Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-07-23
A NEW DEWEY STORY.
How He Rescued An American and an En-
glishman From the Mexicans.

New OK tribune.
Lieut. f. Winslow, United States navy,
retired, a cousin of the famous comman-
der of the Kearsarge, is at the Albemarie'
and yesterday he told reporter new
story about Admiral George Dewey.
In May, 1919, Admiral Dewey was COM
mander of the old Narragansett, said
Lieut. Winslow,'' and was detailed to sur
veying the Gulf of California and the
shores of the coast of the peninsula. 1t
was not long after the Virginius affair at
Santiago, and the feeling toward MeXi-
cans and Cubans was none too cordial.
The Narragansett reached La Paz, near
the southern end of the peninsula, and we
no sooner got ashore when we heard that
an American mining engineer and some
Englishmen who owned the mine We're
prisoners in their mining shanties, forty
miles back of La Paz, in the mountains.
The American had resented an insult, a
quarrel followed. and the American killed
two Mexcans. The friends of the latter
swore they'd kill the Yankee and the En-
glishman, too, ard the latter were soon
obliged to barricade themselves. This
siege had been on for several days when
we dropped anchor,
LAS soon as Commander Dewey heard
of it he was very much interested. The
next day he sent messenger to the Mex
lean Colonel in La Paz who had a garri-
son of 600 soldiers there, asking him what
he was going to do to give the American a
trial before he was shot.
"'Oh he got into the trouble-let him
get out said the Mexican.
Commander Dewey didn't like this re-
ply, and the more he thought about it,
the angrier he got. The next afternoon he
sent a note to the Mexican Colonel telling
him that an American citizen was in dan
ger, and that the man was entitled to a
fair trial. He told the Colonel that he
would allow him just twenty-four hours
to rescue the American and protect the
Englishman If at the end of that time
relief was not on it's way to the little min
ing party he would lombard La Paz and
burn it.
when we heard what Dewey had done
we were all frightened"
Does he mean it?' was asked one an
other
LAS for myself. was soon satisfied that
he meant every word of it. 1 was in com
mand of the guns. We only had two old
howitzers on the Narragansett, the larger
guns having been left temporarily at the
Mare Island navy yard.
" Get those howitzers ready for tomor-
row morning and inspect all the small
arms and ammunition said Dewey 10 me.
Then he called the men 10 quarters and
estimated that of the crew of about 40 we
could land ninety able armed men as a
storming force. We drilled the men all
that afternoon and far into the night.
That night. on Commander Dewey's or
der, we steamed TO a point commanding
the principal streets of La Paz and trained
the howitzers on the town. BY next morn
ing we We're ready to begin a second war
against Mexico.
''At daybreak a Mexican Corporal came
on board with a message from his Colo
mel saying that the Narragansett COM
mander's request would be complied with.
Early that morning we watched 800 armed
Mexican soldiers start for the mining
camp, and we kept the howiizers trained
on La Paz until the soldiers returned with
the American engineer. When Dewey re-
ported to Washington on the matter he
minimized the Importance of 1t, and It was
passed over as a mere incident. Leuts.
Harris and Wright were on the Narragan-
sstt then, and Harris. at least, was with
the fleet at Manila. II is somewhat singu-
lar that at that time, when we were ex-
on account of the virginius affair. Com
mander Dewey had his plans all made to
sail the Narragansett 10 Manila