The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-03-05
.AsTAIK WITH CAPT. EVANS.
EUCE N SKILL OF THE NAVY IN
THE WAR nth SPAIN.

- N-@'Nf
eams on from Washington this week with Con-
gheasman Bromwel OF this city to be the guest
Of honor at the Washington Birthday colebra-
tion Of the Stamina League Republican Club
aud has since been made much OF at the clubs
and In society. es specially as he is the first of
Vns notabl, naval commanders OF the Spanish
war TO visit this city. Everywhere he has been
praised to tell the story OF his experience.
SYou employed us in TINT affair with the
Spanish and We think we did o good Job Of It."
he said in answer to one remark. But we
had two excellent bosses-the clear-headed
Ohio man. Mckinley. and the practical Yankee
LoDg; the latter OF whom let the navy attend
td its Gown. business while he attended to his.
We ofthe navy had felt for two years that war
was Inevitable and had been quietly preparing
foreit at your expense and at the risk Of being
court martialed out of the service II IL should
not come. About the only difference between
the condition OF tho navy n very few months
before the declaring Of war and when IL was on
q war footing was that IL had increased by n
second or two theispeed at which it could load
and FIRE q shotted gun. Twenty hours after
the declaration Of war the last cargo of spring
chickens had passed into Havana harbor from
Florida for many a long q day. II one OF the
three or four shots fired by the Spanish at us
or as a warning when we were first sighted of
Havana that night had struck us Havana
NSNNu tAN oOVh NhNoh '0t'Ao - wv
had been ordered not TO fire on the city. but
weidId not interpret this os an order not to
return fire.
II consider It a remarkable record in sea-
mnnship that during all our manpuvrinR last
summer no two ships collided. Luck seemed
10 be with us. too. AS an instance OF the latter
"a the fact that Spanish Gunners one day land
ed and exploded three heavy calibre shells on
the Iowa In the verv midst Of my crew Of 800
-A~T ysN,.k - 40 Akn Frnt.attaa hnd hAan thrnrrp
into a closely crowded hall or lecture room.
and not a man was seriously hurt. One OF the
EXPLOSIONS blew of the hats OF sixteen OF my
men and I was amazed to discover no blood
shed when the smoke cleared away.
An experience new To me was having the
iowa put on picket duty when we were watch
ing Cervera. All the fellows who have written
that kind OF books say that battleships must
be taken thirty or forty miles from shore at
night, anchored first at one point and then at
another. so that the enemy cannot locate them.
Admiral Samspon signalled me to take the
Iowa up the harbor mouth. How far up must
] Ro?' ] rsignalled back. / confess. with consid-
cradle anxiety. as besides Cervera's feet. the
forts and batteries. there were doubtless
countless torpedoes In there. 90 In until
you can distinguish the movements OF a small
rowing beat in the harbor. cam back the an
swer. How long must I stay?' I again anx-
lOutly olkudilcu. AL ulkIb' WdS III dubWcI.
I went up that hartor until I could not only
plainly follow the movements Of any mail
boat ahead Of me with my glass. but could no.
tice the blinking eyes OF the Spanish ~sentries
rs my searchlight struck them. For thirty
nine nights we kept that kind OF watch on
Ceryera. The answer to the oft-repeated ques-
tion of why did Cervera try to come out in the
daytime 10 found In that nightly vigil. Had
he tried 1t at night his squadron would have
h-A& ILL., -sA~ H. H. Al
Sampson before he had fairly left the hnrbor.
we all regretted that the Merrimac had to
be sunk IN the harbor. We felt that sooner or
later I'VE. would have to no in there after Ger
vera and the wreck would. Of course. be In our
way Therefore we were all deeply thankful
when we learned that she had sunk In a way
not greatly to Interfere with a passage upthe
harbor. The reason the Merrimac was sunk
there at all was that Admiral Sampson re-
ceived orders to hurry to the Mediterranean
to intercept Camara's feet and the blockading
feet at Santiago would necessarily be greatly
weakened accordingly.
when Sampson siRnalled asking for volun-
teers 10 sink the Merrimac and the matter was
announced. tho nineteen. officers and 800 men
Of the Iowa at once volunteered. The work OF
formally enrolling volunteers was then begun.
but when $50 names had been inscribed as
quickly as pen and Ink could be used I saw the
folly OF such wholesale efforts and siRnalled the
query How many volunteers do you want?'
One seaman was the response. Finally two
men were chosen from whom to make the final
choice. One OF these. Paine. was with me
when I had that little trouble with the Chilians
and I knew he was all right. Immediately tho
crew begun making bets as to who would be
tho successful a~spirant for the honor which all
80 greatly ,coyeted. I called the two men.
Paine and Murphy. up and said to them: Now
ladB, whoever goes with the Merrimac goes to
almost certain death. There is not one chance
in a million that a man OF the expedition will
escape death Here Paine said to Murphy. it
having been decided that the matter should be
settled BY tossing a coin: III give you $50
for your chance Murphy declined and won
the toss. I'll give you $3.50 II you'll let mt go
In your place. said Paine. Murphy declined
the bride and tears coursed dow poor Paine's
cheeks from bitterness of.disappointment as
he Joined the rest of the crew.
The entrance OF the Merrimac into the har-
Dor under fire from every gun 1t seemed OF
Spanish feet and fortress was the most terri
BILE sight l ever saw. can best.describe 1t as
hell with the lid off. The next morning all we
could see with our glasses were the tops OF the
Merrimac's masts to which was fastened some
thing resembling a raft. There was no sign
OF life and, OF course. we thought 1t all up with
our poor comrades. I had received orders
from Sampson to allow DO boat to approach the
wreck. and soon ny executive officer report
cd to me that n steam yacht was drawing near
70 1t and asked II he should open Are.
For some reason or other that / cannot OK
plain, / decided for the time being to dlsobey
orders. and told my officer to walt n bit. Then
we saw the Yacht take on board from the raft
/ have mentioned our comrades under Hob
son. Had l fred. OF course they would have
persisted. as would have Admiral C~ervera. who
was on the barge. I only learned on reading
Lieut.. Hobson's recently published story that
he and his fellows had been clinging for hours
with their hands to hat raft. with bodies to-
tally submerged. when the barge rescued them,
] have thanked God many times since that
refrained from firing on that barge.
The night before Cervera made his dash nv
executive officer reported TO me indications
Of unusual activity In the harbor. He called
my attention to the several tall columns OF