The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-08
No AMERICAN KILLED.
Only Few Wounded In Battle
of Manila.
SHIPS COME OUT SAFE.
Dewey Cables the News to the
Dewey Cables the News to the
Navy Department,
Has Taken Possession Of Naval
Station.

Washington, May IA day of excitement
such as to-day has not been seen in Wash
ington since the days when reports came
in of great victories during the civil war.
Official and unofficial Washington was in
a ferment and few Of the employees in any
of the departments could maintain their
composure sufficiently to go on with their
routine work.
They were in an explosive state and at
the great state, war and navy department
building the least sign of dispatches or the
gathering of a crowd of reporters were
sufficient to cause them to drop thir work
and swarm in the corridors clamoring for
news.
The excitement was contagious and SEN
ators and representatives mixed into the
crowds that gathered around the navy
headquarters and gazed wistfully at the
mahogany doors of the navigation bureau,
behind which the cipher experts under
lock and key were slowly deciphering the
words that conveyed Dewey's glorious
messages to the American people.
Senator Hanna aroused the crowd at one
time by leading with a hip, hip, hurrah for
Dewey and later a roar of stentorian
cheers from Theodore Roosevelts room
gathered everybody in the vast building to
the east wing in time to witness the de-
parture of the eastern contingent of the
mounted riflemen.
Mr.. Roosevelt had said good bye to the
boys before they started at 2:40 o'clock to-
day for San Antonio, and the cheers was
the means by which they took their leave.
Mr.. Roosevelt himself will follow Mon
day or Tuesday.
The state department has the honor of
receiving the first news from the fleet. 1t
came in the shape of cablegram of three
words from United States Consul Wild
man, at Hong Kong, and was as follows:
Hong Kong, McCulloch. Wildman."
That is the usual form in which naval
movements are reported by cable. This dis
patch was received by Third Assistant
Secretary Cridler, who had been on duty
all night, at 4:40 o'clock this morning
The naval officials were promptly notified
and awaited with intense interest the dis
patch which was expected to surely follow
from Commodore Dewey.
About $3.50 Manager Marean of the Wes-
tern Union Telegraph Company, appeared
at the department, bringing with him a
sheet comprising four lines of the mys-
terlous jargon which makes up the naval
cipher. He handed this directly to Secre-
tary Long, who gazed at it for a moment
and turned it over to Lieut.. Whittessey,
one of the cipher experts of The navigation
bureau, for translation into English
Then the Secretary made a pretense of
sitting down at his desk to transact other
business but It was plain to be seen that
IN spirit he had joined the anxious throng
OF newspaper men and officials who
lhronged the reception room and the cor
r'dors waiting for the news.
The naval cipher is one of the most com
plex in the world. The messages come in
words of strange formation, taken from
al languages. These words are turned
oy the translating clerks into groups of
hgures, and these in turn are resolved
INTO their equivalent words in English
All this takes time. In about half an
hour, Secretary Long appeared with a
copy OF the translated cipher in his hand.
''NiS was a great ruSh toward him, but
the Secretary good naturedly made allow
ance Tor the excitement of the crowd and
smillngly read from the corner of the
Ioofn' into which he had been forced, the
following cablegram:'
- Manila, May 1.-Squadron arrived at
1ianlla at daybreak this morning Imme-
uiately engaged the enemy and destroyed
me following Spanish vessels: Reina
Snrlstina, Castillo, Don Antonio de Ulloa
tsia oe Luzon, Isla de Cuba, General
Lezo' Marques de Duero, Correo, Velasco
tsla de Mindano, a transport and water
battery at Cavite. The squadron is unin-
yured and only a few men are slightly
wounded. Only means of telegraphing is
" american consul at Hong Kong. /
snail communicate with him. Dewey"
before this a brief summary of the ca
oiesram, as far as received, had been
ssNen out by prominent officers, in which
II was stated that Dewey cut the cable
ntnsei1, but was unable to take possess
sIon OF the town of Manila for lack of
,heh also that he had the bay and every
"Ilhs else completely a his mercy
~ was Immediately noticed that the ca.
pIegran, as officially promulgated, did not
eutirely agree with this brief summary
una una the presumption was that in the short
uile accorded for translation the officials