The San Francisco call., 1898-08-03
BY SOL N. SHERIDAN.

| N'N BOARD THE UNdLED STATES STEAMS HIP N. CHARLESTON, in the Harbor r Of San Luis de Apra, island of Guam Cor Gaujan), June .20.-The ex- petition for. the occupation of Manila
 and the relief of Admiral Dewey be- gan making history very soon after
 leaving Honolulu. We had done some
 thing of. that, possibly, at the chief sea-
 port of the Hawaiian Islands, but it
 had been In small way and entirely
 among friends. The whole character
 of the play changed when we had left
 our cheering friends, the Hawaifans,
 behind us and breasted the long swell
 of the blue Pacific, really en route at
 last for the .enemy's country. It was
 the enenly's country, moreover in grim
 lament. The boys fin. blue nor the
 Jackies of the Charleston were out to
 do spectacular politics.
 It was on Saturday, June 4, the
 Charleston, with the City of Peking,
 the Australia and the City of Sydney
 under convoy, sailed out of the harbor
 of Honolulu bound for Manila The. ships, per sailing orders issued by Cap
 tain Glass, fell into the positions they
 were to keep. on the long 5000 mile.
 cruise to Manila. The. Picking took position on our port quarter, 800 yards
 from the cruiser, and there she has
 hung with marvellous persistence. ever
 since. The Australia was the same
 distance away on the starboard quar- ter, keeping her position we'll at all times, and the Sydney was, or should have been, 800 yards off the. starboard quarter of the Australia. Sometimes she was In position, at other times she
 was almost hull down -astern, and. at still other times she would be miles away to starboard, and seemingly headed to cross the bows of the Aus tralia. The Sydney's cratic sailing, in fact, was the one constant source of entertainment for the squadron. She behaved alike in no two days in suc- cesson, and speculation was always in order as to what she would do on the next day. Her cratic sailing ended after we eleft the island of Guam.
 Captain Glass did not know whether a Spanish gunboat might have been left at one of the Carolines, and did not propose to take chances. of losing one of his transports. The Sydney was given orders accordingly, and kept her place for the balance of the cruise. On Sunday, June 5, it began to be about the ship that there would be something of more than usual interest when the crew was called to j general muster at 9:30 a. m. It was. one | of those whispers starting nobody | knows how, but the air of expectancy 1 about the ship when the crew assem- | bled was visible in the faces of officers l and men alike. The rumor had basis, | moreover, The skipper had the officers | about him on the quarterdeck, l and in the presence of the whole crew stated that he had received from Wash ngton per the Peking sealed orders which he had not opened until out of | sight of land. By these orders he was r 1irected. to proceed to the island of Iuam, or Guajan, in the Ladrone group, md destroy the Spanish ships and for dfications he might find there It had | been reported at Honolulu that there | vas one Spanish gunboat, possibly two, 1t the port of Agana, or Guam.
 In the meantime Captain Glass ! changed the course of the squadron, heading down for Guam. The island