Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1899-12-07

IN Ignorance OF Their Danger.
The army transport Manauense arriv-
ed at Manila, thirty-three days from San
Francisco. She narrowly escaped foun-
dering with all on board, as her engines
broke down and she rolled three days at
the mercy Of typhoon. The Manauense,
had on board Lieut.. COL Webb Hayes
and three companies Of the Thirty-6rst
infantry. The officers and soldiers were
kept baling for twelve days and it was
almost miracle that the vessel reached
Manila. The steamer, it is claimed, was
unseaworthy, undermined 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 who
had been passing buckets of water for
two weeks, night and day. First Assist
ant Engineer Dunleayy was under arrest,
and, according to Col. Webb Hayes OFF,
cial report, the chief engineer would also
have been under arrest if there had been
anyone to replace him.
RIen Ignorant of Danger.
The colonePs 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 midocean.
The Manauense 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
undermined 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 and 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, forty-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 lines, they began baling, the
officers working with the men, passing
the buckets, which were sent up to the
deck by a windlass. 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 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 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 in
the storm. The water rose rapidly and
the firemen could only feed the fires by
being lifted on the shoulders o. the other
men through water waist deep.
The typhoon lasted two days and half
and in the midst of it the engines stopped.
The officers held council and found that
there were 400 persons on board, with
In the meantime the men below, ignor-
ant Of their extreme peril, were passing
buckets and singing, while the ship rolled
helplessly 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 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 were grossly incompetent. The
officers also say that the behavior Of the
troops was beyond praise. For days they
worked in the dark, suffocuting hold with
water sometimes up to their shoulders
and planks washing about in manner
DANGEROUS to life and limb
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