The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-08-18

Jackey where his endurance, hi.
| bravery. and his loyalty were sorel,
} tried. (Cheers) feel that certain
! features in the recent incident in
which Jack played his part, anc
, played it we'll, should be referred to
In public manner. | feel it is nv
duty to refer to it here. 1t is known
to every one that when the call was
made for volunteers to 90 in on the
Merrimac, men fell over one another
in their haste to be accepted. On
the New York alone 40 men volun-
tcered before the order could be
passed that no more volunteers were
needed. When few out of this num-
ber had been assigned to stations on
the Merrimac, ALL in obedience to
orders, lay flat on their faces. Two
were stationed by the anchor great,
others by the torpedoes arranged
along the side, two in the engine
room. 1t was agreed by each one
that he should not even look over
his shoulder, no matter what hap
pened to the ship, to any of his COM
panions or to himself. If wounded
he should place himself in a sitting
or kneeling posture, or whatever po-
sltlon was necessary, so that when
the time for his duty came he could
do it to the best advantage. And so
they lay, each man at his post, and
under what difficulties you may un-
derstand when tell you that, out of
the seven torpedoes placed along the
side, five had been shot away by the
enemy's fire before the order was
given for the Merrimac's crew to
gather at the rendezvous on the
quarter deck. Projectiles were COM
| ing more as a continuous stream than
as separate shots. But, through the
whole storm, Jackey lay there ready
to do his duty as he had been in
structed to do it. There was not
only the plunging fires from the forts
on both sides, but terrific horizon
tai fire from the fleet in the harbor,
! and it seemed as if the next projec-
tile would wipe all the sailors out of
life at once. If ever feeling of each
man for himself feeling of get
away from this, anyhow was to be
justified it was justified then Not
man so much as turned his head.n
''Ihree cheers for Jackeyw howled
voice. Three big cheers filled the
throwing back his head and waving
his hand as he cheered.
Then, later, we were on the cata-
maran and the enemy's picket boats
came crawling up out of the dark
ness, the impulse was ust as strong
to slip off the raft and swim for the
shore, or for the entrance of the har-
bor. The simple order was given.
No man move until further orders
And not man moved or stirred for
nearly an hour.
''On that same afternoon, bv the
kindness of the gallant Commander
in-Chief Of the Spanish forces, Ad-
miral Cervera"- There were one or
two Kisses in the far corner of the |
gallery, and then cheering began and
spread all over the house. It rolled |
up and down, and the flags and hand
kerchiefs came out, and the man who |
had been calling for cheers for Jackev
asked for three cheers for Cervera. |
They came with a roaring American
good will, Mr.. Hobson joining in
them, as he had in that for the sail |
ors. ''When.' Lieutenant Hobson
finally continued, ''the party was in
prison, and through the kindness of |
the Admiral the mems clothing was |
to be brought to them from the fleet,
one OF the men, as spokesman for the
rest, was allowed to come over to nv
cell with a package Tor me. He said:
We would do it over again tonight,
sir (Cheers.)
The next day, when it seemed un-
certain whether or not remnant OF |
the 1nquisition was to be revived,
when the enemy did not know wheth-
er it was his fault or ours, that a
ship had been sunk, and rather In
clined to the belief that he had sunk
an American battleship and we were
the only survivors out Of several |
hundred. the men were taken before
the Spanish authorities and serious
and impertinent questions put to
them. Remember, they did not know
what 1t might cost them to refuse to
answer, Spanish soldiers of the guard
standing before them. making sig
niiicant gestures with their hands |
thus: (Mr. Hobson passed his hand
edgewise across his throat) our sea-
men laughed in their faces. (Cheers.)
Then a Spanish major questioned
Charette, because he spoke French.
and asked him this question::
What was your object in coming
IN here? and SO long as live | shall
never forget the way Charette threw
back his shoulders. proudly lifted his
head and looked him in the eyes as
he said:
In the United States Navy, sir,
1t is not the custom for the seamen
to know. or to desire to know. the
object OF an action Of his superior
officer
Take this simple incident, and.
after all, in comparison with the
whole war. very simple incident,
the sinking Of the Merrimac, and
make your own deductions as to the
quality of manhood in the United
States Navy. You will have then a
more or less complete but certainly
not an overestimated idea of Jackey.
''Experience with the soldier has
naturally been restricted for me un-
der existing conditions. but recently
from my prison window. which was
but little in the rear of the Spanish