The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-05-27
THE OREGON,S "TRIP.
captain Expected Momentarily to Meet
 Spanish Squadron

spanish Squadron.
 Key West, Fla, May 26.-On leaving
 the Barbadoes the Oregon, which ar-
 rived here to-day, sailed almost direct-
 ly north, going to the north of Porto
 Rico about 150 miles. The northerly
 course was continued until the Bermu-
 das were sighted, when she sailed
 northwest for the east coast of Florida.
 Captain Clark explains that the reason
 for going to Jupiter inlet instead of
 putting in at Key West was to enable
 the Oregon to be ready to go either to
 Key West or Hampton Roads in short
 order after getting official information
 from Washington.
 Captain Clark had no knowledge af-
 ter April 30 During the entire trip the
 crew expected momentarify to meet the Spanish squadron. Only once low-
 ever, was there call to arms. This
 was shortly after midnight on leaving Rio Jenerio. Asthe Oregon was plough HIS lHiOOSlI IIC UldCh GQudUOTldl sea, dark object was discovered ahead ap- parently giving chase. The call to gen. eral quarters was sounded; the men
 rolled out of their berths with the en-
 thusiasm of boys on circus day
 morning and almost instantly every
 gun was manner The Oregon left her course and circled around her black pursuer, only to find it a harmless bark instead of a Spanish warship. Back to their berths crept the men with mutterings of disappointment and. dis
 gust. At Rio Janeiro Captain Clark was told that the Spanish torpedo gum
 boat Temerario was following kim. This gave new interest to the trip for a day and a night but at the next port of call he was informed that the Teme- rario had gone into drydock at Rio Janeiro just after the departure of the Oregon.
 The trip through the Straits of Maj gelan was interesting. It was at this far southern point of the American hemisphere that the crew expected to receive a visit from the Spaniards. In many places the channel was very nar- | row and crooked, with hidden bays and covers and back of them mountains towering into the clouds on either side. Moreover, they were in the land of icy winter For more than a month they had been sailing under tnopical skies and now the blasts of December wllis- tied among the crags above them and the ice at night lay on the decks. But the Oregon did not lag. Captain Clark had no idea of giving the Spaniards, if they were there, a chance to catch him mapping. If the great battleship
 was to be caught it should be catch
 on the wing. The engines were warm ed up to their best work and wherever it was safe and possible the Oregon bowled along at fifteen knots an hour. The machinery worked well, and on oc- casions the speed was increased three knots in a few minutes. A stop of three days was made at Sandy Point. where coal was taken on and other supplies secured.
 The Oregon's twenty-five officers and her crew of 425 seamen were well and happy when the battleship cast anchcr off Sand Key lighthouse at half-past six o'clock this morning. The Oregon is in first-class shape and ready for another cruise as long as the one just ended. The excellent condition of the | men after their sixty-six-days' voyage is perhaps even more remarkable Throughout the entire trip there were
 no cases of serious illness on board and | the men are as eager for immediate | activity as if they had just come from l a vacation in the mountains.