New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-06-26
HEROISM OF CAPT. GRIDLEY.
HOW he WENT INTO THE BATTLE OF
MANILA-HEAT WORSE THAN
SPANISH GUNS
Frcm a Special CorrespondentJ

Orcm Special Correspondent)
Naeasaki, Japan, June 4, via San Francisco
rpne 21-High on the list OF the heroes Of the
,o,,le OF Manila should be written the name Of
contsjn Charles V. Grdley. veteran commander
of the flagship Olympia He went into the fight
q dangerously sick and left 1T a physical
wreck.
-Four months before the fight Gridley~was at
tackled with an affection Of the liver 30 common
IN the Orient and grew seriously Ill that on
the eve Of the Manila battle the bed and not
the bridge was his place. But he was not the
man to heed the official medical condemnation
nassed upon him. and insisted upon remaining on
his ship He suffered intensely from the heat
and when It all ne completely COL
lapsed
Admiral Dewey ordered him home. and pro-
vtded the transport Zahro for his removal TO
Hong Kong. There he transferred
stretcher TO the Occidental and Oriental steamer
Coptic bound for San Francisco He was ex-
ceedingy III between Shanghai and Nagasaki.
and for a time DR.. Maloney the ships surgeon.
who remained at his side almost constantly.
despaired OF his life.
He rallied however. and when seen this after
noon by d Tribune correspondent, he some
what improved. In his eyes. however there
burns the fire OF fever His face is drawn and
his hands are ebony.
HIS VIEW OF THE ISLANDS
II feel sorry" Captain Gridley said. FOR those
boys they are sending out to Manila They
in more danger from the scourges OF the country
than from Spanish bullets. The heat is simply
damnable, and they TO sicken. The
feet has been singularly free from Illness, but
fear II will come. l have desire to crticise
any plan of the Government or to stand against
the wishes OF the people. but see nothing in
those islands for us. except a coaling station.
Not one in ten Of our best men could survive
there. However. suppose we must have troops
there for time. but the sun, and not the Span
lard Is their enemy.
CONDITION OF MANILA.
81 do not believe Manila will be bombarded
unless the Spanish fire The city Is aoso-
lutely blockaded from the and shut in from
the rear. The insurgents are attending TO that
They got two thousands stands Of arms them
selves recently. Admiral Dewey gave them five
hundred. and they also got part OF the NUM-
tions Of war taken at Cavite They have sort
O, headquarters there now. There have been
few events since the defeat Of Spaniards. Beef
has gone TO 81 80 a pound. and other staples are
equally high
The Baltimore and the captured revenue
cue the captured American ship Saranac and to
attend 10 the gunboat Ecano The latter was
one Of the small warshps not at Manila There
are some fourteen small ones left. They are
scattered about the islands. and include the
Cebu which is dismanted. above the bridge near
Manila
The captured transport Manila will probably
be sent TO San Francisco. She is fine 1.lOo-ton
ship. and her cargo will be made up Of what
was captured Hundreds Of new Mauser rifles
and all kinds Of supplies had just reached
Manila before got there. and they all fell Into
our hands with the arsenal I got six new tor
pedoes and other supplies for the olympia and a
large quantity Of stuff that was useless de-
stroyed by the fleet We have however devot
ed most OF our time 10 the blockade. and not a
single vessel go; In.
HOW THE FIGHT WAS FOUGHT.
LAS TO the engagement. there is little TO say.
We went over TO Manila and were not expected
] guess II was a case Of mana with
mics and they did not expect We had
hard time keeping the Olympia down TO the
SLOW speed required 10 carry out our calcula-
t.ons for arriving.
Il had 10 thought ot mines or torpedoes. and
W were IN the van. We up close 10 Ma
nila and when found the feet was not there
c.rcled around 10 Cavite. whore We knew they
would be We engaged them at once. / was
with Farragut at Mobile Bay. and did not ex
Ject 70 see anything OF the kind again. Strange.
bat Z was the thirty-fourth anniversary Of
Mobile We went right IN 10 finish them. and
! atc every shot count"
TIE Admiral handled the fret TO the bes: ad-
vantage. and the work before 1t done ef
fectivcy I; would be impossible 70 single out
Individual cases Of bravery. I could not on my
ship and the Admiral could not IN the feet. I
an proud 10 say every did his duty. They
were all AZ their posts and answered 10 every
call OF duty We We're hit thirteen times, but
were not injured and fired forty-three times
f.1rn s-.nch ard 27S times from G-inch guns.
! think I am ir for II personally, but could
not leave the snip before the battle Several of
our fellows. including Captain Wilder. Of Bos-
ton. had mpeted their time. but they stayed
and fought it out. / can see only one result 70
this war We superior TO the Latin and the
Bourbon and must conquer"