The morning news., 1899-01-28
NTH DEWEY AT MANILA.
rs AND ANECDOTES OF
rur GREAT ENGAGEMENT.


sneIi-The Message to the German
Admiral.
r.,rb f.. Stickney's Article in Feb
prom ru9ry Harper's.
..t exaggsrate in the least when
,, rs we hauled off into the bay
! -. loom On the bridge of the Olympia
,t,.tsr than a London fog in Novem-
Nei-ber Commodore Dewey nor any
.. staff believed that the Spanish
had been sufficiently injured by our
e.a m 10 prevent them from renewing the
,.,,,. ouite as furiously as they had pre-
,. eoprbt Indeed, we had all been
,....ltrr disappointed in the results of
e~s our projectiles seemed TO go
w.. sigb or too low-just as had been the
., with those fired at us by the Span
IA. Several times the commodore had
..s..5 dissatisfaction with the failure
..,r enrners TO hit the enemy. We had
IN the firing at too great a distance,
I'm, va had gradually worked in further
.,.b ,f the turns, until we were within
.s,,t . -s wards al the close of the fifth
nj Al that distance, in smooth sea,
-.,,,,t IN have made a large percentage
~ bi,.. vet. 80 far as we could judge,
,3uot seosibly crippled the foe Con-
.1.rtly- Commodore Dewey hauled out
i,-, the opeu hay at the end of the fifth
IND ~ take stock of ammunition and de-
,sa a rev plan of attack.
T-e efu captains were well satisfied
u,tb ths results of theft work. Whether
,psy had better knowledge of the ac-
c,,s,v Of their aim than we had on the
bridge or whether they took it for grant
ed th7+ the enemy must have suffered Sc
ysrsl, after so much fighting, l do not
l.,ou.. bl.t at any rate, they We're eager
10 90 on with The battle, and were conh-
dsrt of victory. l told one of them that
w.. we're merely hauling off for breakfast,
which statement elected the appeal to
C,nt Iamberton as he came past mo-
ment later
"For Gods sake captain, don't let us
st5n now. To hell with breakfastH
When tod the commodore that I in
tended TO attribute our withdrawal to the
need for breakfast, he intimated that it
was not a matter of much Importance
what reason l gave, so long as l did not
give the true one And so the breakfast
ensode went 10 the world as a plausible
excuse for what seemed like an eXtraordi-
nary strategic maneuver-one which has
baen the subject of more comment than
almost any other event during the battle.
7l,nv neopIe have said to me that il would
he pity to spoil so good story by
cling the truth; but, as the commodore
will be sure 20 let the cat out of the bag
sme day. I may as well let her have her
freedom now.
One incident, which I have already men
toned briefly in my dispatches, is worthy
Of more extended repetition, as Illustrating
the feelings of the enlisted men for the
c5mmander-iu-chef. The commodore,
while walking back and forth on the star
board side of the upper deck, noticed that
one of the petty officers, a man whose
duties did not call for his presence there,
was making a pretense of finding some
thing to do on the port-sside, but was also
keeping careful lookout on the commo-
d9re This mans record of nearly forty
years of service in the navy and army of
the United States had caused him to be
regarded with special interest by the Of
fcers of the Olympia, and he was, to
certain extent. a privileged character. So
!. the commodore being familiar with the
Il manners Of seamen, and seeing that the
Old man had something on his mind,
said to him:
well Purdy, what is it?''
81 hope, sir" replied Purdy, straight
ening up and saluting, ''ye don't intend
to fight on the Sd of May"
And why uot2'
4 Well We see, sir said Purdy, with the
4 most serious air possible. "the last time
i | fought on the Sd Of May I got licked.
\ And then he went on to tell of the i'll
H fated day Of Charlottesville, when he
Il had carried a gun in the army, and had
Il gone to defeat under Fighting Joe"
Hooker
All right Purdy," said the commodore,
Fl We won't fight on the Sd of May this
4 time; but when we do fight, Purdy, he
continued, with an air of friendly conf
\ qenee you'll have a different kind of a
Nay anniversary TO think about. Remem-
ber that Purdy."
Ay, ay, sir replied Purdy, as he sa-
ilitd and scUtled off. And a little while
Ater l heard him telling a group of the
4 o-ner nuelackets that wed lick he'll out
'he Spanards if there was ten times
as many OF themH' And probably to this
"F FWdy believes thar it was due to
S 'iiheF mint that Dewey went into Ma
qua odE az once, so as to avoid the hoo
po9 tnat was hanging over May 3.
.'ot lhe east Interesting of the incidents
~ me Gay Was the manner in which the
oHII'7nl-hs officers reported the lack of
ouS casualties when they came aboard
'' A1gsaip after the first battle. Having
n HSu 'hrou2n such hail of proiectiles
'"aoe escape from a long list of killed
"ouhded appear almost miraculous,
tt renewing 1T TO be impossible that all
,n o.i'' vessels had been similarly for