El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-31

Manila Bay Admiral Dewey just mis-
sed q shock that might have deprived
him of his hearing and eyesight. The
two e1ght-inch guns in the forward
turret can be trained aft so far that
| their muzzles come almost exactly be-
meath the end of the bridge from which
the admiral sdirected the movements
OF the fleet. Few persons can compre-
bend the effect of the blast from one
OF these terrible engines of war upon
all objects in close proximity to it's
.muzZle. Just as one of them was about
to be fred q member of the Admiral's
staff who had had as severe an expert
ence with the blast of the eight-inch
guns as it was cafe to undergo, saw
that in an 'instant the admiral would
quently the officer seized the com
mander-in-chief by the skirt of his
blouse as he hurried past.
Astonished at being arrested in this
summary and somewhat undignified
way, the admiral turned quickly, with
annoyance and almost wrath visible in
every line of his face ;but before he had
time to say anything a volume of smoke
and flame belched forth from the
mouth from the gun below. The in
statanneous change in the admiral's ex-
preston from offended dignity to kind
ly appreciation of the motive that had
actuated the officer in stopping him
showed that had understood the ress-
on for such action. This probably is
the only time on record when the COM
mander-in- chief of fleet fOrgave g
subordinate for Selling him by the
cOat-tail on the bridge of his nagship.
BRAVE MEN.
EARLY on the morning of May 2,
1898, the day after the battle of Ma
Mia Bay, Dewey ordered Captain
Lam berton, his chief-of-staff, to go
in the gunboat 'Petrep' to the arsenal
at Cavite and take possession of it, as
the Spaniards had hauled down their
flag there the afternoon before. Sur
prised to iud the yard full of armed
men, Lamberton. before leaving the
gunbOat to 60 ashore, ordered Com
mander Wood, the "Petrel's" captain,
to keep his men at their guns. It was
then exactly nine O'Clock. eff you
don't see me returning at ten O'Clock
sharp he said, "open fire on the navy
yard -
This order simply meant that if the
Spantards attempted any treachery,
such as taking, Lsmberton and his
boats crew prisoners, the "Petrel'
was to renew hostilities, even If by so
doing it should be necessary to fire up
on our own men as we'll as the Span
iards. When Lam berfon reported his
action to the admiral the latter said:
"Well, hope YOU didn't count for q
moment upon Woods disobeyiug your
ORDER"
knew he would obey orders to the let
teri
''Then what would have saved you
from our own shells?" asked the admir-
al.
"We should have had to take our
Chances" said Captain Lsmberton.
"That's what call mighty nervy
performance" said the admiral, after
Lam berton had left the cabin.
ADMIRAL DEwEY'S PRESENTS FOR HIS
NAMESAKES.
Admiral Dewey is very fond of chill
dren. A captain of q vessel of the
American fleet in Manila Bay found
him in the cabin of the "Olympia''
su, rounded by pile of letters and pho
tographs of babies.
"What's all this?" asked the caller.
'Nsmesakes," said Dewey. "NOw,
what would you send to each OF these
''Not q thing" said the officer. cit
would ruin you financially to buy pres
enss for all OF them, and your health
the letters"
"But I want to send something,''
Dewey said.
'sThen wait until you get back to
the states. You can buy your presents
at wholesale prices there, and the ex-
press charges will be much lighter"
This was, of course, said jokingly.
THAT'S q good idea,'' responded the
admiral, evidently taking the officer
seriously. "I'll adopt it,