The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-10-09

~teiiigence. the information and the
courtesy of the seamen on the other
battleships is up to the standard of the
Indiana, IL certainly speaks well for
our navy. Here the Jackies nov the
technicalities of every gun, the mean
ing of every place and everything on
the ship. They have the small details
and figures at their tongues ends. They
tell you glibly that the Indiana has a
displacement of IL. 900 tons; that IL has
two 13-inch guns. four s-inch guns. four
6-inch guns. a Maxim and other rapid
firing guns; that there is a complement
Of nearly 600 officers and men on the
$50 feet of the ships length; he points
out the varying thickness and resis-
lance of armor which Is either one ex-
IRENE or the other, fashioned to resist
a shell absolutely or so thin as merely
TO give protection from the FEATHER
and offer no resistance to projectiles
In the hope that they will pass through
the vessel without exploding n exer-
cising their power to annihilate all
within a radius of so feet: he shows
proudly an anchor. a small boat. a
Gardner raDid-fre gun IN life pre-
servers taken from Cervera's ships.
Finally he brings the visitor face to
iace with the mascot Of the Indiana,
Miss Mamie
Mamie Is a brown goat. She was
taken on at Newport News before the
Indiana sailed for Cuban waters. She
has been true to her ship and her mess
mates all through the ~bombardment Of
San Juan and the destruction of Ger
vera's fleet: her reward is the freedom
of the Indiana and the affectionate re-
gard of every one on board.
The aspect of the Indiana as she lies
at rest is grim and stern and metallic.
She Is MOI a pleasure craft; she is a
machine. Everywhere on the deck the
dark nose of a CUR points sharply sea-
ward. There is nothing else-no. avn
ings, no chairs. no conveniences. Be
low ship Is a labyrinth Of mechanical
i~ntricacies. Nothing but men and ma
chinery. But these men must sit, eat,
sleep. The Jackie in charge of the Wis
itor smiles. He unhooks a board from
the ceiling. Ii drops apart and forms a
table at which 20 men can find places.
He opens a locker and displays ham
mocks for hundreds folded and packed
in a hidden cubby hole scarcely big
enough for "A luxurious mattress. II
the visitor Ii interested he may see the
lockers. scarcely larger han q cubic
foot. which contain all the personal
property of the vainest seaman on ship
board. The locker is the sailors trunk.
his c~lothespress. his bureau and his
~storehouse: he uses Ii TO sit on at
meals. and when he squats on the deck
to write a letter he uses II as his writ
ing desk. Space has to be strictly econ
omized upon aman-of-war.
From without the Indiana's steel
plates display but one evidence OF the
enemy's swork in the ''dished armor
plate" But in the captains cabin are
other evidences of the presence OF the
Spanish shell which plunged through
the deck n exploded W the Of
ficers' quarters and Captain Taylor's
cabin.
One fragment OF the shell entered one
of h chests holding the silver service
and struck the punch bowl. bending its
normally round proportions into an
eiliptical shape. Captain Taylor will not
have the punch bowl repaired. In It's
present distorted shape IL will always
remain a souvenir of Santiago, and
while repairs will restore every other
portion OF the great battleship. 1t will
remain a perpetual reminder OF the In
diana's experiences in The war Of SIS.
Some wonder has been expressed that
the silver was aboard ship during the
IL Is customary for war yes
sells 10 leave their treasure ashore when
action IL anticipated. Captain Taylor
srgued- however, that THE silver ser !