The Portland daily press., 1898-08-31
PRIZE MONEY FOR OUR TARs.
Sailors of Dewey's and SIMPSONS Fleet
VIII Draw Nearly 100000.

Prize money to the amount of $4,000
Is to bs distributed among the officers and
saileSs of Dewey's and Sampson's s fleets.
In addition to this, the value of the yari-
ous merchantmen prizes captured by the
Havana blockading squadron is also to be
paid to those who assisted in tho taking
of these vessels.
The eleven Spanish ships destroyed ut
Manila carried about 1900 men, The
bounty, therefore, will amount to ABOUT
5000, 900 of which Admiral Dewey gets one
bwentisth, or $4,000, and the balance
goes to It's other officers and men OF the
feet, according to the rules OF DIVISION.
The statement has been made that Dewey
would receive about S15o,00O. This is
mistake.
The sewn Spanish ships that Sampson's
feet destroyed at Santiago carried S,4oa
men, for whom bounty of S246, ooo Will
be ,psid. Admiral SIMPSONS share Will
he s,s. sao, leaving s23a, 79o for distribu-
tion among all the Others of the fleet.
Some neopIe who have not informed
4bemssfves uuon the subject believe that
the COufed crate cruisers captured more
nrjzes than the North did. Thls is mis-
taken idea, owing. no doubt, to the ex-
tensive depredatlons OF 1he naornus' aia
which destroyed many merchant veSSels,
the value of which amounted, With tnelp
cargoes to several million dollars, and to
the havoc caussd by the Alabama, which
took sixty-tlye vessels and property val
ued at Sc, ,0a0, 600 There were other cruls-
ers-6he Shenandoah, the Sumpter. the
NasiTyiIle, the Retribution, the Tallahas-
4y.A ,iolyo ar1u
much damage To our merchant marins.
All Of these cruisers were more or less
assisted and protected by England, and
the consequence was that the claims for
damages against that country were all
punched under the title of the Alabama
land settled the bill by paying $40, SOC, 600.
During the war there were 1,l29 prlz eS
brought in ty our navy. Two hundred
and ten of these prizes were fast steamers
nearly all carrying valuable oargoes.
There were also 355 vessels burned, sunk,
or driven on shore, or otherwise destroyed
The value of all the prize vessels and their
caraoes was $50, 000, 900. They were con-
demned in amounts agg regating S2S, 600.
900.
The Santiago de Cuba, side.wheel
steamer. was the great prize taker, I'm
assisted by any other vessel, she captured
thirteen prizes, aggregat1ng III value Si,,,
4D4, S41. On6.Qaal VI WuloA Woo oUoAooA
to her. No other vessel anywhere near
approached this record.
The largest single share of prize money
fell to the lot Of lieutenant Budd, vol
uuteer officer in command of the steamer
Masnolia. While on his way from New
York to join Farragut's squadron in the
uuif of Mexico he scooped in the steamer
Memphis. outward bound from one OF the
Southern ports, laden with cotton.
Strange to say, the Memphis had been
Sighted by another American war vessel,
sshose commander failed to take her in.
Had he been aware Of the fact that she
was the richest prize of the war. he no
doubb would have lost no time in over
hauling her. The expense of adjudication
amounted to sS2, 5Si, leaving net result
of S5f0,914.
The Magnolia also captured, without
assistance, the steamer Matagorda, the
net proceeds from which amounted to
sSs3 $685. The net total OF the two prizes
was 1864, 4S2. The law of prizes provides
that when the prize vessel is of superior or
equal force to the vessel making the cap.
ture, the entire proceeds shall be given to
the csptors; but if the captured vessel
he of inferior force then the captors shall
receive ons-hslf, the government taking
the other half.
Under the law, the Magnolia was award
ed ene-half the prize money, amounting to
S482, 2,241 which was ready for distribution
in Novem ber, 1863. Lieutenant Budd' S
share from the Memphis was S38, ,3ls. and
from the Matagorda S26, SIT, making a
total of Se4, $685.