The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1898-12-17
IN MEXICO.
U. S. S. PHILADELPHIA.
ACAPULCO, MEX. Nov. % Z

ACAPULCO, MEX. Nov. 20 '9'
EDITOR DISPATCH: We arrived her,
tais a.. N. after the most pleasanr
voyage we have had and over IA sea tina
was like a mirror the most of the time
Livery boy or girl in Wadsworth knows
where Cape St. Lucas is,-well right
there in plain sight of land l was sea.
sick, the Gull is always stormy and We
were not allowed to escape.
The first day odt We had a CLEAR shir
for action drill. In one hour and
twelve minutes WI were stripped to the
buff, every thing that would float ovei
the side and all else below decks, the
gun crews at their posts and your
humble servant sending up six inch
shell to Nos 2, 4 and 6 guns. Those
who have been aboard will know what
amount Of work this involves. All lad
.ders, s~tairways boats, benches, tables and
everything that will float was overheard,
all ratings, ropes, cables, spars and
hatchways battened down, hose let out
IN case OF fire, watertight compartments
shut and secured and we were ready to
meet anything in our class that floats.
This port is the place where the
Charleston oyerhauled the Esmeralda
and ltata and We have some of the men
aboard who were there at that time.
There is a mud corral here on a COM
manding hill, that is called and main
tanned as a fort by the Mexlcans. When
we entered the harbor not a soul was in
sight on shore nor in the town and the
first thing any one knew of us was a
shot from a six inch gun that shook out
all the echoes OF the surrounding hills.
We fired eleven shots, "a Commodore's
salute and were only 81 minutes doing
1t. When the Mexicans returned the
fire they were about % minutes and
the shots sounded like blanks Out of a
shotgun and no wonder for the IN
ment of their crazy fort is two old
mounted howtzers, survivors OF the
Mexican war.
They have refused us coal and pro-
visions and there is a hot time on this
ship and the Mexicans are being blessed
by the crew in all the choice vocabulary
OF the Navy language. When you have
bean soup, beans. salt pork and beans
and bareback for a few days you natur-
ally resent this kind OF procedure.
They have t~elegraphed to the Gov'ts at
Mexico and Washington and we may
get what we want. An English cruiser
is expected tomorrow and coal is being
made ready for her, but we are supposed
by these people to be at war with Spain.
This letter will be carried hy stage in
land to the railway and may reach you
about Christmas, or at best the 18th OF
Dec.
The thermometer stands at 104 Fair.
in the shade. in a cool place in the hold
of the ship,twenty feet below the water
line with an electric fan going, and the
perspiration is running off me in great
shape. l am in the coolest place in the
ship, with the possible exception OF the
Admiral's cabin.
We were running full speed ahead
yesterday and | went down to see the
engines. They were pounding away in
good shape with men watching every
bolt and crank pin and dropping oil
everywhere but always in the right
place. The old Chief stood calm and
cool headed while everything whirred
and pounded around him.
The low pressure cylinders are 70 in
ches in diameter an there are two more,
one go and the other 48 inches, this is
one engine only. We have two, with
two propellors connected with the en-
gines by u ten-inch shaft. These little
toys have been going 200 hours without
even slowing down, and for six hours al
full pressure, full speed and forced draft.
In the fire room the firemen and Goa
passers were in shoes and pants. | die
not stay but a moment, it was no Fair,
in there. When a fireman or coal pass
err comes on deck you must look closely
to tell who he is for coal dust and heat
make him a thing OF strength and
beauty,-I don't think.
l have found the hardest worked man
on the ship and the easiest billet as well
The Captain is the former and the Chap
lain the latter. One has the wreght Of
the whole ship and the lives of 300 men
in his hand and at sea is seldom, if ever,
Ill f.o,, b;a Jrooooe Tho Cbaplaiu