The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-04
ON THE BLOCKADE.
AS Told by an American Naval officer
ON Duty Before Havana.
New York Times.

4N0W 1Ork Times.
l wonder if the good people at home,
from whose pockets came the sinewS of war,
FULLY realize all the discomfortS and tribula-
lions entailed upon those whose duty it is
10 maintain a strict blockade of the various
ports along the Cuban coast. How many
times at the mess table one hears a will
lngnesS expressed on the part of various in
dlVidualS to exchange all their debts for a
chance at a soda fountain. Still, the want
OF cooling beverages is, after a while, less
and less OF a grievance the earthen monkey
or water bag hung up in the air coolS
the water so that it quencheS the thirst, and
the appetite is less hearty than in our more
Draclng climate. Electric fans one of
the greatest and most endless sources of
relief and their cheerful buzzing lulls one
to sleep and makes him comfortable
throughout the night.
Sleeping below in the close confines of
hammock is not thought Of, and the decks,
particularly the poop and forecastle, that
are somewhat higher than the others, are
tnickly. peopled with sleeping humanity,
whom 1t is hard to move, even though the
there, and go below out of the rain" This
one has to do in spite of all. The surgeons
orders about keeping dry and not exposing
one self are very strict and are rigidly
carried out, backed they always are by
the full force of the captains authority.
w Aboq Ut s9ndqWn Out all lights" and In
which the lights about the decks are ex-
unguished, and blank metal shutters re-
usual running or steamipg lights are car
REQ, for 1T is all-important in this block
adlng that the position of the vigil keepers
should be kept from the enemy There are
two very important reasons, among a num-
per OF others, for these precautions One
Is tbs well that the enemy should not know
your exact location, lest you should be-
come too easy prey to his guns or his tor
pedo boats. Then, too, vessels approaching
nave to proceed cautiously for fear of STIR
ring up a hornets nest and should your
lights be showing they will know just what
to avoid.
Half the ships company are on duty at
a time, and those not on lookout or at the
guns OF the secondary battery are grouped
about the other guns of the armament
ready to spring up at a moments warning.
Orders to assemble for battle stations are
nardly necessary, except as an indication
or what the captain intends doing as long
before the call ceases the gun crews are in
readiness, and every coign of vantage is
occupied with men peering through the
darkness to get some kind of a notion of
the bearing of the stranger Many and
many an experience during the past month
or two tells of misunderstood signals, fol-
lowed by, a blank shot, and the order to
stir up all the fires and turn on the forced
draught ready for a chase. Occasionally
something more urgent than a blank cart
ridge has been used, but before serious dam
age has been done halls have been ex-
changed and doubts set at rest
Electricity here again has come to the
rescue and made an Interchange of signals
easier and more rapid than we have ever
had in former times. Still, if signals are at
all doubtful, everything is in readiness and
from the numerous instances of high speed
being quickly gotten up 1t would appear
as though every department was on the
qu1 viVe- Sail no! during the daytime
breaks up the stesta, causes the man-with-
the-shovel to work his bfawny body and
brings everybody to the ti2top of eXpec-
fancy. Away goes the cruiser, headed so
as to cut off the stranger, and when within
snort range, bang goes a gun, unsolicited, to
be sure, but its sound hardly dies away be-
6ewn his he efs fly his head sheets puts
brings his craft into the wind, where she
remains until boarded by boat from the
war vessel. If her papers are straight and
correct she is allowed to proceed, If any
doubt attaches TO them, the captain of the
cruiser judges as TO the extent she is in
voived. Should it be evident that she is
bit crooked, then an officer and half dozen
or more men are put on board and she is
ordered to port for adjudication
EV cry now and again a saucy little Span
lsh gunboat will poke her nose out from be-
hind the mangrove bushes or sugar cane
growing near the entrance to some one of
the blockaded ports and let fly shot at her
nearest jailer and then, as if kicked back
by the recoil of her own gun, fly at once to
taken at her. The SmokeleSS powder and
the far-carrying Mauser, with it's small
calibre bullets are also dangers that make
themselves heard and felt when one APP
dissipation of the smoke so follows the
noise of the discharge or the singing of the
bullet that IL is very difficult al times to To-
cate the offender and send him a similar
message. The Spaniards are rather ahead
OF us in this matter of powder, as with the
exception of one or two vessels we still are
supplied with the brown powder, and when
the wind is toward the enemy we cannot
fire with very great rapidity. for the target
is entirely hidden AT the present rate il
looks as though the war would be entirely
over before We are supplied with the most
modern aud approved appliances.