Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1899-11-30
A THRILLING VOYAGE
Soldiers Had to Work Hard on the
Trip to Manila.
KEPT BAILINa TWELVE DAYS.

dermanned, UnseaSyOrthy and short
of ProvisiOns-The First Assistant
Engineer Arrested.
Manila, Nov. 29.-The transport Man
auense, with Lieutenant Colonel Webb
Hayes and three companies of the
Thirty-first infantry on board, has ar
rived here. She narrowly escaped dis
aster. The officers and soldiers were
for II 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 typhoon.
When the Manauense anchored In
Manila bay yesterday, 33 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. II, night a2d 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 cOlonels 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 chartered YES
sci, which left San Francisco accom-
Yaanfod NV fISa Che
arrived safely at Honolulu, but there
half of her sailors deserted declaring
her unseaworthv. and the vessel left
Honolulu with half a crew
The Captain of the transport on Nov.
II told Colonel Hayes that the vessel
had sprung 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
were improyised. and the soldiers not
employed in working the ship we're or
ganized into five shifts, and, stripped
and forming lines, they began bailing,
the officers wo king with ihe men. pass
ing the buckets, which were sent up to
the deck by a windlass. There were
no lamps, the candles were exhausted,
and for the last week the men worked
In darkness. On Nov %, during a
| typhoon which lasted two days, the
Pekin became separated from the
Manauense. The water rose rapidly
and the bailing force was doubled.
The firemen could only feed the fires
by being lifted on the shoulders of
other men through water waist deep.
The officers held a council and found
that there were APO persons on board,
with lifeboat accommodations for 213.
In the meantime the men below, ig-
norant of their extreme peril, were
passing buckets and singing What
the - do we care"
The heat was intense until the ty-
phoon passed, and then the Pekin,
which had retraced her course about 10
miles, came alongside the Manauense.
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 a 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 refrigerators,
and was thrown overheard. After the
storm the water supplied to the ship at
Honolulu had to be used for the boil
ers, and there was little or none for
| drinking. In fact, it is asserted that
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 captain of the ship promised the
men IS cents day for bailing, but he
now proposes to pay them $3.50 for the
trip. The soldiers talk of attaching
the ship.