The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-05-27
A REMARKABLE VOYAGE.
Battleship 0regon's Trip From San
Francisco to Key West.
HER MEN ANXIOUS FOR A FIGHT.

Only once on the Voyage Were the
Men Called to Arms, and They Were
Sorely when Their Sup
posed Enemy Proved to Be Bark.
Key West, May 27.-Captain Chase
Clark and other officers of the oregon
came ashore yesterday and reported
all well on board and the ship in good
condition.
The Oregon left San Francisco on
March 49, arrived at Callao on April
4, left there on April and passed
Sandy Point on April 3O The battle
ship reached Bahia on May and
touched at Barbados on May IS. The
battleship arrived off Jupiter light on
May "a and then communicated with
Washington
The oregon picked up the cruiser
Marietta tSld the dynamite cruiser
Nictheroy (renamed the Bufalo) be-
tween Rio Janeiro and Bahia, but she
parted company with them after few
hundred miles.
The Oregon coaled four times on her
trip-at Callao, Sandy Point Rio Jan
eiro and Barbadoes-and reached here
with plenty of coal and water on board.
The first news the officers and crew
of the Oregon had of the Manila vic
tory was at Rio Janeiro where Captain
Clark received a telegram from Wash
ington.
Alarming rumors met the Oregon at
every port At Rio Janeiro her crew
| heard a report that dynamite had been
found in the coal, and at Callao the
officers were informed that plans had
been discovered to blow up the ship.
All these startling reports proved to be
groundless.
On leaving the Barbados the oregon
sailed almost directly north, going to
the north of Porto Rico about $50 miles.
| The northerly course was continued
until the Bermudas were sighted, when
she sailed northwest for the east coast
of Florida. Captain Clark explains that
the reason for going to jupiter inlet
instead of putting in at Key West was
to enable the Oregon to be ready to go
either to Key West or Hampton Roads
in short order after getting official in
formation from Washington.
During the entire trip the crew ex-
pected momentarily to meet the Span
ish. Only once, however, was there
call to arms. This was shortly after
midnight on leaving Rio Janeiro. A
dark object was discovered ahead, ap-
| parently giving chase. The call to
general quarters was sounded, the men
rolled out of their berths with the en-
thusiasm of boys on a circus day, and
almost instantly every gun was man
ned The oregon left her course, and
circled around her black pursuer, only
| to find it a harmless bark instead of
| Spanish warship. Back to their berths
crept the men, with mutterings of dis
appointment and disgust.
At Rio Janeiro Captain Clark was
told that the Spanish torpedo boat
Temerarlo was following him, but at
the next port of call he was informed
that the Temerario had gone into dry
| dock at Rio Janeiro just after the de-
parture of the Oregon.
The cruise through the Straits of Ma
| gellan was most interesting. 1t was at
this far southern point of the American
hemisphere that the crew expected to
receive a visit from the Spaniards. In
many places the channel was very mar
row and crooked, with hidden bays and
| coves, and back of them mountains
towering into the clouds on either side
Moreover they were in the land of icy
winter. For more than a month they
| had been sailing under tropical skies,
and now the blasts of December whis-
! tied among the crags above them and
| the ice a night lay on the decks.
But the Oregon did not lag. Captain
! Clark had no idea of giving the Span
| iards, If there We're any, a chance to
catch him mapping. Wherever 1t was
safe and possible the Oregon bowled
along at Is knots an hour. The ma
chinery worked well, and on occasions
! the speed was increased three knots in
a few minutes
The Oregon's 25 officers and her crew
of 425 seamen were well and happy
when the battleship cast anchor off
| Sand Key lighthouse yesterday. The
! Oregon is in first class shape ana ready
for another cruise as long as the one
! just ended The excellent condition of
! the men after their 66 days voyage is
perhaps even more remarkable.
| Throughout the entire trip there were
no cases of serious illness on board,
and the men are as eager for imme-
diate activity as if they had just come
| from a vacation in the mountains.