Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-05-30
rAs srokeR's STORY.
WHAT rwrrcHELL DIDN'T SEE or
MANILA RAY.

We know al about the man behind the
gun and the man on the bridge, and We
al know about Dewey. What Of the
fireman and the ssokef at the battle OF
Manila Bayi
Down In the fire room Of the Raleigh,
the other day, Charles 81. Twitchell,
who Vas on the Olympia during the
great sea fight, told me how things went
down In the awful heat OF the furnaces.
Here ID Twitchelf's story In bis own
words:
"You see, there Isn't much fun for .
man way down here out Of sight Of
everything and everybody; It's work for
men, and plenty Of Il. You may think
IL hot down here now, but this 10 para
disc alongaide Of what we had when we
went for the Spsniards.
Midnight before the battle my shift
went down TO take care Of the engines.
Just about that time We got near 70
Corregidor, and the guns In the Spsnish
port woke us up and let a. have IL. We
passed 'em all right and kept right out
on the bay ~ though nothing had hap
pcned.
"Of course We didn't know much Of
what Was going on up above. The bat
tie matches were all battened down, and
We were shut 10 this little hole, the ventl-
lating pipes being the only things left
open.
Everybody had received orders to
stand by his post and do his best until
the shooting match WAS over. The tenn.
perature was nearly up TO 200 degrees nj
this time, and II WAS so hot our hair was
singed. There were several leaks In the
steam pipes, and the Kissing hot steam
made things worse.
The chatter of the engines and the
roaring Of the furnaces made such din
IL seemed ones head would burst. When
a man could stand II no longer he would
put his head under the air pipe for
moment and try to cool OF little. The
heat grew 90 unbearably fierce at times
our hands and wrists would seem on fire.
aud We had 70 plunge them In water.
All the water we mad Was In an old pork
barrel, and Il tasted more like hot brine
than water. But bad As IL WAS IL would
at least molsten our throats. About
half past four o'clock that morning We
were ordered on deck TO get breath OF
air and cup OF coffee. We were given
10 understand when We dived down Into
our furnace again that the battle WAS
going TO begin AZ once.
I'VE knew that might mean that this
WAS the last glimpse we would ever get
of the deck, aud We went down prepared
20 20 to the bottom Of Manila bay. Bat
tened down the way we were ut the bot
tom Of the ship, had we been sunk there
would not have been the slightest chance
Of escape.
I'VE could tell when our guns opened
Dire by the way the ship shook; We could
scarcely stand on our feet the vibration
| WAS so great. Just At that moment l
glazed Ut the clock hanging on the wall,
and saw IL Was 10 minutes 70 9 O'Clock.
From that time on the din was some
thing horrible. Every once In while
one Of the apprentice boys would come
10 our ventilsting pipe and shout down
| from the deck what Was going on. That
~.s the only way we could tell how the
battle was going. We kept on working
all the time ns hard a. We could. The
ship shook 40 fesrfully that the SCOT
aud cinders poured down on us In clouds.
Now and then big drop Of scalding
| water would fall on our bare heads. and
the pain was intense One by one three
of our men were overcome by the terri
BILE heat and were hoisted 10 the upper
deck.
| "whenever Spanish ship would make
| move out toward Us some Of the boys
on deck would shout down that they
were coming for us full tilt. We knew
1t meant sure death II the Olympia go,
a shot through her anywhere In our
vicinity. We were suffering so much
from the heat and thirst that death didn't
frishten us. | guess we all thought II
couldn't he much worse than what We
were going through. Along toward the
last of our frst engagement an apprentice
boy shouted down the pipe that Span
ish torpedo boat WAS making straight
for Us. | don't believe any OF us had
ssid more than 4 word or two up 10 that
time, but NJ this news almost all OF u
act up some kind Of 4 shout. We kne1
II that torpedo reached US that would b.
our windup.
"But IL never did reach US, and 10 =
few minutes the boy yelled again and
said the boat hsd been riddled By our
guns. This news brought cheer from
the men, and we felt considerably better
About s O'Clock we drew of for a con
sultation Of war We went on deck fol
a breathing spell and bite TO eat, and
can tell you we were mighty glad OF thu
change. We were all surprised that the
decks weren't covered with blood and
msngled bodies, and could scarcely be-
iieve IL when they told US no one was
hurt.
III shall never forget those few hours
| spent In front Of the furnaces 10 Manil,
bay. 1t seemed TO me the longest day
ever lived. I'm not anxious 10 e
through IL again, and don't think any
of the Others are."-New York Herald
M'kINLeY SMOKES ALL THE TIME
Il n.