A FIGHT BETWEEN ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN MEN-OF-WAR SAILORS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5539, 17 November 1879, Page 3

A FIGHT BETWEEN ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN MEN-OF-WAR SAILORS.

The Daily Telegraph gives the following account of a remarkable encounter , ibetween English sailors belonging to au ironclad 'and some sailors belong to a . Russian ship of war : — Whatever may be |the attitude which the Government of England now assumes towards Russia, it is certain that our sailors still regard the Muscovite as a natural foe." His flag may salute ours, and- our officers may visit his ; but Avhen the British mariner comes across his Tartar rival a. casus belli is not unlikely to ensue. A fair illustration of this is given in a story which is sent from the Pira3us. At that entry to the ancient capital of Greece wine[shops abound wherein is vended ,a heavy concoction in which sailors delight. "Three men from the English squadron were enjoying the liquor, when some twenty Russians entering took their bottles away . cand-emptied'the contents on the table. To fight against such' odds would have beenn folly, but a boatswain's mate, who chanced' to be one of tlie trio, was equal to the emergency. . Stepping to the door ~ r: he !V piped "Liberty men to muster!"- --' whereupon shipmates swarmed about him, and he had soon more than., enough wherewith to< engage the foe. Scorning to take advantage of numbers, he selected a few among his brother tars, and with these he \ : began an attack upon the enemy. A sharp fight ensued, the tables and chairs being requisitioned as "big guns," and it is satis- * factory to know that victory speedily inclined to the side of the Union Jack. One petty officer belonging to the British ironclad "performed," we are told, "prodigies of valor^ flooring antagonist after antago- ' • nist ; with unimpaired cheefulness and a disdain^for help which was highly instructive. His prowess was, moreover, bedecked with warlike oratory in the old classic style, for in a terse sentence, delivered between the blows, he informed the Russians that he ■ ,and his mates had been " waiting for them ',' for two years. So the fight continued until the discomfited Russians retreated, and our English tars were no ,• doubt preparing to celebrate their victory, ' when a number of French sailors, coming up in'the very nick of time, claimed the right to act the part of cavalry, and ■turned the Muscovite retreat into a sorry «' rout:-'- Thfe-Russian captain, immediately he saw his defeated crew, ordered that in. futurjy^&is -men should not go ashore ? wheja.,.th& a English blue-jackets were landed; a'hd this proposal was agreed to by. £hj& commander of our men, who no doubt. felt that enough had been dove for the honor pi the flag to which his gallant fellows belong."