The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-11-29
n an Unssaworthy Condition With
over -Four Hundred Soldiers
on Board.
Under COL. WEBB HAYES.
sI.p Bniled out the Vessel, Standing
in Water Up to Their Necka
Food Supplies Ruined.


board, has arrived here. She narrowly
,scapea disaster. The officers and SOL
alers were for twelve days baIling with
buckets. The steamer was unsea-
worthy. undermined and short of pro-
vlsons. Her engines broke down and
Ihe rolled three days in a typhoon.
MANILA, Nov. IS, s;15 p. m.-When
HE Manuenz anchored in Manila bay
thus morning thlrty-three days from
San Francisco, there were several feet
Of water in her hold, and 400 grlmy,
greasy, hungry. exhausted soldiers and
sailors had been passing buckets of
water since November II, night and
day. First Assistant Engineer Dun
lenyy was under arrest and according
10 Colonel Webb Hayes report, the
chief engineer would also have been I'M
ter arrest Il there had been any one to
replace him.
The coloners 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
;helr danger, while experienced seamen
would have deserted the ship and taken
10 the boats in mld-ocean. The Man
uenz is a chartered ship flying the Brit
ish 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.-
600, and they claim efforts were made
to sell her to the government for $780,
900. She started from San Francisco
accompanied by the transport Pelsin,
which carried the remainder of the reg
iment and encountered, heavy seas to
Honolulu, without accident. After
starting, It developed that she was UNI
der-manned and soldiers had to be de-
tailed to act as--iremen, 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
Alanuenz left Honolulu with less than
half her crew.
The captain OF the transport, Novem-
Der II, told Colonel Hayes that the yes
sci had sprung a leak. and investiga
ton resulted in finding several feet Of
water in her hold. The steam pumps
we're tried hut failed to work and there
were no hand pumps on board. How
ever, forty-sIx buckets were found,
others were improvised, and the SOL
dIers not employed in working the ship
were organized into FIVE shifts and
stripped and forming lines, they began
bailing, the officers working with the
men, passing the buckets, which were
sent up to the deck By a wtndiass The
longest time shift could stand was
two hours. and, often, the period was
not longer than half an hour. The
baiing continued until the ship anchor
ed here.
The same day the leaking was dis
covered. tho machinery collapsed and
the electric lighting plant and evapor-
atIng. dIstllllng and refrigeratInS APP
paratus faIled to work. There were no
lamps and the few candles found were
exhausted after few days. During
the last week Of the passage the Man
uenz was in utter darkness at night
She had been rolling In heavy sens all
the way, but November %, she encoun.
tered typhoon and pitched and tossed
The water rose rapidly and the ball
Ing force was doubled. But the buckets
We're gradually smashed, and barrels
and boxes were substituted for them,
the men working In darkness, planks
and pieces of iron shaftIng being vio-
lsa,ly washed among them. The aTe-
men could only feed the fires by being
lifted on the shoulders OF the other
men, through water waist deep.
The typhoon lasted two days and a
half and in the midst OF It the engine
stopped. The officers then held coun-
eli and found that there were 40 per-
'ons on board, with llfeboat accOmmu-
dations for 2lS.
In the meantime the men below,
ignorant Of their extreme peril were
passing buckets and singing what the
Il Do We Care" while the ship roll
ed helplessly on the ocean with matches
closed.
The heat was intense until the typ
hoon passed, and then the PekIn, which
had retFaced her course about seventy
miles, came alongside the ManueRE,
which was rolling 10 heavily that the
soldiers in the hold could at each roll
Bee the Polhn through the matches
overhead.
Colonel lanes g. Petit. commander
" the Thlrty-hrst volunteer regiment,
ordered tho Manuenz to proceed to
Guam aud await relief. but the captain
Of the Mnnuenz demurred, the officers
'ty, because the government was rent
Ing the ship for $500 day.
Throughout the remainder Of the voy-
age IN" engines Of the Mnnucnz failed
frequently and the ship would roll for a
few hours while the engines were being
repaired, Then the steamer would pro-
coed again for few hours.
The meat and vegetables rotted be-