Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1899-12-06
FACE DEATH AT SEA.
FEARFUL VOYAGE OF TRANS
PORT MaNAUENSE.
Vessel Is Caught in a Typhoon and AR
rives at Manila in sinking condi-
tion Soldiers Kept BaiIing for Days
in Ignorance ef Their Danger.

The army transport Manauense arriy-
ed at Manila, shirts-three days from San
Francisco. She narrowly escaped foun-
dering with ap on board. as her engines
broke down and she rolled three days at
the mercy of typhoon. The MTnauelse
had on board Lieut.. Col. Webb Hayes
aud three companies of the Thirty-first
infantry. The officers and soldiers were
kept baling for twelve days and ii was
almost miracle that the vessel reached
Manila. The steamer, it is claimed, was
unseaworthy, undermanned and short of
provisions
When the Manauense anchored in Ma
Mia bay there was several feet of water
IN her hold and 400 grimy, greasy, hun-
CRY, exhausted soldiers and sailors wno
had been passing buckets of water for
two weeks, night and day. First Assist,
ant Engineer Dunleayy was under arrest,
and, according 10 Col. Webb Hayes Off
cial report the chief engineer would also
have been under arresg f there had been
anyone to replace him.
lien Ignorant of Danger.
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
greenhorns and failed to realize their
danger, while experienced seamen would
have deserted the ship and taken to the
boats in m Gocean.
The Melauense is chartered ship fly
ing the British flag. She started from
San Francisco accompanied by the trans
port Pekin, which carried the remainder
of the regiment and encountered heavy
seas to Honolulu without accident
After starting it developed that she was
undermanned and soldiers had TO be de-
tailed to act as firemen, coal passers and
walters and to do other work. Before
reaching Honolulu the crew concluded
that the ship was not safe and the ma
Jority agreed to desert. Though they
were closely watched, many of the crew
succeeded in getting away aud the Ma
nauense left Honolulu with less than half
her crew. The vessel sprung leak and
an investigation resulted in finding sew
eral feet of water in her hold. The steam
pumps were tried, but failed to work, and
there were no hand pumps ON board.
However, fort. six buckets were found,
others were improvised and the soldiers
not employed in working the ship We're
organized into FIVE shifts and, stripping
and forming line they began baling. the
officers working with the men, passing
the buckets, which were sent up to the
deck by windIass. The baling continued
until the ship anchored at Manila.
Machinery Is Disabled.
The same day the leak was discovered
the machinery collapsed and the electric
lighting plant and eyaporating, 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 Manauense 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 Pekin be-
came separated from the Manauense III
the storm. The water rose rapidly and
the fremen could only feed the fires by
being lifted on the shoulders of the other
men through water waist deep.
The typh on lasted two days and half
and in the mills. of it the engines stopped.
The officers held council and found that
there were 420 persons on board, with
lifeboat accommodations for 213.
In the meantime the men below. ignor-
ant of their extreme peril, were passing
buckets and singing, while the ship rolled
heplessly on the ocean with matches clos
ed. The heat was intense until the ty-
phoon passed. Throughout the remainder
of the voyage the engines of the Mana
uense failed frequently and the ship
would roll for few hours while the en-
gines were repairing. Then the steamer
would proceed again for a few hours.
The meat and vegetables rotted because
of the failure of the refrigerators and
were thrown overheard. The officers and
soldiers were utterly exhausted when
they reached Manila. They declare the
engineers We're grossly incompetent. The
officers also say that the behavior of the
troops was beyond praise. For days they
worked in the dark, suffocating hold with
water sometimes up to their shoulders
and planks washing about in a manner
dangerous to life and limb.