commander to make the city
surrender and then land an army of three thousand Celestials in Cuba,
as the beginning of a great command of invasion.
"The Tien-Tsin is in sight," cried Andy, who was the first to sight the
craft.
Captain Oscar waited long enough to confirm the news, then gave orders
that the Holland XI. be sunk immediately.
Down went the torpedo-boat destroyer until fully twenty-five feet of
water floated over her.
The Chinese cruiser had stopped her powerful engines and lay motionless
on the ocean, while she poured shot and shell into the city, four miles
away, to the terror of the Cubans, who were fleeing in all directions.
Swiftly but silently the new Holland crept up until almost under the
keel of the Celestials' warship.
Then a large torpedo was sent forth and fastened to the warship's broad
bottom.
To the torpedo was attached a clock-like arrangement, and this was set
at the five-minute limit.
"Now, away!" cried Captain Oscar, when the work was done. "Dross, crowd
on all speed!"
And, like a thing of life, the Holland darted off in the direction
where the American fleet lay, miles off.
One minute passed--two--three--four--and those on the Holland watched
their watches anxiously.
"We will ascend!" cried Captain Oscar, and up shot the boat to the
surface.
Four minutes and a half--three-quarters--fifty seconds--fifty-five
seconds--six--seven--eight--nine----
Crash! Bang! Boom!
It was as if heaven and earth were split in twain. First there came a
flash as of lightning out of the depths of the ocean, followed by a
grinding, ripping, sucking noise, and then up went the monster Chinese
cruiser, blown into millions of fragments. With the wreckage went
soldiers and sailors, guns, ammunition, spars, everything, straight
into the sky! It was a sight as awful as it was amusing.
"She's gone forever!" cried Captain Oscar, hoarsely. "Our work has
proved a perfect success. The new Holland is the most dangerous warship
ever constructed."
"You are right," answered his first lieutenant. "Those Chinese----"
He got no further, for he had glanced up in the sky, and now saw
something strange and uncanny approaching. It was a gigantic dynamite
shell, thrown by a French cruiser, which had crept up behind them
unawares.
The shell was aimed straight for the Holland, and if it struck the
submarine boat it would blow her up as effectively as she had blown up
the Tien-Tsin!