Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1899-12-02
LEAKY TRANSPORT
Soldiers Passing Buckets Since
Nov. II.
Four Hundred Exhausted Men Fi-
nally Anchor on Manlla-Surprisc
Government Ofiicials - Dctails
of Awful Trip.

Washington, Nov. 29.-War depart
ment officials We're surprised at the in
formation contained in n Manila dis
patch concerning the condition of Tie
transport Manauense, which has just
arrived at Manila. They are at loss
to account for the deplorable state OF
affairs which is said to have existed ON
the ship, AS they say every precaution
Is taken before transport vessels leave
the United States to see that they are
properly and adequately manned and
supplied with comm!ssary stores. The
dispatch referred to said:
When the transport Manauense an
chored in Manila bay yesterday, 33 days
from San Francisco, there was several
feet of water in her hold. and 400 grim!,
greasy, hungry, exhausted soldiers and
sailors had been passing buckets OF
water since Nov. II, night and day. First
Assistant Engineer Dunlevey was under
arrest and, according TO Colonel Hayes
official report. the chief engineer would
also have been under arrest If there had
been any one TO replace him.
The COlonelS report declares that the
captain of the vessel told him that the
only thing which brought them through
was the fact that the men We're grecn-
horns and failed to realize their danger,
while experienced seamen would have
deserted the ship and taken to the boats
In mid ocean.
The Manauense started from San Fran
cisco accompanied by the transport
Pekin, which carried the remainder Of
tie regiment, and encountered heavy
seas to Honolulu without accident.
After starting it developed that she
was undermanned, and soldiers had to
be detailed to act as seamen, coal pass
ers and walters and TO do other work.
Before reaching Honolulu the crew con-
cluded that the ship was not safe and
the majority agreed to desert. They
were closely watched, many of the crew
succeeding in getting away. and tho
Manauense left Honolulu with less than
half her crew.
The captain of the transport on EO?.
II told Colonel Hayes that the vessel had
sprung aleak. and an investigation re-
suited in finding several feet of water in
her hold. The steam pumps We're tried,
but failed to work, and there were ,iO
hand pumps on board. However, 4G
buckets were found, others were i'm.
provsed and the soldiers not employed
in working the ship were organized into
five shifts and, stripped and forming
lines. they began bailing, the officers
working with the men, passing the buck
cts which We're sent UP to the deck by a
windlass. The longest time shift could
stand was two hours, and often the
period was not longer than half an hour
The bailing continued until the ship n.
chored here.
The same day the leaking was dis
covered the machinery collapsed, and
the electric lighting plant and evapor.
ating, distilling and refrigeruting aD-
paratus failed to work. There were no
lamps, and the few candles found were
exhausted after few days During the
last week of the passage the ManauenGe
was in utter darkness at night. She had
been rolling in heavy seas all the way,
but Nov. % she encountered typhOOn
and pitched and tossed alarmingly.
The water rose rapidly, and the baiing
sciSC Noo oouoiCu' i'uI thc DuChttS
were gradually smashed and barrels nd
boxes were substituted for them, th.
men working in darkness with planks
and pieces Of iron shifting or being
violently washed among them. The
iremcn could only feed thefire by being
lifted on the shoulders of other men
through water waist deep.
The typhoOn lasted two days and a
half, and in the midst OF it the engines
stopped. The officers then held a cOun-
Gil and found that there were 4c0 per-
SONS on board, with lifeboat accommo-
dations for 213.
In the meantime the men below
ignorant of their extreme peril, Wee
passing buckets and singing, What the
He'll Do We Care" while the ship rolled
helpless on the ocean, with matches
closed.
The heat was intense until the typhocn
passed, and then the Pekin, which had
retraced her course about 20 miles, came
alongside the Manauense, which was
rolling so heavily that the soldiers in the
hold could, at each roll, see the Pekir
through the matches overhead.
Colonel Petit, the commander of the
Thirty first volunteer regiment, ordered
the Manaucnse to proceed to Guam ant;
await relief, but the captain of the
Manauense demurred, the officers say
because the government was renting tie
ship for $500 per day.
Throughout the remainder of the voy-
age the engines OF the Manaucnse failed
frequently and the ship would roll for q
few hours while the engines were re.
paired. Then the steamer would pro-
ceed again for few hours.
The meat and vegetables rotted he.
cause of the failure of the refrigerat tori
and were thrown overheard.
After the storm the water supplied ia
the ship at Honolulu had to be used for
the boilers, and there was little or nops
for drinking. In fact. it Is asserted that
during the last week of the voyage.the
men lived almost entirely on whisky
beer and hard tack.
The officers and soldiers We're utterly
exhausted when they reached Manila
They declare the engineers were grossly
incompetent. The officers aiso said tha
the behavior of the troops was beyond
Praise. For days they worked in the
dark, suffocating hold, with water
some times up TO their shoulders. anC
plunks washing about In manner dan
gerous to life and limb. The officers
took the lead in bailing and encourage,
The men.
Thomas Dirga attempted suicide al
| the Connecticut state prison by jumping