Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-14

| they are. could easily hold their own
| against the entire population of the little
| Island Of kamiguin. even If the latter
We're disposed to he unfriendly, which they
are not. The Helena must already have
reached the island, which is about days
run from Lingayen, and with the Oregon.
! which followed closely, must have re-
| moved the Charleston's crew several days
| ago.
| The Coral Reef Not Charted.
| The photographic office, Navy Depart
! ment gives the following exact data CON
| cerning the locality of the wreck:
| The Guinapak rocks are located in longi
| tude 122 degrees. minutes east latitude
| Is degrees and 57.30 north. They lie seven
| miles due east of the large Island of Kan
| iguin, one of the Babuian group of the
| north coast of Luzon. The Gulnapak rocks
| are distinctly shown on the naval chart,
| which is supplied to vessels in the Philip
| pines but the coral reef which the
| Charleston struck three miles N.N.W. of
| the rocks. is not shown on the chart. The
| distance covered by Lieut. Mcdonald in
| going from the scene of the wreck to Lin
| gayen bay is shown the chart to he go
! miles an unusual trip for small sailing
| boat under such conditions.
The dangerous condition of this coast has
recently been pointed out by Rear Admiral
| Bradford, chief of the bureau of equip
rnent. in his report to Secretary Long. He
| said:
| Spanish Maps Unreliable.
| The bureau is in receipt Of a great num-
! ber Of photographic reports from captains
| Of ships concerning the entire unreliability
| Of the best existing charts of the late
| Spanish possessions now controlled by the
| United States. In the Philippine Islands
| the services of pilots is constantly neces-
| sary for this reason, and they do not al
! ways prove reliable AS an illustration of
! the condition of affairs, it may be stated
| that a report from the captain Of the
| United States steamer Nero has been re-
| ceived stating that Lingalla bay, on the
| east coast of Luzon IS ten and one-half
miles out in latitude and seven miles out
| in longitude
| This last statement is regarded by naval
| officers as showing an alarming condition,
| in view of the large number of naval yes
| seIs now cruising about the coasts of Lu-
zon. and this general condition of unre-
| liability in the charts is now pointedly en-
| phasized by the wreck Of the Charleston on
| a reef entirely uncharted.
The old Spanish maps must continue to
| be used by our naval vessels until the Navy
| Department can make its own charts. This
| work Is very extensive and necessarily
| slow. Only 100000 is now available for
| the work in all Of the former Spanish pos
| sessions and, besides the inadequacy of
| this amount, the navy is In such need OF ves
| sells. officers and men for more active duties
| that there is but scant opportunity to do
| work on surveys and charts. The Benning-
| ton has been doing this work In the Philip
pines. and has a complete photographic
outfit on board, but it will be some time be-
| fore the American surveys and data will be
| available
Officers of the Charleston.
The following is q correct list of the
| names OF the officers on board the cruiser
| Charleston according 10 the latest records
Of the Navy Department: Captain George
W. Pigman, commanding; Lieut.. Com
| mander John A. Norris, Lieut.. Commander
| William \. Little (engineer), Lieut.. John A.
| Dougherty, Lieut.. Louis S. Van Duzer,
| Lieut.. John D. Mcdonald, Lieut.. Gunior
| grade) De Witt Blamer, Ensign Ivan c.
| WettengeI, Ensign James B. Henry, jrp
Naval Cadet John A. Schoheld, Naval Cadet
! Charles B. Hatch, Surgeon Charles T. Hib-
| bett Assistant Surgeon Edward V. Arm
| strong Paymaster L. B. Reynolds. First
| Lieut. George c. Thorpe. L. S. NJ. c.;
Boatswain Dominck Flynn, Gunner Joseph
r. Ward Carpenter John II. Gill, Acting
Warrant Machinst Benjamin F. Beers, Act
ing Warrant Machinist Joseph Wilson, Pay
Clerk r ]. Little.
Departure for Manila.
| The Charleston was the first vessel to go
to the reinforcement of Admiral Dewey
after the battle of Manila bay. She had
Just received a thorough overhauling at
the Mare Island navy yard, and was in
hrst-cless condition. She sailed from Mare
Island just as soon after the news as she
could be made ready for the cruise, under
command of Capt. Glass. On her way to
Manila the Charleston touched al Guam
and captured the island in the name of the
| United States 1t was on that occasion that
the Spanish governor of the island. who
| knew nothing of the existence of a state of
| war. sent a polite message to Capt. Glass,
| regretting his inability from lack of gun
powder TO reply to what he conceived to be
a salute from the Charleston, but which
was in reality a formidable demand for
the surrender Of the place.
The ordnance bureau of the navy has
| been busy for some time past making ex-
tensive alterations in the battery of the
Charleston. and had these been completed
. the ship would have been brought thor
oughly up to date. and made equal to the
more modern vessels of her class. The
breech mechanism of the big S-inch guns
= in the forward turret was to have been
| changed to make them much quicker
in action. The necessary new parts had
already been made. The 6-inch guns in
the after turret were to give place to 6-inch
! rapid-fire guns. Of fully double efficiency,
= and these changes were TO be made at an
early date.
DiscOuraging to Hopes.
| One circumstance that tends to somewhat
/ discourage the hopes Of the officers who
| expect TO the Charleston float again Is
r | the loss Of the cableship Hooker. This
| vessel ran on a rock close by CorregidoI
: Island. at the mouth of Manila bay and
e | almost within sight of the city. Wreckers
: | worked for three months on her, but only
| the other day ii was decided to be an i'm
| practicable task to save the ship, and she
was abandoned
n Owing to the compartment system of con
f structon followed in the Charleston, witt
: her double bottom and water-tight doors
, il is possible, however, to do much NOR,
:, with her than could be accomplished in tn,
Il case of thin-skinned weak merchant ship
Pioneer of the New Navy
The Charleston is one of the older vessels
of the new navy. She Is included in tn,
: | group of vessels whose construction poI