Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-16

en- at first and she got to within 1900 yards
of US before there was any sign of slow ng
down We had just got that torpedo ready
to launch, and | was looking to the
biggest show I'd ever seen in my life, when
the Reina Christina turned tail. riddled
with shot and shell, and started, ruined.
for the shore. I'd have given six months
pay rather than suffered that disappoint-
ment Now I'm afraid l shall never have a
chance to see a Yankee torpedo blow up a
Spanish ship.
Dewey at His Best.
when did Dewey seem at his best to us
who We're at Manila with him? All the
time. Dewey was never anything but at
his best, yet l have three special memories
of him when he was at better than his
best
while 1 was on deck trying to get that
torpedo in shape for the Spaniards l saw
him on top of the chart house, in the most
exposed place he could possibly find, direct
ing the proceedings. Uncle George was
Well worth seeing ,hen.
After the battle was over and We KIN wv
we had the SDaniards licked, he so
happy his face fairly shone when he thank
ed the men of the Olympia for their part in
the fight. He was pretty well stirred up
then tell you, and so was everybody else
and the cheers we gave him just lifted US
off our feet
'Deweys face shcne again the day the
first lot of Yankee Transports bringing
thousands of blue soldiers steamed into
Manila bay. He wasn't well that day but
the arrival of the transports made him
better. Some time later a boat brought
cab!egcam to the Oily mpia. Soon after he
had read it, all hands We're called on deck.
We expected something highly important,
but we couldn't guess what. We'd never
seen Dewey so stirred up but once before,
and We knew him too well not to be GER
tain that he had great news. He must
nave seen that we were eager, and l guess
he was willing to make us wait little.
He looked out upon and smiled a halle
lujah smile, and then he said:
Now, men, l want you to listen to
the best news we've had since the LIST
of May. L was i'll this morning, but it
has made me well. Now listen!'
Then he had the dispatch read 1t told
how Cervera's ships had been done up
completely at Santiago as Montojo's mad
been at Manila little over two months
before. 1t was like an electric shock to
the men on that ship. They yelled enough
they laughed and hCoted and shook hands
with Zach other and jumped up and down
and danced. Everybody was pretty well
stirred up that day, from the admiral down
to the stokers.
while everybody was still congratu-
latins everybody else l was chased cut
the other ships. They had been notified
by signal already, but they all wanted to
read the dispatch, and l left a great wave
of cheering in my wake all the way
round"
Scattering Myth.
The writer asked Gunner Kuhlwein what
had become of Jim Hickey the fat,
beefy gunner of the Olympia. whose good
natured phiz had been made known to
every city and hamlet In the land through
the medium of a famous Autograph. Kuhl-
vein laughed.
THE shooting of the forward guns on
the Olympia he said, was done by
Patrick Murray, a white man, and
Jim Hickey on the ship. so far as l know,
and certainly TO gunner of that name.
There was a man in the forward turret
named Phillips, who looked little like the
jim Hickey picture, and who would have
handled one of the guns had not Murray
and Jordan been better marksmen. Phil
lips is and was then an excellent seaman
gunner, with highly creditable score for
craftsmanship, but Murray and Jordan
We're the best shots on the ship, and SO the
handling Of the big guns was given to
them. 1t was Murray, it is claimed,
who sent the famous best shot of the en-
gaSeme1t straight through the Rena Chris
tina from end to end when she was coming
directly toward the Olympia.
oddly enough. Phillips. who had charge
of the turret. is a fat, good-natured fellow
whose face resembles that of the mythical
Jim Hickey face somewhat, but the partial
likeness was nothing more than a lucky
stroke. 1t tickled the men of the feet i'm
HtllSeiS. lnOuSN
Mr.. kuhhwein a member of the
Olympia's crew when she was put in COM
mission, and he remembers very well the
hue and cry that was raised about the ship
in the first year or two of her service. 1t
was then that some of the newspapers
printed long articles about her In which
she was called the white SLAYER of th>=
new navy" Her accommodations were de-
clared to be bad; she was cramped, I'M
pleasant and unhealthy. She came near
getting bad a name. in a way, as the
Texas had when she was known as the
hOodoo ship.
Those who We're on the Olympia at that
time will never forget the circumstances
of her redemption. 1t came about through
a radical change among her officers, to the
conduct of certain of whom alone. and not
the vessels qualities, her bad name was
due This change was made at Hawaii,
while the Olympia was coaling, on her out
ward passage to the Asiatic station, and
there never was a happier or more com
Portable lot Of men on any ship than her
officers and crew after the change had been
made.
Waiting in Washington.
While New York is getting ready, Wash
ington is waiting with impatience. At the
Metropolitan Club, where naval and mil
ttary men most do congregate, DeWey's
name Is on every lip.
There is a verse in Rudyard Kipling's