The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-05-02
NEWS GATHERING AT SEA
rs NOT ALTOGETHER A LIFE OF
PLEASURE
Ex-FILIBUSTER DAUNTLESS
Is the One Vessel Afioat Which the
Spanish Sailors Would Like
to Capture

Associated Press Special Wire
ON BOARD THE DAUNTLESS dis
Patch boat of the Associated Press), mid
way between Havana and Key West, Fla,
April 2S.-(From a staff correspondent OF
the Associated Press. Copyright, 1898, by
the Associated Press.) News gathering at
sea has its attractions, but 1t also has its
drawbacks. Incident after incident could
be written describing how, out of semi
darkness, rushed long, black torpedo
boat, and the hoarse order to heave to was
followed on the instant by threat of d shot
Then there have been times when all steam
was called for because we were in grave
doubt whether an approaching stranger
was an American or Spaniard, and in no
doubt as to what our fate would be should
the unknown vessel prove to be Spanish
gunboat, for the Spaniards would rather
gather in the Dauntless than almost any
other craft that sails the seas.
OF Matanzas the other night a man-of-
warsman assured some Of the crew of tho
Dauntless that two Spanish gunboats had
broken the blockade at Cardenas and were
cruising, hoping to capture any unprotect-
ed craft that might be flying the United
States colors. The report was probably
false, but its effect upon the crew was far
from reassuring, and it was a comfort,
the next night, Off Havana, to be hailed by
the Indiana, ordered to heave to and board
ed by an officer who evidently wanted to
be assured of our identity. The big battle
ship gave sense of absolute security, and
Of tho ha1fayec Sno n
lard brave enough to come within score
of miles of this and similar instruments Of
protection and of offense.
At sea and visiting them day after day,
the personality of the warships grows on
you, and your regard is totally different
from that which you feel toward the same
vessels when they are in a home harbor
or peacefully cruising up. and down n
friendly coast. If they seem grimmer, they
certainly seem greater for defense, for
honor, for success. If any person has the
idea that the ships of the blockading squad
ron off Havana remain punched together
opposite Moro and the harbor's mouth,
he should at once change his notion. The
Wilmington, on the east flank, and the
Iowa, on the western, could not have been
less than thirty miles apart Lookouts on
the lofty tops, with long telescopes, can
sweep the coast line for many miles, with
out letting the smallest coasting vessel es-
cape their observation, and as long as the
blockading vessels are within signaling dis
lance of one another the longer the block
aiding line the more effective it Is.
Newspaper boats give the fleet much
trouble at night. 1t is unintentional, OF
ht,t trtIo n tho vxror
are as dark as pitch at night, and the cor
respondents boats often run directly with
in the prescribed limits Of approach be-
fore they have the faintest notion of the
proximity Of cruiser or battleship. The
moon which Is nightly waxing in power.
will help greatly in quick Identification, but
the Dauntless recently succeeded in get
ting an order for night signals which will
be better still.
Sitting near the Dauntless' pilot house
recently, off Moro, with pair of marine
glasses that brought the saffron bastions
within half a mile, 1t was impossible to
keep from specializing on the condition of
things within that city, where for two
months many of US lived in patience and
the hope of a bombardment which 1t now
seems is not to occur. We know as well as
II we were eye-witnesses that famine is
within; that it is not confined to reconcen-
trados, most of whom must be dead by this
time, but embraces the lady of quality and
her liege lord, the professional man and
his family, the small storekeeper and his
brood, the artisan and his helpmate.
AS yet the Spanish officer and the
wealthy contractor have food enough or
the wherewithal to buy it.
Beyond question a large majority of the
Havanese would welcome the lombard
ment they daily expect. If assured that
when it was over and the city in the hands
Of the United States forces food conditions
would change and the awful uncertainty as
to what the next hour may bring forth