Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-05-21

Wnen Dying oiIo "
W. Eriend to Go to the Aid Of
in ~ of the Man Who
MS il the Boiler Room When
.Ss shell Crashed Into 1t and Dis
abisd the Winslow,
III west Fla, May 20.-For an hour
,.t,re the passenger steamer Key West
I. her dock for Tampa, man wear
Uniform of a naval seaman sat
80 ~. AGAINST a great bale of cordage
,,,.inp out past the harbor and the dis
~. KEYS toward the gulf. He was
,.-rl;,m OHearn, of Brooklyn, and one
..o survivors of the torpedo boat
T,usfov's crew which passed through
...r;ble storm of shot and she'll that
.sa in from the Spanish batteries
N. bay OF Cardenas. He was going
for a rest. BY him in a big tin
u.as rhe Winslow's parrot which
sa irself famous on the day OF the
+...le hv sbrieking and chattering like
demon during the whole engagement.
-. ssoraes and after much questioning,
o,1oarn told the story of the battle.
~From the very beginning he said,
81 -bink every man on the boat believ-
Il ya conld not escape being sunk and
.1.+ is what would have happened had
:. INIT been for the bravery of the boys
On tie Hudson who worked for over
or hour under the most terrific fire to
gqr us cut of range
WAS YOU ordered to go in there?" he
was asked.
Yes lust before we were fred upon
mo order was given from the Whining
ton
Was it a signal order?'
no We were near enough to the
Wilmington so that they shouted it to
US from the deck ~s
THROUGH THE MEGAPHONE."
DO you remember the words of the
command and who gave them?"
81 don't know who shouted the order,
but the words, as 1 remember them,
were Mr. Bagley, go in there and see
what gunboats those are We started
al once toward Cardenas rock, and the
firing began soon after"
What was the first you saw of the
fring?"
The first thing I saw was a shot
fred from a window or door in the sec
o1d story of the ssorehouse just back
Of the dock where the Spanish gun
boats were lying. l saw the flash and
the smoke and the same instant a
shell went Kissing over our heads.
Then the firing began from the gun
boats and from the shore. l don't
think any man can forget the sound
and the effect of shell and heavy shot
the first time he is under fire. 1t is
something terrible. When e. shell
passes close by you, you feel it, some
Thing like the effect of lightning when
1t strikes nearby. You feel as though
It had taken your head off First you
hear that awful buzzing or whining
!, is hard to describe, and then some
to wi IN, ha fo
and head. I noticed that day when
the shells first began to fly that the
boys threw their hands to their heads
every time shell went over But they
came 50 fast and so close that it was a
roaring, shrieking, crashing hell. l can
describe it no other way"
Where was your position?"
Il am the water tender" he said,
and my place was below, but every
BODY went on deck when the battle be-
gan. John Varvares, the oiler; John
D0nief and John Meek, the firemen,
We're both on watch with me and had
laey remained below they would prob
ably
NOT HAVE BEEN KILLED.
Alter the firing began I went below
again TO atteRd-to the boilers, and a
It" minutes later a solid shot came
easnlng through the side of the boat
ana INTO the boiler where it exploded
ana destroyed 70 of the boiler tubes.
Al nFSt 1t stunned me. When the shell
burst IN the boiler it threw both the
furnace doors open and the fuse from
'Ae smell struck my feet. Two pieces
OF The shell also came out of the door,
anu am taking them home with me as
souvenirs Of the war 1t was a terri
0'e crash and report altogether, and the
'oleF room was filled with dust and
seam. For several seconds I was par
"aLy stunned and my ears rang so
'0ua | could hear nothing. | went up
Oh the deck to report to Captain Ber-
nadou.p
what did you say to him."
l saw him near the forecastle gun
,4Np'ng about with a towel bound about
-'e 'elt leg. He was shouting and the
muse Of all the guns was like the con-
~ --uouS thunder Captain, shouted,
,'0 Forward boiler is disabled. A shell
''S gone through her. Get out the
,oss ne said, and returned to the gun
~9A'n l went back into the boiler
.9ou a1Q in a few minutes | went LID ON