The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-11-29
SOLDIERS AND SAILORS
Compelled to Work Hard on the
Passage to Manila.
KEPT BAILING TWELVE DAYS.

of Provisions--Thc FIRST Assistant
Engineer Arrested.
Manila, Nov. 29.-The transport Man
auense, with Lieutenant Colonel Webb
Hayes and three companies OF the
Thirty-frst infantry on board. has ar
rived here. She narrowly escaped dis
aster. The officers and soldiers were
for 12 days bailing with buckets. The
steamer was unseaworthy. underman-
ned and short Of provisions Her en-
gines broke down and she rolled three
days in a typhoon.
When the Manauense anchored in
Manila bay yesterday 80 days from
San Francisco there were several feet
of water in her hold and 400 greasy
grimy, hungry, exhausted soldiers and
sailors who had been passing buckets
of water since Nov H. night and day
First Assistant Engineer Dunleavy was
under arrest, and, according TO Colonel
Webb Hayes official report, the chief
engineer would also have been under
arrest If there had been any one to re-
place him.
The colonel's report also declares
that the captain of the vessel told him
that the only thing which brought
them through was the fact that the
men were greenhorns and failed to
realize their danger. while experienced
seamen would have deserted the ship
and taken to the boats in mid-ocean.
The Manauense is q chartered ship
flying the British flag. She belongs to
a firm of which Senator Perkins, Of San
Francisco, is alleged to be a junior
member. The officers say the firm
bought her for $45, 900, and they claim
efforts were made to sell her to the
government for $15O,000. She started
from San Francisco, accompanied by
the transport Pekin, which carried the
remainder of the regiment, and en-
countered heavy seas to Honolulu.
without accident. After starting It de-
veloped that the Manauense was un-
dermanned. and soldiers had to be de-
tailed to act as firemen, coal passers
and walters, and to do other work Be-
fore reaching Honolulu the crew con-
cluded that the ship was not safe and
the majority agreed to desert. Though
they were closely watched, many Of
the crew succeeded in getting away
and the Manauense left Honolulu with
less than half her crew.
The Captain of the transport on Nov.
II told Colonel Hayes that the vessel
had sprung a leak, and an investigation
resulted in finding several feet of water
in her hold. The steam pumps were
tried, but failed to work and there
were no hand pumps on board How
ever, 46 buckets were found. others
we're ipprovised, and the soldiers not
employed in working the ship were or
ganized into five shifts, and stripped
and forming lines, they began bailing,
the officers working with the men, pass
ing the buckets, which were sent up to
the deck by a windlass. The longest
time a shift could stand was two
hours, and often the period was not
longer than half an hour. The bail
ing continued until the ship anchored
here.
The same day the leaking was dis
covered the machinery collapsed and
the electric lighting plant and evapor-
ating, distilling and refrigerating ap-
paratus failed to work. There were
no lamps. and the few candles found
were exhausted after a few days. Dur
ing the last week of the passage the
Manauense was in utter darkness at
night. She had been rolling in heavy
seas all the way, but on Nov. % she
encountered a typhoon and pitched
and tossed alarmingly. The Pekin be-
came separated from the Manauense in
the storm.
The water rose rapidly and the bail
ing force was doubled. But the buck
cts were gradually smashed and bar
rels and boxes were substituted for
them. The firemen could only feed the
fires by being lifted on the shoulders of
other men through water waist deep.
The typhoon lasted two days and a
half, and in the midst of it the engines
stopped The officers then held coun-
Gil and found that there were 420 per-
sons on board, with lifeboat accommo-
dations for 213. In the meantime the
men below, ignorant of their extreme
peril, were passing buckets and sing
| ing What the - do we care" while
the ship rolled helpless on the ocean,
with matches closed.
The heat was intense until the ty-
| phoon passed, and then the Pekin,
which had retraced her course about 70
miles, came alongside the Manauense,
which was rolling so heavily that the
soldiers in the hold could at each roll
see the Pekin through the matches
overhead.
Colonel James s. Petit, commander
| Of the Thirty-first volunteer regiment,
| ordered the Manauense to proceed to
| Guam and await relief, but the captain
| of the Manauense demurred, the Of
ficers say, because the government was
renting the ship for $500 per day.
Throughout the remainder of the
! voyage the engines of the Manauense
| failed frequently, and the ship would
| roll for few hours while the engines
were repairing. Then the steamer
would proceed again for few hours
The meat and vegetables rotted be-
cause of the failure of the refrlgerators
and was thrown overheard. After the
storm the water supplied to the ship al
Honolulu had to be used for the boil.
ers, and there was little or none fol
drinking. In fact, 1t is asserted thai
during the last week of the voyage the
men lived almost entirely on whisky
beer and hard tack.
The officers and soldiers were utterly
exhausted when they reached Manila
They declare the engineers were gross
ly incompetent. The officers say the be
| haYior of the troops was beyond praise
For days they worked In the dark, suf
locating hold with water sometimes VI
10 their shoulders and planks washing
about in a manner dangerous to lif
and limb. The officers took the lead II