The San Francisco call., 1898-08-03
TARGET PRACTICE PREVIOUS TO THE
 TAKING OF GUAM
First Expeditionary. Force Ex- peCted to Fight for the
 LddrOneS.

Is in 13 degrees north latitude, little
 south. of Manila. The run down was
 not without grim preparation for what
 every man on the fleet believed might be a sharp battle. Executive Officer Blocklinger, his hand upon every part
 of the ship. doubled the drill of the I crew without seeming to inf1ict any hardship upon the men. They jumped to. their work. in a way that told of a
 realization that the time for business
 had come. On Monday, June 13, there
 was more, Wigwagging to the, fleet, and
 presently the Peking steamed ahead of
 the Charleston and began dropping
 boxes overheard for targets. The crews i sprang to their guns in way that
 would have done your heart good to
 see, and on the. Peking the soldier boys, f crowded into the rigging, cheered the
 Jackies on as the subcaliber bullets
 from the big guns went skipping across
 the blue waves. There was more of
 this target practice on the 18th, and on
 the 17th of June heard on board, for the first time, the boom of big guns.
 The ships had been hove to in mid
 ocean, and Captain Glass, calling away | his gig, was rowed across to the Austra- l lia for a consultation with General An
 derson and the fleet, commander prior to the attack on Guam. There he was presently joined by Captain Gilson and Captain Smith from the Picking and
 Captain Pillsbury from the Sydney Then the transports ran ahead mile
 or. more while the Charleston dropped. | a target .overboard and proceeded to demolish it with her main battery It was wonderful shooting Sixteen shots in all were fired, two from each gun, and if a Spanish ship had been lying
 where the target was not one single . shell of the lot would have failed to de- stroy her. It would have been wonder full work for any, crew in the navy. When 1t is considered that many of the Charleston's crew were listening to the roar of these guns for the first time the matter goes beyond mere wonder They were green boys month ago, and they were behaving now like veterans.
 Captain Glass came back to the ship 2 after a couple of hours, the several commanders returned to their ships, and the. fleet was. put in motion again.
 The island of Guam was not far to. seek now. Two days more of sailing would fetch it, and whatever chanced there the line of action had been agreed upon.
 .'On Sunday afternoon, June 19, the ships were hove to once more, and Pilot Hallett was taken on board the Charleston from the Australia, and Father McKinnon from the Picking. Naval Engineer. Leopold was also taken from the Picking, to act on the cruiser in case of emergency.
 Then the. ships were squared. away again. Navigator Braunersreuther had . figured that he would get the landfall in the island of Guam at daylight on June 20. It was precisely 5 o'clock on the morning of that day when the cliffs of the island came into view through d tropical shower. The whole squadron ? approached the coast rapidly to point where the houses of Agana were ! plainly visible about three miles off on 2 the port bow. Here the, transports dropped behind, while the, Charleston ran close in shore to look for a gum boat, finding no sign of one. It was seen by the nature of the place that if any .Spaniard .lurked about the island, lie would be found in:the har-s bor of San Luis de Apra, six miles to the southward. To San Luis; de Apra, therefore, the Charleston took her way, the transports following at a safe dis tance. The days entertainment was about to begin.