The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-07-09
plunkng away with The main battery.

plunking away with The main battery.
Very soon a Spanish gunboat hauled
down her nag. She came in in broad day
| light, colors flying. and signals up TO the
arsenal at CSvite- I saw the poor devil
| the lieutenant in command. later in the
| day. We collared the gunboat and pa
rolled him and his officers and men He
told me that he had been ON a cruise IN
! the Islands. and had no suspicion that war
| existed when he came in He added that
he was between the devil and the deep
sen; he went 10 Manila he would be
| hanged for surrendering. and If he went
outside Cavite he would have his throat
cut by the insurgents. He begged me
| to intercede and have him sent TO Manila
| by boat as the lesser of the two evils.
LAS the Spanish navy here has been
pretty thoroughly destroyed. our chief
danger arises, not from regularly armed
ships, but from the possibility that some
torpedo may be launched at US by an i'm
prOvised tug-tOrpedo-boat. The striCtest
| watch is kept day and night. The men
sleep on their arms and beside the bat
terry ali night. Ammunition for the quick
fire guns is on deck all the time, as
we'll as one round for the big battery.
Moreover, picket launch is kept moving
about or or around the squadron all night
Yesterday was our turn for this duty.
1 went with our party, and in addition
TO the strain brought on by trying 70
see things when it was so dark naught
could be seen. our feelings were all har-
rowed up by our being fired on by the
Concord. 1t showed that a bright look
out was kept on the Concord, but 1t Jared
on our nerves all the same.
They say Spain has sent two battle
ships to retake the Philippines On the
face of 1t, the yarn is improbable. She
ought TO be kept busy by our home fleet.
All the same it is not to be denied that
two armor-clads would give us our work
all cut out. Olympia, Baltimore. Raleigh
and Boston ought to 90 them, but it
would not be an easy task Anything
from one-pounder up goes through US
anywhere In our sides, while even our
biggest guns will only probably pierce the
armor-clads, and then only at short
range. Our land forces cannot come up
for a month yet, and until then we can
but walt
IF are disposed to be scepticaI about
our earning our pay. give yourself our
bill of fare for your early breakfast next
week: No fruit, no butter you can eat,
no bread save bareback. black coffee. no (
cream or milk. My boy brought me eggs !
scrambled the other day. and said I'd bet I
ter try them; he did not think they were /
good. 1 explained that that was ore !
thing for which he was shipped. He pro- /
tested that he had done his best; had |
opened eight before he found any that T.
would scramble. Just then he put them
before me; I agreed with him-they were /
not good.
"Apropos of trials to the palate and !
stomach incurred in campaigning in the
tropics. fancy no cold beer. no cold any
thing. drinkng-water always warm. and
always tepid. This is Saturday night,
and as usual we drank the sailors toast:
Our wives and our sweethearrs-may the
sweethearts soon be wives and the wives
always sweethearts.' It was drunk in
very warm 'fzz'
Tomorrow early we go for a weeks
picket duty between the mouth OF the
Baya and Manila. We learn today that
potatoes are $50 hundred and meat a
couple Of dollars a pound in Manila.
Our uniform these days is gauze under
shirt,( white trousers and tennis shoes.
and a pith helmet Only the most per
sstent attention keeps me up 10 the ex-
ercise mark. and without exercise I
should surely have trouble with my
health. I now toddle up on deck for my
daily stroll"