The San Francisco call., 1897-07-05
THE AWAKENING
OF A WARRIOR
The Old Camanche Feels the
Impulse Of Thirty
Years Ago.
Young Marines Man Her Guns
and Brighten Her
Brass.
The Naval Battalion Goes on a Jaunt
on the Bay in the Ironolad
Monitor.

It was but slow time the old Camanche
made to her anchorage off California
City. 1t took her four hours to make the
trip, but when vessel has lain asleep for
thirty years she cannot be expected to run
like greyhound when her engines get
going.
II o'clock Saturday night, and she lay
there all Sunday, and will do SO until this
morning.
Being Sunday but little was done, but
there was a salute to the flag, call to
quarters and bit Of boat practice in the
afternoon-the last, however, being the
result of an uncomfortable desire to swim
which seized some of the boys.
Affairs on board are getting into ship
shape. The men are divided into messes,
and there is not more than one kick from
each table. Yesterday it was the beans.
They were not cooked enough or were
not hot enough, or something, and so the
purely nautical privilege of a nautical
kick was INDUCED in.
The run up the bay to the anchorage
was made without a hitch beyond the
rather close visitation of ferry boat,
which, not expecting the old monitor to
wander from her resting place off Folsom
street, ran closer to her than rules of the
road maritime recommend. Had she
struck the iron sides of the old Camanche,
the crowds of Christian Endeavorers on
her decks would have received a wet well
come to the sunset shores.
Captain L. H. Turner, commander OF
the battalion, was in command. He
needed no pilot and no advice. He is a
master mariner, and his pilots license
hangs in his stateroom in the old moni-
tors forehold. Lieutenant w. II. Gum,
the navigating officer had charge of the
moorings, in slipping the buoy and COM
ing to anchor, and the IN en- of the reserve
did all the work. All on board belonged
to the battalion, except Ensign Stiarns OF
the gunboat Bennington, detailed by the
Navy Department to see how sailors for
pastime and not by profession handle a
lighting machine.
Watches-regular ship watches-were
commenced at IL O'Clock Saturday night,
and from that time on the routine of a
United States warship has and will be
carried out. The station billet of each
man had been carefully made out and
each man was regularly assigned to q
mess, q position on q gun, place in a
boat and duty In any and every emer-
gency.
At a quarter OF l2 to-day reneral quar-
guns were let 60 in honor OF the tri-colored
ensign broken out at the stern.
The engineer corps is the hardest worked
division on the ship-that is, outside OF
the cooks-for the men have appetites
that rank only with the capacity of the
furnaces for coal. But the engineers di-
vision oes good work with the antiquated
machinery the monitor boasts OF, and to
Lieutenant Christy and his officers and
men is due much of the success OF the
trip.
Tomorrow Will be day of work. The
boats will be called away and boat drill
will consume a great many of the hours
OF daylight. There will be drill at the
guns, too and abandon ship" and Sire
quarters" and drills of every kind, and
the limit to it all will be the setting OF the
sun.
Tomorrow evening the Camanche will
return to her moorings, but she will not
stay there. Each day during this week
she will cruise around and Saturday even
ing she will again sink into the rest she
has en- nioyed so long. The cobwebs will
form over the muzzes of her old sm Doth.
bores, her turrets will collect mold, the
SCOT anu CRIME Of the water front, the
barnacles will cling in greater punches
over her iron bilges and for another year
the Camanche will tug at her moorings
and dream of the shadow of war which
has been hers.