Washington sentinel., 1899-02-04
wLth Dewey at Manila.

Or stood on the bridge beside Dewe
l. during the whole Of the fight, ha'
s, ing been playfully appointed tn
. commodore's aid tor the occasion
4, The most striking part Of MI
y SbckneY's article is the modes
y paragraph which tells how Com
y modore Dewey was fearfully an
y wonderfully seasick during TIL
4 whole Udttle.
;, "About 4 o'clock the commo
dore's Chinese servant brough
= him some hot coffee and hard tack
- Now, unfortunately the commo.
t dore had been drinking cold tea al
! frequent intervals during the night,
: and the coffee did not make a sat
istactory combination The result
was that hall an hour before the
opening Of the battle Commodore
Dewey was as completely upset as
II he HAD been a youngster just
going out OF port into a heavy sea
on his FIRST cruise. AT any rate, he
threw up nearly everything except
his nerve and his fighting spirit. l
mention this untoward incident
merely to indicate how little con-
ducive to an undisturbed mind
we're the commodore's physical
conditions. Itwas doubtless due TO
This fact that he was perhaps lit
tie less suave than he usually has
been during my acquaintance with
him. The bursting of the mines
and the opening guns Of the battle
did great deal to restore his good
humor, but he undoubtedly was in
considerable physical discomfort
during the whole OF the acti on."
1t is too bad, but the story ac.
cepted by the whole world OF the
withdrawal from the heat Oft en-.
gagement to give the men break |
fast must fade out in the cold light |
OF historical accuracy. Mr.. Stick |
ney says:
81 do not exaggerate in the least |
when l say that as we hauled off |
into the bay the gloom on the
bridge Of the Olympia was thicker
than a London log in November.
Neither Commodore Dewey nor
any OF the staff believed that the
Spanish ships had been sufficiently
injured by our fire to prevent them
from renewing the battle quite as
furiously as they had previously
fought. Indeed, we had all been
distinctly disappointed IN the re-
suits of our fire. Our proiectiles
seemed to go too high or too low
Just as had been the case with
those fired at US by the Spaniards,
times the commodore had
expressed dissatisfaction with the
failure OF our gunners to hit the
enemy. We had begun the firing
at too great distance, but we had ,
worked IN further on >
a:h OF the turns until we were
within about twenty-five hundred I,
yards at the close OF the fifth round.
At that distance, in a smooth sea, :
We ought to have made a large per.
,entage Of hits; yet, so far as we =,
;ould judge, we had not sensibly q,
,rippied the foe. Consequently ,
Commodore Dewey hauled out =
nto the open bay at the end OF the :
18th round to take stock OF ammu. :,
Iition and devise a new plan Of :,
tack. >
"As l went aft the men asked h
ne what we were hauling off for. a
hey were in a distinctly different II
umor from that which prevailed n
n the bridge. They believed that e,
1ey had done we'll and that the o.
ther ships had done likewise. The is
olympia cheered the Baltimore n,
nd the Baltimore returned the r.
heers with interest. The gun w
aptains were not at all satisfied sL
ith the results Of their work. ~
Whether they had better knowl RI
1ge Of the accuracy Of their aim h,
Ian we had on the bridge, or 70
hether they took it for granted IN
lat the enemy must have suffered m
.verely after so much fighting, l tb
D not know; but at any rate they te
ere eager to go on with the bat -,
E and were confident of victory. Iif
told one Of them that we were th
erelY hauling off tor breakfast, m,
hich statement elected the appeal oI
Captain Lamberton as he came a.,
ist a moment later: -,
" For Gods sake, captain, don't m.
t US stop now. To hell with =,
-,
"When l told the commodore
at l intended to attribute our
to the need for break an
st, he intmated that It was not pc
after Of much importance what de
ar0n 7 uava 60 lopcy as I did nOE | b.y