Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-09-23
THE PRIZE MONEY
THAT UNCLE SAM WILL OISTRIB.
UTE TO HIS BLUE JACKETS.

Scrvicc Rendered Sampson
Will he Paid for Schlcy's Fight
ing-Thc Men With the Eagl.
Eye and the Asbestos Skin Will
Receive Il Pittance.
Rear-Admiral Sampson will receive
as prize money and bounty about 500,
600.
Rear-Admiral Dewey will receive
about $4,000.
Rear-Admiral Schley's share will be
about S3,0O0-less than that of some
the captains in the navy who were
capturing prizes while Schley was
bottled up" in Hampton Roads a,
the beginning of the war.
The seamen, including the "men be
hind he guns" will get from $50 te
5000 or $500, according to their pay
and the number of prizes captured by
their respective ships.
The law provides that prize money
shall be paid for every vessel, whether
warships or merchantmen, that is
captured, and that bounty shall be
paid wherever vessel is DESTROYED
If the ship captured is larger than the
captor the law gives the entire net pro-
ceeds Of the prize to the captor. If il
is smaller, one-half goes to the captol
and onc-half to the United States
The captors are entitled to 800 for
every man on boa rd the destroyed ship
at the time of the action. II the mum.
Der aboard cannot be accurately got at
1t is assumed that there were as many
aboard as there would be on a similar
ship of the United States Navy.
In dividing prize money and bounty
the commanding officer of the fleet
gets One-twentieth of the whole sum.
The commander of q squadron under
the commanderin-chief gets one.
fifticth, but his share is taken, il
possible, from the share of the United
States. Commanders of ships that
make captures get one-tenth of the
sum awarded their ships. The rest of
the money is divided among officers
and men according to their pay.
The statutes make no provision for
the payment OF salvage on war vessels.
The bounty on the number of men
aboard ship at the time of its destruc.
ton or disablemcnt is regarded as
sufficient rccompense.
Neither do the officers or men re-
ceive any additional sum for ships
sunk but afterwards raised, as in the
case OF the Maria Teresa and Others
which Naval Constructor Hobson is
now working on.
War vessels captured cannot be
sold, as can merchant vessels. There
for the men receive only the bounty,
or head money"
The three great profitable items in
this war were the battle of Manila, the
battle off Santiago and the Cuban
blockade.
OF these the Cuban blockade was
far and away the most profitable.
There was never any danger in it, and
it will net the American fleet under
SIMPSONS command something like
SO, 100000. His share of this will be
$4,000.
Rear-Admiral Dewey and his officers
and men will divide S17S,4OO There
were, approximately, 1854 men in the
fleet. On this basis Rear-Admiral
Dewcy's share would be IS, ,92O and the
six commanders $2,973 each.
The bounty money for the battle of
Santiago will be about $245,O0O. Rear.
Admiral SIMPSONS share of this will bt
about $4,000. Rear-Admiral Schley's
share will not be more than $1,000
The commanders of the American
ships in the action - Clark, Cook
Chadwick. Taylor, Evans, Phillip and
Wainwright-will each get about $4,-
600.
The work of the prize counts is long
and tedious. They have been toiling
away at several Southern ports for
months and are not nearly through
yet. The witnesses who are necessary
to the adjudication of the cases are
scattered in Cuba and Porto Rico and
on the ocean with the fleets.
Some of the younger men aroL nd
the Navy Department are saying that
the prize money will be ready for
distribution to the officers and men rs
Christmas presents. But this will
seem Il rather too hopeful view to take
of the case when it is remembered
that the prize money for Admiral
Farragut's work at New Orleans was
not distributed for twenty-five years!
One result of the trials will be q
formal investigation" of the battles.
The court in order to make its decision,
will have to find out just what share
was taken by the different ships. But
while much light may be thrown on
the questions so angrily discussed in
connection with the battle off Santiago,
still Sampson will get his one-twentieth
no matter what may be the merits of
the Sampson-Schley controversy.