The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-01-06
IN The DRY-DOCK.
The Cruiser Baltimore at Mare
Island.
Necessary Repairs 10 Be Completed as Soon
as Possible.
Taking Of Testimony In The Valparaiso
Affair to Begin TO-Diy-Nearly
Thirty Witnesses.
Epecial to THE MORNING CALL

VALLEJO, Jan. 5.--After two days Of
anxious expectancy, the Mare Island au-
thorities are gratifad by seeing the Balti-
more in the dock The big white cruiser
was off the lighthouse at 4;15 o'clock this
afternoon, and, feeling her way slowly up
the straits. arrived abreast the big stone
dock few minutes before o'clock. Of
South Vallejo she fred salute of thirteen
guns, which was responded to by a seven
gun salute from the battery on the Island
At o'clock the dock was filed with water,
and by o'clock tn caissOn had been towed
out. The tide was at full food and the 26-
inch mark was just covered. In the regular
order of things the dock-hands are not
kept on duty after o'clock, but on this oc-
casion an extra force was put on and the
vessel was hauled in under the play Of
electric lights. The deck will not be pumped
out until tomorrow morning.
WORK TO BE PUSHED.
During the day conflicting rumOrs had
been prevalent even in the navy-yard itself.
the general opinion being that the pacific
turn of affairs in Chile might entirely alter
liIo OllCl1i pldIIo III lCsdIiOA w thO NAuioOA .
movements. But interviews with Admiral
Irwin and his subordinates of every class
leave no doubt that the Baltimore will be
rushed through and sent to sea again
within q week or ten days. The reason for
docking her la such haste is that the
authorities fear the perforation of the thin
steel plates of which the hull is composed.
The Charleston and the San Francisco after
q, ChOtn ,ad
tain amount of pittng. and on the cruisers
of the Asiatic side it averaged from the
thirty-second to the twentieth of an inch.
The Baltimore has been at sea for quite
long period, and the idea is to get her
scraped, cleaned and coated with pre-
servatiYe compound as soon as possible.
The germicide coating composition will be
abandoned for an anti-foullng composition
which has stood long tests we'll
REASONS FOR HASTE.
Every man of the crew of the Baltimore
that can be spared will be to work to-
morrow morning scrapng the bottom Of the
vessel, on which the barnacles are three
deep in places. 1t will take about twelve
hours to get them off and then the cleaners
will get in their work. 1t was just $50
o'clock when the dock gates closed behind
the stern Of the cruiser. The extent OF the
repairs will have to be determined by an
| already furnished t. the Washington au-
! thorties. 1t is not thought that there is
anything to prevent the cruiser being COM
| pleteiy refitted within eight days. She will
| undoubtedly sail soon, for 1t IS the unan-
| imOus sense of the Mare Island people that
] the flag cannot be seen too frequently or too
| widely on the Pacific, and the eXpediency
of the departure OF cruiser after cruiser is
doubtless the outcome OF the feeling being
reciprocated in the Navy Department at
Washington.
THE VALPARAISO AFFAIR.
A recent arrival from Chile, who wit
messed the Valparaiso affair, said to a CALL
representative to-day that if the Chilean
! mob had the least idea that the United
States possessed SO many white devils"
like the San Francisco and Baltimore they
would have kept their hands off the sailors.
The scope of the inquiry which is to be
commenced by Judse-Advocate w. B.
Remey tomorrow morning is unknown
even to himself, for in an Interview with a
CALL representative this evening he said
that he had not received his Instructions,
but they would undoubtedly reach him in
the morning. The local telegraph wires
have been kent busy with cipher dispatches
since the ships arrival, and when Captain
w. Y. Schley of the Baltimore landed this
evening at $50 o'clock to pay his respects TO
Admiral Irwin, the press of telegraphic
matter grew heavier than ever. There can
.
will make the work of paciti cation with
Chile altogether matter Of ample repara-
ton, and that the official inquiry will be to
demonstrate that ''casus belli'' existed at
Valparaiso when the police joined the mob
in the attack on the sailors.
PREMEDTTATED ASSAULT.
Notwithstanding the precautions adopted
on the BaltlmOre's arriving here to prevent
any interviews with the sailors, CALL re-
porter succeeded in obtaining statements
! from men present that the row which COM
meneed in the Snakespere dance hall was
extended along Independence street and
| the water front so rapidly that there could
| be no doubt of the assault havirg been pre-
meditated. The inquiry may last several
days and will be made very searching and
complete. There are nearly thirty wit
| can be gathered here their testimony will
| go almost inevitably to prove that the as
saults were chiefly committed by the insur-
gent Chilean soldiers.
AWAITING INSTRUCTIONS.
Captain Schley looked exceedingly anx-
| ious and thoughtful as he wended his way
up the landing 10 pay his res poets to the
Admiral. Judge Advocate Remey Is
brother of Captain Remey of the Charles
ton. He is the guest Of Admiral Irwin
during his stay here. In answer to a CALL
reporter he said that the matter Is simply
taking of testimony, not court of admi-
rally or court OF inquiry Whether the
proceedings will be open to the press and
the public cannot be decided until to-mor-
| row morning, when the Instructions from
Washington are opened. IL is more than
probable that they will be conducted in
courtroom on the island rather than on
board the vessel in order to facilitate the re-
pairs on the latter. There is a large force
of men in search of work in North Vallejo