The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-19
JACK TARS In TOWN
ELEVEN OF THEM PASS THROUGH
TOWN EN- ROUTE FOR
II
CHICAGO ..4,s.ts@
WERE IN SANTIAGO FIGHT

Fought With SchIey and Assisted in
of the Water-They Consider Him
"a Typical Naval Officer, and Ad-
init the Navy Department Is
Sweet on Rear Admiral Sampson.
Eleven OF Uncle Sans jack tars from
the United States battleship Iowa, which
was distinguished for gallant service at
the battle of Santiago and the destruc-
ton of Cerveras fleet and afterwards
started with the Oregon on her memoir
able trip to Manila, arrived in st. Paul
yesterday afternoon from San Francisco
over the Great Northern, and after
spending several hours in St. Paul con-
tinued their trip East, leaving over the
Omaha for Chicago last evening. The
party was in charge of Chief Gunner's
Mate o. Hill, and will be mustered out
Of the service in New York
The members of the party were o. Hill.
In charge, chief gunners mate; ]. De-
largy. master-at-arms; ]. Scheele, black
smith; A. A. Anderson, G. c. Duncan
and H. Dorion, seamen; A. Sleeser and
j. Hoban, 1iremen; E. Whitlock. coal
passer, and E. Steeger, landsman. They
attracted considerable attention at the
union station, their natty uniforms and
stalwart appearance marking them as
trained fighters.
Each of the men has been with the
Iowa for three years. During this time
they have cruised around on several DIFF
ferent seas visited foreign ports and talk
en- In the maneuvers, and when the war
with Spain broke out they ACCOMPANIED
their ship into Cuban waters and were
present during the tiresome weeks of the
olockades at Havana and Santiago The
chief gunner's mate spoke entertainingly
OF the experiences of the men during
the war and gave interesting details Of
the fight off Santiago.
I'VE left Santiago on July Is of last
year." said be, land from there went to
New York. We were there for six weeks.
and then received orders to accompany
the oregon on her trip around Cape Horn
to the Pacific, and from there to Manila.
where we expected to join Dewey and
get another try at the Spanish navy
We were disappointed, however for
when we got to Callao, Peru, we re-
celved orders to proceed at once to San
Francisco and go into dry dock. 1t was
disappointment to leave the Oregon
but we couldn't both go, as the condi-
lions there did not demand additional
battleships.
I'VE dry docked in San Francisco, and
afterwards were overhauled at the Union
Iron works, where lot of our damaged
armor was replaced, and the bottom
plates, which had been damaged In the
Cuban campaign, taken out and repaired
The repairs inside and out took four
months, and after that we went to the
naval station at Bremerton. From there
we were ordered to go to New York and
be mustered out of the service. We will
go from here to Chicago, and from there
East. It's a long ride from the coast
and the boys enjoy getting a few hours
shore leave here and stretching their
legs"
The man who fought with Schley talk
ed on, giving details of his battleship's
movements, but not word of the San
tago naval engagement or the work of
the seamen during the exciting events of
that day. A direct question brought him
to the point.
Yes, we were in the fight" said he,
In a slightly depreciating tone. 1--WE
fought with the rest and did the best we
could"
at the time and didn't you help to blow
the Spanish fleet out of the water?''
Il fought, too he replied, with evil
dent embarrassment. "All the gunners
had enough to keep them busy 1 didn't
keep track of what did during the fight.
because was too busy. We gave it to
them hot and heavy and 1t was the most
exciting time 1 ever expect to see The
other gunners did just as much as I did.
though. Some Of them showed skill in
handling the big guns which has kept
people talking ever since
Every one knows how the Spanish
fleet came out. We got wind of their
movements and went to work The gun
ners got busy and shot and shell began
to fly and hell tore loose generally. It
was tremendous battle, and the Iowa.
Oregon and Texas were in the best of 1t
all the time. l was in the forward tur-
ret during the most of the fight and
there wasn't anything around loose that
didn't get jolt either The noise was
terrific. 1t took the gunners about three
hours and some of them a dav before
they got their hearing back. We were
struck several times, but the Spanish gun
ners were a little shaky 1 guess. They
had every chance to blow US full of
holes, but their work was TOO coarse"
What do the rank and. file of the navy
think of Schley?'
Il couldn't say very WELL for there are
lots Of people who know more about him
than l do. 1 saw him on the bridge of
the Brooklyn with a glass as we got
under way to close in, and one of the
boys said. The old mans got blood in
his eye this time 1 guess he had all
right. He is very popular. and every
sailor on the fleet considered him a ,vpi.
cal naval officer. Sampson? He was in
command of the fleet. No. 1 haven't any
thing to say about him. The navy de-
Fartment seems to think he vas all
right