The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-11-29
TOSSED ABOUT BY TYPHOON
The Brave .rriors Worked
and Day.
THE PROS JNs CAST OVERHEARD
Ships hinery Collapsed and the
Exhausted Men Worked in the
Darkness, Bailing Water from
the Fast Filling Hold

%Hoiiiieit -NoNeiboci So.-Nosl0 u. Ul)-W neil
the Mananeuse anchored In Manila bay this
morning. thtrty-three days from San Fran
cisco, there were several feet of water in
her hold and 400 grimy, greasy, hungry ex-
hausted soldiers and sailors had been pass
ing buckets of water since November II
night and day
First Assistant Engineer Dunleavy was
under arrest, and according to Colonel
Webb Hayes official report, the chief en-
gineer would also have been under arrest
If there had been anyone to replace him.
The coloners report also declares that the
captain of the vessel told him that the
only thing that brought them through was
the factthat the men were greenhorns, and
failed to realize their danger, while expe-
rienced seamen would have deserted the
ship and taken to the boats in midocean.
The Mananeuse is chartered ship flying
the British flag. She belongs to a firm, OF
which Senator Perkins, of San Francisco,
is alleged to be a Junior member. The Of
ficers say the finn bought her for $4,000,
and they claim that efforts were made to
sell her to the government for s15O,O00.
She started from San Francisco, accom-
panied by the transport Pekin, which car
ried the remainder of the regiment, and
encountered heavy seas to Honolulu with
out accident. After starting 1t developed
that she was undemanned, and soldiers
had to be detailed to act as firemen, coal
passers and walters, and do other work
Crew Deserted
Before reaching Honolulu the crew con-
cluded that the ship was not safe, and the
majority agreed to desert. Though they
were closely watched, many of the crew
succeeded in getting away, and the Mana
neuse left Honolulu with less than half her
crew. The captain of the transport on No
vember II told Colonel Hayes that the ves-
sci had sprung a leak, and an investiga-
tion resulted In finding several feet of wa
ter in her hold.
The steam pumps were tried, but failed
to work, and there were no hand pumps on
board. However, forty-sx buckets were
found, others were improvised, and the SOL
diers not employed in working the ships
were organized into five shifts and, strip
ping and forming lines, began bailng, 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 of the en-
tire period was not longer than half an
hour. The bailing continued until the ship
anchored here.
The Machinery Collapsed
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 were exhausted after a few days.
During the last week of the passage the
Mananeuse was In utter darkness at night.
She had been rolling in heavy seas all the
way, but November. % she encountered a
typhoon and pitched and tossed alarmingy.
The Pekin became separated from the
Mananeuse in the storm. The water rose
rapidly and the bailing force was doubled.
The buckets were gradually smashed 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 firemen 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 a half and in the midst of 1t the en-
gines stopped.
The officers then held council and found
that there were 420 persons on board with
life boat accommodations for 2l3. In the
meantime the men below, ignorant of their
peril, were passing buckets and singing
ssWhat the hell do we care" while the ship
moved helplessly on the ocean with matches
closed.
Heat Was Intense
The heat was intense until the typhoon
passed. and then the Pelin, which had re-
traced her course about seventy miles,
came alongside the Mananeuse, which was
rolling so heavily that the soldiers in the
hold could at each roll see the Pekin
through the matches overhead.
Col James s. Pettot commander of the
Thirty-first volunteer regiment, ordered the
Mananeuse to proceed to Guam and await
relief. but the captain of the Mananeuse de-
INJURED, the officers say, because the gov
ernment was renting the ship for $500 per
day.
Through the remainder of the voyage the
engines of the Mananeuse failed frequently
and the ship would roll for few hours
while the engines were repairing. Then the
steamer would proceed again for few
hours. The meat and vegetables rotted be-
cause of the failure of the refrigerators and
were thrown overheard
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, it Is asserted that dur
ing the last week of the voyage the men