The evening times., 1898-08-17
HOW wADMIRxB'sCHLEYF19HTs
A Boston saalora Tells How He Be-
haxed In Action.

A Boston sailorH Tells How He BE-
h.xes tn Action.
Boston. Aug. .H.--A Boston boy. wht
has been in active service on the United
States steamer brooklyn. Commodore
schley's flagship. during the blockade OF
Santiago, and has just returned home
gives the following glimpse of life aboard
the cruiser;
'The pride Of every jackets hear
aboard the Brooklyn is the good ship her.
self, and no one can gainsay from hel
record that the admiration Is we'll placed
Dating from our arrival Off Santiago. the
| Spaniards afioat and ashore considered
her speed and battery formidable foe
and concentrated their efforts in every
engagement to destroy or disable her In
every combat our position was in the
hottest line Of fire at a close range where
our guns were able to do terrific damage
yet on cease firing We retired without
serious damage to any vital spot The
destruction of Cervera's feet is no ex-
ception, for although the Brooklyn was
hit over forty times not a single shot
mad disabling effect. All on board ex.
cept poor Ellis must have borne charmed
lives. for In action the water around US
fairiy boiled with misplaced Shells
Luck was hT no means the sole ele-
ment Of our safety; the magnidcen,
handling of our ship by her commander
Is entitled to greater credit. He is a
past master in the art of maneuyeriug
MS methods and dodges would rattle the
gun captains of the ablest foe Even In
those under bis command. the unexpected
was always occurring. Under the most
trying circumstances he never for an in
s'aht forgot the limits with which a gun
can safely be fired, the comfort of his
men and the protection of the engines. the
heart OF the cruiser.
In action the commodore is an in
spring figure. Naturally of a nervous
ana energetic temperament under fire
ne exhiDits the opposite characteristics
and is the coolest and most phlegma,ic
man on the ship. -D:scarding the custo-
mary station in action, the forward
bridge. the commodore chose to direct
the Brooklyn and other ships under his
command from the forecastle, a most ex-
posed and dangerous position Accord
ingiy, under his personal supervision the
ships carpenter built him a circular p,at
form. four feet high and three fee, wide.
around the coming tower. From this
elevation our gallant commander, fear
less of his own safety and with rare COM
manding presence, won glory and dis
ttnc,ion fo- the Brooklyn by decisions
rapidly made and never altered
Beng questioned one day by Capt
Evans as to why he chose such a peculiar
position. he laghingiy replied: It's
handy TO talk business with Capt. Cook
In the tower and To great distance from
the sick bay. which in war time. my
friend. may receive our unwilling atten-
tion at any time
He by no means cpntinei himself to
this little structure: and his orderly was
more apt 10 find him close to the side
watching events through the glasses or
dodging ike forward s-inch gun as 1t
trained from side "a side. This gun was
also located on the forecastie and the
;urre; drew a great deal of the fire ow-
ing 10 It's exposure adding greatly TO
During the bombardment OF June ls
he was standing on the starboard side
of this gun. when the turret officer Lieut.
Simpson, decided 10 train almost directly
aft in order TO drop a shell on Quay
Smith. In the. scramble for safety as
the gun swung around the commodore ran
into the senior medical officer, who was
standing behind him interested specta-
tor of the shooting. The doctor sprawled
fat while the. commodore managed to
keep his feet. Turning 10 the breathless
surgeon, he said: Doctor. / am very
sorry. but just the same ii is pleasant to
have such positive evidence that you are
near at hand II needed
Commodore Schley Is a lover of close
fighting on the trip down from Glen
fuegos to Santiago, when We momentari-
iy expected TO sight the Cape Verde fleet,
the commodore and navigator were en-
ga ged in conversation on the bridge.
81 suppose you will fight al about 5000
yards If We meet" queried the navigator
Hardly replied the commodore. IF
they don't run ii will be 1000 yards or
less
THE men hearing of this from the
on watch who had caught
every word said. delegated spokesman
10 inform the commodore if l,00o yards
is too long a range TO put them out OF
sion, We unanimously agree. with
your permission, 10 make IL a hand-to-
hand fight
This pleased him very much, though !
his reply was simply, 4 am with you
Our commodore lent a willing ear TO !
our complaints and requests-he was the |
easiest officer for bluejackets to see. SO
old-timers said. that ever held commis-
SION 1t was through his efforts that |
Downing at one time commissary yeoman |
Of the Brooklyn, and who hanged himself |
on Delng arresteu as d Spdiisti aPS q.
Washington. was dishonorably discharged |
from the service. Downing while on the
Brooklyn. fed the men outrageously and |
helped himself to the mems ration money
The men in body went TO the commo-
lore and stated their case in full He |
was much surprised and indignant over
he circumstance. and sent Downing over
he side in less than twenty-four hours.
This Is but one of the instances he acted
IN promptly and firmly. All the way or
lot at ALL he said once about ques-
ion of tactics. but it well applies to his