Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1899-11-29
KEPT AFLoAT BY BALING
PASSED BUCKETS CONTINUOUSLY
TWELVE DAYS AND NIGHTS.
1t Is Declared the Transport Was "Un-
seawOrthy, Undermined and
short of PrOvisiOns"-Ter-
'rible Experience of
Men ON Board.

| MANILA, Nov. IS, 1885 p. m.-The trans
port Manauense, with Lieutenant Colonel
| Webb Hayes and three companies of the
Ihirty-first infantry on board, has arrived
| mere She narrowly escaped disaster. The
officers and soldiers were for twelve days
baling with buckets. The steamer was un-
seaworthy, undermanned and short of pro-
visions. Her engines broke down and she
| was three days in a typhoon.
When the Manauense anchored in Manila
| bay this morning, thirty-three days from
San francisco, there We're several feet of
water in her hold and 400 grimy, greasy,
| hungry, exhausted soldiers and sailors had
Deen passing buckets of water since No
Vember Il. night and day. First Assistant
Engineer Dunieavy was under arrest. and.
| according to Colonel Webb Hayes official
report, the chief engineer would also have
| been under arrest if there had been any
| one to replace him.
The colonel's report also declares that
| the captain of the vessel told him that the
only thing which brought them through
| was the fact that the men were green
horns and failed to realize their danger,
| while experienced seamen would have de-
serted the ship and taken to the boats in
| midocean.
+ The Manauense is a chartered ship fly
Ing the British flag. She belongs to a firm
| of which Senator Perkins, of San Fran
| cisco, Is alleged to be junior member.
The officers say the firm bought her for
$4,000, and they claim efforts were made
| TO sell her to the government for $50, ,0O0
! She started from San Francisco accom-
| panied by the transport Peking which car
| ried the remainder of the regiment, and
encountered heavy seas to Honolulu with
| out accident.
After starting. it developed that she was
undermanned, and soldiers had to be de-
tailed to act as hremen. coal passerS and
walters, and to do other work Before
reaching Honolulu the crew concluded that
| the ship was not. safe, and the majority
| agreed to desert. Though they We're close
ly watched, many of the crew succeeded in
getting away. and the Manauenese left
| Honolulu with less than half her crew. The
captain of the transport, November II. told
| Colonel Hayes that the vessel had sprung
a leak, and an investigation resulted In
finding several feet cf water in the hold
| The steam pumps We're tried but failed to
| work. and there were no hand pumps on
| board However forty-Six buckets were
| found, others were improvised, and the SOL
/ diers not employed in working the ship
were organized into five shifts. and, strip
ped and formed in lines. they began bal
| ing, the officers working with the men,
passing the buckets which were sent up to
| the deck by a windlass. The longest time
a shift could stand was two hours, and
| often the period was not longer than half
an hour The baling continued until the
ship anchored here s=,
The same day the leak was discovered
| the machinery collapsed and the electric
| lighting plant and evaporating, distilling
and refrigerating apparatus failed to work
There were no lamps. and the few candles
| found We're exhausted after few days
| During the Of he
| Manauense was in utter darkness at night
She had been rolling in heavy seas all the
| way but November - she encountered
| typhoon and pitched and tossed alarming
| ly.
The Peking became separated from the
| Manauense in the storm. The water rose
| rapidly and the baling force was doubled.
and barrels and boxes were substituted
| for them, the men working in darkness.
planks and pieces of iron shafting being
| violently washed among them The fire
men could only feed the fires by being
| lifted on the shoulders of the other men,
| through water waist deep.
The typhoon lasted two days and half.
The officers then held council and found
that there were 4a9 persons on board, with
hfeboat accommodations for 213.
In the meantime, the men below ignora MT
OF their extreme peril. We're passing buck
cts. and singing. What the He'll Do We
| Sdic. willie tHe snip rolled hetDleSS the
| ocean with matches closed
The heat was intense until the typhoon
passed, a7d then the Peking, which had
retraced per course about seventy miles.
rolling SO heavily that the soldiers in the
hold could at each roll see the Peking
James s. Petit. commander of the Thirty
| first volunteer regiment, ordered the Man
auense to proceed to Guam and await re-
lief but the captain of the Manuense de-
INJURED the officers say. because the gov
ernment was renting the ship for $500 a
| Throughout the remainder of the vow
| age the engines of the Manauense failed
! frequently, and the ship would roll for a
few hours while the engines We're repair
ing. Ihen the steamer would proceed again
| for a few hours.
The meat and vegetables rotted because
| OF the failure of the refrigerators and were
| After the storm. the water supplied to the
ship at Honolulu had to be used for the
| boilers, and there was little or none for
| drinking. In fact. ii is asserted that dur
ing the last week of the VOYAGE. the men
lived almost entirely on whisky, beer and
| hardtack.
The officers and soldiers were entirely ex-
| hausted when they reached Manila They
declare the engineers We're grossly fncom
petent. The officers also say that the be-
haVior OF the troops was beyond praise
for DAYS tney worked in the dark, suffo-
eating hold. with water sometimes up to
| their shoulders. and planks washing about
| in manner dangerous to life and limb.
| The officers took the lead in baling and en-
couraged the men,
The captain of the ship promised the men
$50 day for baling. but he now proposes
! to pay them l.5o. The soldiers talk of at
| taching the ship.
The regiment will proceed to Zamboanga
on the Peking to garrison several ports on
| the island of Mindanao
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 2s-Transport
officials AT this port are at a loss to ex-
pain TIE alleged unseaworthy condition of
| of the Associated Press interviewed a num-
Der of officials to-day and in every instance
the alleged unseaworthinesS undermanned
and underprovisioned condition of the YES
sci was rfdfculed- 1t was stated that the
| Manaunese was in frst-class condition
when she left this port on October &C. Her
engines had been thoroughly overhauled
and her fittings were in the best of coniii
ton.
She was thoroughly provisioned in the
cabin, enough supplies being taken for a
six months trip. Her hold was full of
supplies for the soldiers and the officials
are at loss to explain the alleged short
undermanned is absolutely denied. because,
had she BEEN clearance papers from this
port could not have been issued AS a gem
eral rule transports leaving this port are,
II anything, oversuppiied with working
Regarding the alleged unseaworthine.s of
the vessel 1t can be stated that she was
thoroughly inspected by the treasury de-
partment and was passed as in first-class
trim Lloyds local inspector. Captain
Metcalf. also inspected the vessel and
passed her. The local inspectors of hulis
and found her engines in excellent con-
| ditiOn, and. in fact the Mapauensa was