The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-06-11
MARIETTk'S TRIP.
Details of the Gunboat's
Great Voyage and
Happy Arrival at
Key West.

| dark last night and anchored off Fort
| Taylor. AT daylight his morning the
| Associated Press launc went out TO tne
Armenia. hailed a sailor on deck, asked
him about the trip and learned OF an al
venture the Armenia and her consort, the
| auxiliary cruiser Yosemite, had at elgh1
o'clock the previous morning with a sup
posed Spanish cruiser. painted black. Ine
Armeria had pressed on to- Key west,
the Yosemite o~verhauling the supposed
Spaniard. The Yosemite had just arrived
in the harbor and was in the ofing with
the Indiana and Minneapolis. She a not
yet anchored and was moving slowly
| about, as if waiting for somebody. Farther
| out. some ten miles, could be seen. the
black smoke of an approaching steamer,
which the Yosemite seemed to be watch
ing. The Associated Press launch headed
for the Yosemite, but before reaching her
the incoming steamer had come into out
line, presenting an unfamiliar appearances.
her build and color being unlike that of
any of our fleet. She was painted black,
and was carrying man-of-war signals. The
launch lost all interest in the Yosemite
and followed the tranger into port, but
did not read her name, in small letters on
the stern. until she had come to anchor,
then the word Marietta was made out.
She was the famous gunboat that made
the circuit of the Horn with the Oregon.
The launch was alongside in a moment
The officers declined to receive visitors
until the gunboat had reported to the
c-ommandant of the port. In answer to a
question they replied that they had no
news at all; that they had not sighted
half a dozen vessels since they left San
Jose, March 16. and had seen only one
ship since leaving Rio Janeiro, May s..
The officers inquired eagerly for news.
They said they had had nc information
about the war except the first bulletin
announcing Dewey's victory at Manila
the reporter odd him the full extent Of
this victory; told them of the lombard
ment OF Manarlzas, that affair at Garden
as, where the Wfnslow was trapped and
Ensign Bagley and four men killed; of
the cable cutting episode at ~Cienfuegos;
of the battle of San Juan; of the trapping
of Cervera's fleet. and the fighting now in
progress at Santiago. The officers and
crew crowded around the stern Of the
beat and listened to the recital, except of
the arderas tragedy, with laughter and
exclamation of surprise and satisfaction.
The launch hurried to shore, sent over
the wire a bulletin announcing the arrival
of the gurJboat, and a longer despatch
describing The voyage, and then returned
to the Marietta with a lot of newspapers.
The reporter went on board and was
taken to the messroom where the officers
gathered about him. Tell us every
thing" they said; 1--WE have been out of
the world for ten weeks" So the report
er gave a brief history of the war down
to the present day, speaking especially
of the battle of San Juan, at which he
had been present; of the death of Ensign
Bagley, who was well known to the Of
fcers, and one of whom he was a class
mate, and giving a list of the ships with
Sampson and Schley at Santiago, on the
Havana blockade, and in the harbor.
Just after the Marietta anchored the crui-
ser Montgomery came in with the tor
pedo boats Foote and Rodgers OF eitter
flank. With the large number of ships al
ready in the harbor the new conner made
a lively scene, and the Marietta's officers
asked particularly about certain ships
that could be seen from her decks, nota-
bly, the big Indiana and Minneapolis, in
the ofing, and the Vesuvius and the old
fashioned Lancaster, close by. The Of
icers, after getting an idea of the pres
emit state of affairs began to think of the
folks at home, and inquired about able
facilities.
The reporter told them that in every
town in the United States with over 500
1o,,ln%;1n +L1 M r;attotc arr,vo1 hod al
ready been bulletined. and that it was
not necessary to send word home to re-
lieve anxiety. Some of the officers
asked if the arrival would be bulletined
even in Brooklyn, where one of them
lived, and was assured that it would
They were very much relieved to learn
that a rumor published in the Brazilian
papers that Marietta had been unk had
papers that the Marietta had been sunk
had received no credence in the United
States.
On her voyage the Marietta watched
eagerly for the much talked of Spanish
torpedo boat Temerario. said to be ly-
ing in the river Plata to intercept the
Oregon and the Marietta, when they
should come up from the Straits of
Magellan, and were disappointed in not
seeing her. The Temerario would surrey
have been sunk. the Marietta's officers
say. Coming from the Brazilian coast,
the Marietta took the Providence Cnan-
mel and saw no American warship until
yesterday, when she fell in with the
Yosemite n the Armenia. The Yose-
mite held her up very promptly, hosting
the American flag and making signals
which the Marietta did not understand.
Finally, they we're able to converse in
the wig-wag tongue, and the Marietta
learned how thoroughly out of date she
was, with her black paint and old sig
nal code. The Marietta reached this
harbor without further incident. The
officers and crew had a great lot of LETT
tiers to send home-good, fat letters, in
spite of the uneventful nature Of the
voyage.
The crew had a very serious grievance
which they asked the Associated Press to
ventflate. They considered hat the off,
GERS were not bold enough. The reporter
gathered from their talk that they con-
sidered 1t wauld have been the proper
thing for the Marietta to have secuted
about for Spanish ships and brought in
a few prizes, or else to lave passed close
to the shores of Porto Rico and una and
put a few shots into the hated rival. It
is doubtful If the naval authorities would
have approved such a proceeding, but the
Marietta's men were looking for fight.