The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-11-29
IN an Unseaworthy Condition With
over -Four Hundred Soldiers
on Board.
UNDER COL. WEBB HAYES.
Men Bailed Out the Vessel, Standing
in Water Up to Their Necks
Food Supplies Ruined.

banIeS OF the IulTLy-uEbI lILuhtEy pH
board, has arrived here. She narrowly
.scaped disaster. The officers and SOL
Blers we're for twelve days balling with
buckets. The steamer was unsea-
worthy, uudermanned and short of pro-
vlsIons. Her engines broke down and
she rolled three days in a typhoon.
MANILA, Nov. 2s, s:15 p. n.--When
The Manuens 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
ienvy was under arrest and according
10 Colonel Webb Hayes report the
chief engineer would also have been un-
Ter arrest II 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
their danger, while experienced seamen
would have deserted the ship and taken
10 the boats In mld-ocean. The Man
uenz is 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.-
OOO and they claim efforts were made
to sell her to the government for $780,
600. She started from San Francisco
accompanied by the transport Pekin,
which carried the remainder of the reg
iment and encountered. heavy seas to
Honolulu, without accident. After
starting It developed that she was un-
dsr-manued mud soldiers had to be de-
tailed to act as-hremen, coal passera
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
Manuenz left Honolulu with less than
half her crew.
The captain Of the transport. Novem-
ber II, told Colonel Hayes that the ves-
sci had sprung a leak, and investIga-
tIon resulted in finding several feet of
water In her hold. The steam pumps
we're tried but failed to work and there
we're no hand pumps on board. How
ever, forty.six buckets were found,
others we're improvised, and the sol
dIers not employed In working the ship
we're organized into Ave 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 wIndlass. The
longest time shift could stand was
two hours, and. often the period was
not longer than half an hour. The
baling continued until the ship anchor
ed here.
The same day the leaking was dis
covered. the machinery collapsed and
the electric lighting plant and evapor-
ating, dIstllllng and refrIgeratlny APP
paratus failed to work. There were no
lamps and the few candles found were
exhausted after a 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
hIarmIngly.
The water rose rapidly and the ball
ing force was doubled. But the buckets
were gradually smashed. and barrels
nnd boxes were substituted for them,
the men working in darkness, planks
and pieces OF iron shaftlRg being VIo-
lently washed among them. The hre-
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 1t the engine
stopped. The officers then held a coun-
ell and found that there were A2O per-
Uons on board, with llfebOat accommo-
datons for 2lS.
In the meantime the men below,
ignorant OF their extreme peril, were
passing buckets and singing What the
II Do We Care" while the ship roll
ed heIplessly on the ocean with matches
closed.
The heat was intense until the typ
hoon passed, and then the Pekln, which
had retraced her course about seventy
miles, came Hlongslde the ManuenS,
which was rolling so heavily that the
soldiers in the hold could at each roll
see the PokIn through the hatches
overhead.
Colonel lanes s Petit commander
Of the Thlrty-hrst volunteer regiment,
ordered tho MAnuenz to proceed to
Guam and await relief, but the captain
OF The Manuonz demurred, the officers
say because the government was rent
Ing the ship for $500 u day.
Throughout the remainder of the vOy-
age the engines Of the Manucnz failed
frequently and the ship would roll for a
Few hours while the engines were being
repaired Then the steamer would pro-
eeed again for q few hours.
The meat and vegetables rOlted be-