The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1898-07-02
Gunner,s story or,ne E,eh,.

Gunner's story ofthe Fight.
Wabash, Ind, June 17.-Lynk Smith, a
gunner on the flagship Of Admiral Dew
ey, the Olympia, a resident of Peru,
writes long account Of the battle Of
Manila to his relatives. After describ-
ing i'll detail the voyage from Hong
Kong past Corregidor island, he says:
"At 4 o'clock in the morning, after
slight shower. the moon shone out haZy,
a great point in our favor, as we could
keep sharp lookout without using our
searchlights. At 4:10 we took our sta
tions ut the guns, magazines and shell
rooms. | was in the 6-inch shell room
aft, twenty feet below the water line,
and Immediately above me was batch
opening six feet square, which led to the
spar deck, through which the shells were
hoisted. 1t was just breaking day and l
saw our battle flag going up on the miz-
zen mast. There were three cheers as it
went up, and Immediately the enemy
opened on us, and from that time until
7:16 there was continuous laundering of
the big H0tchkiss guns. The heat below
was terrible. The perspiration poured
down my bare back. The thermometer
in the room registered 127, and clothing
would have been intolerable. We were
considerably excited at first, and be-
lievo we should have been quite as warm
had the shell room been incased in an
iceberg, but gradually we became &C.
custOmef, and. after ten minutes sur
rounded by fifty tons of shells that a g.
FOUNDER would have touched off, did
not have time to think of the heat. The
call was unceasing for shells of all
kinds, shrapnel, arm0r piercing and
cannon, and was kept busy selecting
the projectiles, dragging them to the
hoist and attaching the tackle. The
shells weighed from $50 to 26O pounds
each, but BY the end OF the fight they
seemed to me to weigh 10000 pounds.
1t was 6:28 when 1 took my place at the
gun, No. 32. 1t is a 6-pound Hotchkiss
and can be handled easily, and is almost
as accurate as common rifle. / was
second gun captain, and it was my duty
to eject the exploded shell, drive home
the fresh charge, close the breech plug
and adjust the sight to the range called
out through the sentries. every two
minutes by the range finder. One call
would be for 5000 yards: another for
1900 yards and another for 1,5OO yards
off the port beam. adjusted thirty
shells. When took my place at the
gun stared through the dense smoke
and saw a ship ahead of mo as large as
the Concord. The range came, FL 700
yards" and | gave it to her. Before !
had time to fire second shot came the
call, "Torpedoboat 920 yards;" while |
was waiting for her to come flush with
my quarter the boat was hit BY an 8-incll
shell from turret gun Of the Olympia
and blown clear out Of the water.
saw the most wonderful shooting at the
Castillo, which came out from behind
the masonry OF a fort. The range, $50
yards," was called, and almost instantly
two 8inch, seven 5-inch and ten 6
Founders had plugged her full Of holes
while an 8.inch shell moment later
actually tore its way through her entire
length, burst her boilers and sank her
We were struck quite often, but were
not hurt. The Spaniards could not gel
| tho range, firing high and sending mos
/. Of their shots through the rigging"