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

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 957, 22 November 1879, Page 2

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

The Daily Telegraph gives the following account of a remarkable encounter between English sailors belonging to an ironclad and some sailors belonging to a Russian snip 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 |when the British mariner comes. across his Tartar rival a casus belli is not unlikely to ensue. A fair illustration of this is given m a story which is sent from the Pirteus. At that entry to the ancient capital of Greece wine shops abound wherein is vended a heavy concoction m whioh sailors delight. Three men from the English squadron were enjoying the liquor, when some twenty Russians entering took their bottles away and emptied the contents on lhe table. To fight against such odds would have been folly, but a boatswain's mate, who chanced to be one of the trio, was equal to the emergency. Stepping to the door he piped " Liberty men toimuster !" whereupon shipmates swarmed about him, and he had soon more than enough wherewith to engage the foe. Scoring jto take advantage of numbers, he selj ected a few among his brother tars, and with these he began an attack upon the | enemy. A sharp fight ensued, the I tables and chairs being requisitioned as " big guns," and it is satisfactory 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 antagonist with unimpaired cheefulness and a disdain for help which was highly instructive. His prowess was, moreover, bedecked withjwarlike oratory m the old classic style, for m 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 m the very nick of time, claimed the right to act the part of cavalry, and turned the Muscovite retreat into a sorry rout. The Russian captain, immediately he saw his defeated crew, ordered that m future his men should not go ashore when the English bluejackets were landed, and his proposal was agreed to by the commander of our men, who no doubt felt that enough had been done for the honor of the flag to which his gallant fellows belong."