The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-08-12
IN EYES OF VAN"
Letter at Last From the BaIt-
more Literary Man.
A CLEVER AND GOSSIPY STORY
Not a Man Faltered- Some Fare
welIs-"Can't Lick an American
Tar''-ManiIa Easy Prey.

Tar'-ManiIa Easy Prey.
There has for quite a long time been
| general inquiry as TO why a letter on
the battle of Manila had not been sent
on by J. ]. Vanderveer, the real liter
ary man of the L. S. Baltimore. ''Vau"
was editor here of Sea Breezes and the
! Siren, both ship papers. Besides he
was the moving spirit in the shows
given in the Hawaiian Opera House by
bIuejackets. Van" is a joyous, clever,
well educated young fellow who is
studying law while he acts as petty
officer in the Navy. He had an idea
when he left here that there would be
trouble in Manila. In fact he one even
remarkable forecast of the future in
Guiding the operations and results of
Admiral Dewev's campaign. Mr. Van
derveer has written at last a most in
teresting letter to his friend, Mr.. J.
BearwaId, of the Hawaiian Gazette
COmpany's job offices. From on board
the Baltimore, under date of July 4,
Manila Bay, Mr. Vapderveer sends the
following:
My Dear Friend:-NO doubt you
think | have forgotten you, but | have
been so busy that l have little time for
letter writing. We are lying here do
ing nothing but having night watches
on the lookout for torpedo boats, which
the Admiral thinks there are still one
or two left.
Our boys did nobly. [ must say that
1 did not see one among them who
was the least bit excited. On the con
trary they all seemed eager for the
battle. There were, no doubt, a few
of us who felt decidedly queer when
the first shot was fired at us from the
forts at Corregidor, but when dawn
broke and the Spanish fleet was in
sight, no one thought of anything but
putting a shot where it would do most
damage.
was on the bridge with the captain,
and when the flagship signaled to
prepare ships for general action" the
only thing l thought of was that It
seemed strange to me that the Admiral
would have us tackle them on an emp
ty stomach. Rather a peculiar thought |
before q battle, but we never for mo- |
ment doubted our ability to thorough |
Iy wipe their fleet out.
We were Of course, surprised hat |
we suffered no loss of life. There was |
not a man among us who did not eX
pect that at least fifty would be killed, |
and many were the jokes made about
making wills Remember this was
less than two hours before the actual
battle, so you can imagine the Hare
devil nature Of the majority Of the
men. OF course there were few who
took it seriously, and wrote last ieL-
ters to mothers or sweethearts, but
they were few indeed.
What told on us most was when we
were passing the forts 1t was as dark
as pitch, and we were supposed to he
passing over mines, tOrpedOes and OJn-
ar engines Of destruction.
1t is all over now, but looking back.
one cannot help recalling these IitCIe
things. Just think of the poor fellows
down in the engine room and the fire
room. In both these places the ther-
mometer registered over 145 degrees
and at no time during the day was il
less than 120. If a shell had struck a
steam pipe or one Of these boilers,
these men would never have lived TO
tell of it. as they were battened down
by heavy iron gratings which could
only be lifted from the outside.
Kelly and Walsh Of HOngkOng are
getting up, at least I am getting it up,
O. handsome leather bound souvenir of
the battle, containing many Ilus-ra-
tiOns in half tone, a full description |
Of the battle as [ saw it from the