The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-11
Hubbard and
Dunkerton
.S0RELY BOTHERED,
But Home at Last With
Bodies Of Five Heroes.

A. F. Dunkerton and George w. Hub
bard arrived in Worcester yesterday
morning with the bodies of five soldiers,
Fred B. Taft and ]. C. King of c Com
pany, and f. A. Hakanson and Silas
Undergraves, Jr., of II Company, which
were all recovered on or near the bat
tlefelds Of Cuba. The bodies of James
w. Wheeler of c Company, and Harvey
Randall of II Company were brought
as far as New York city
Both MI. Dunl1erton and Mr.. Hub
bard We're very successful and identi-
fed the five bodies beyond any ques-
ton of a doubt. This fact was pleasant
news to the relatives and friends Of the
dead boys, whose bodies We're at last
taken from q far off cline and buried
where they We're born, under the pro-
lection Of the grand old enlblem-the
stars and stripes of freedom.
The stories told by both gentlemen
of the trip to Cuba and the return to
America is very interesting.
The story briefly outlined is as fol-
lows:
They left Worcester Sentember u,
and sailed from New York Wednesday,
September IA, and encountered a. rather
severe hurricane. The vessel weathered
the SIOIUl, anu AlESSfS. t1uDDaEQ ana
Dunkerton were not at all seasick.
On Wednesday, September u, the
vessel arrived at San Juan, which is
on the north coast of Porto Rico. The
OLDHAM ran within half a mile of Moro
Castle, and the yellow flag OF Spain was
still flying, with no sign of the glorious
stars and stripes The captain of the
ship refused to permit any one to COM
| munieate with the shore, and after a
eton Of favxr hn11rS thav left for
Ponce.
On September % a very heavy storm
arose, and the OLDHAM was obliged to
| lay to until the 29th, when they started
for Santiago. They arrived in Santiago
on the 30th, and passed the wreck of
the Merrimac and the Mercedes. The
OLDHAM landed at Santiago on Sunday,
| October 2.
| Monday morning Mr.. Hubbard and
! Mr. Dunkerton started their work of
| finding the bodies of the Worcester SOL
der boys. They had considerably diff
! Guilty in locating many of the graves
| owing to the fact that they could not
rely upon their information, which had
/ been given by Worcester people before
they started away from home. Fully
| ten days were lost looking for the
! graves in the wrong locality Rain and
| electric storms also interfered with
| the work.
The body of Fred B. Taft was located
without any difficulty as the Worcester
men met an old nurse who had been
| with Taft before he died, and had as
| sisted at his burial. This nurse went
| with the searching party and led item
directly to the grave. Tafts body was
| not exhumed for three or four days.
At Santiago a dispatch was receiver
from Marvin Games family, which di-
rected them not to bring back Games
| remains.
Mr.. Hubbard found a letter on the
Santiago battlefield to w. w Eddy,
/ c Company, Worcester, which had been
written to Private Eddy's relatives at
F'itchburg, and probably dropped from
the writer's pocket
The work of recovering the body
progressed steadily after a start lad
once been made, and on Monday, Oc-
| tober 18th, the last body was exhumed.
That same day the Worcester men We're
very much disappointed, as they missed
the steamer Chester. which sailed on
the evening of the 18th. The next trans
port was not due until the goth. Frank
Sessions and Fred p. Dean of Worces-
ter arrived in Santiago as Messrs.
Hubbard and Dunkerton We're about to
leave that city, and as the empty cas-
kets brought by Messrs Sessions and
Dean We're going ashore, seven cas-
|
exhumed in Cuba, were carried down
to the vessel. Messrs. Hubbard and
Dunkerton sailed on from Santiago
city. The Worcester party left Santa
go October 81, and made a stop at Ia
vana to land a number of government
officials, who We're in that part of The
country negotiating with the Spaniards
in the interest of Uncle Sam. Bcth
of the Worcester gentlemen passed
within stones throw Of the historic
Maine, and they also enjoyed the many
interesting sights along the Cuban
coast They had a rather rough pass
age all the way to New York city
which they reached Tuesday morning
The bodies were Theoretically sealed
! in metal easkets and the Worcester
gentlemen met with no end of redtape
l-health-board regulations in the me-
tropolis. Messrs. Hubbard and Dunk
erton arrived early yesterday morning
tired and weary, but very much pleased
at the success they had met with ii
their undertaking