The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-02-09
WHY QUIT FOR BREAKFAST?
WITH Die WE.Y AT MANILA.
a Picturesque Incident OF the Battle
at Manila las Been Nude'y De
stroycd.

sgcOycu.
Mr.. Joseph l.. Stickney, in the tebru-
ary mum Der OF Hafpor's hagaNne, 1no
cOrre8pOndont who was on tho VI
with Dawey throughout the oattio, lets
out q secret which mas oeon ui0a" >tT
well Guarded. His statement ls moth
inv lcss than that at the time the Am
ericnn 1eet drew or Dewey thought he
waa whiDDed. Eve Llnes his llcet h&d
c,rcled around the bay, belching hot
shot at the enemy, Gut tho American
ct;mmander coulu SEQ no material ln-
iurv that had been inflicted on the
Spaniards.
Among the new and interesting
incidents OF the battle, as we'll as
an insight into tho personality OF
Dewey, we give the following from Mr..
Stickney's article:
do not exaggerate In the least when
/ say that, rs We hauled OH into tue
bay, the gloom on the bridge Of the
Olympia was thicker than London
fog in November. Neither Commodore
Dewey nor any Of the staff believed
that the Spani> h ships had been suf-
ticiently I'M ured by our fire to prevent
them from removing the oattle quite
as furlously as they had previously
fought. Indeed, we had oil been dis,
tinctly disappointed In tho results OF
our fire. Oar projectiles seemed to
go too high or too l0w-iust as had
boon the case with those fired at us by
the Spaninrds. Several times the Com.
mOdore had expressed disSatis faction
with the failure OF our gunncrS to bit
the enemy. We had begun the firing
at too great distance, but We had
gradually worked in further on each
Of the turns, until we were within
about 250O yards ut the close of tho
fifth round. AT that distance, in II
smooth sea, we ought to have made a
large percentage Of hits; yet, 50 far as
VIC could judge, we had not sCnslbly
crippled tho foe. Consequently Com
modoro Dewey haul;d out into tho
open bay at the cud Of the fifth round
to take stock Of ammunition and devise
new plan Of attack.
The gun-captuin5 we're well satisfied
with the results Of their work. Who
ther they had o better knowledge OF
the accuracy Of thclr am than we had
on the bridge, or whether they took II
for granted that the cncmy must have
suffered severely alter 30 much fight
ing, do not know; bat, at any rate,
thoy were eager to go on with tho bat
tie, and were confident OF victory. |
told one Of them that we were merely
hauling off for breakfast, which slatG-
ment elicited She appeal to Captain
Lam bertOn, as no came past moment
later: For Gods sake, captain, don't
let US stop now. To he'll with break
fast -
When | told the Commodore that
intended to attribute cur withdrawal
to the need for breakfast he intimAtcd
that it was not Il mattor Of much lm-
portance what reason | gave, 50 long
as did not give the true one. And so
the breakfast episode went TO the world
as O plausible excuse for what seemed
like en extraordinary strategic man
nuvre-one which has been the sub
ject OF more comment than almost any
other event during tho battle. Many
people have said to me that 1T would
be pity to spoil SO good story by
telling the truth but, rs tho CommC'
dark will be sure TO let the cat out Of
the bag some day. may rs we'll lot
her haYe her fl eedom nov.
AN INCIDENT OF TIE BATTLE.
Gao incident, which | have already
mentioned briefly in my dispatches, is
worthy Of moro extended rcpHtitjon,
as illustrating the feelings OF the en-
listed men for tho commander-in-chicf
The Commodore, while walking back
and forth on the starboard side OF the
upper deck, noticed thaG one OF the
petty Ofticers-a man whose duties did
not call for his presence there as
making pretence OF hiding some
thing to do on the port side, but WAS
also keeping o careful lookout on tho
Commodore. This mans record o
nearly forty years OF service IN the
navy and army OF the United states
had caused him to bo regarded with
special interest by the officers Of tho
Olympia, and he was, to Il certain cN
tent, privileged character. So the
Commodore, being familiar with the
manners of the seamcn, and seeing tina
the old man chad something on his
mind" eaid to him:
"Well, Purdy, what is it,"
81 hope, SIR" replied Pnrdy, straig ut
ening up and saluting, "yo don't in
tend to fight on the Bird of May"
."And why not?' 49,,
,"Well. ye see, sir" said Purdy, Will
the most serious air possible, tho las
time [ fought on the 81 Of May | go
licked" And thon he went on to tel
of the ill-fated day OF Chanccllorsvillc
when he had carried gun in tn
army, and had gone to defeat undo
Z Fighting Joe" Hooker ~
An right, Purdy," said the Com
modore;" wc won't fight on tho Sd q
Nav this time but whom VIC do fight
Purdy," ho continued, with an air
friendly confluence, you IL HSVc
different kind OF a May anniversary
to think about. Romcmber that
Purdy."
"Ay, ay, sir" replied Purdy, as h
saluted and scuttled of. And littl
while later'I heard him tolling q grou
OF the other bluejackets that wed lie
hell out O tho Spaniards If there wa
ton times as many OF them p An
probably to this day Purdy bolieve
that it was duo to his timely hint thi
Dowey went into Manila Bay AZ once
SO as to avoid the "h0odoo that WI
hanging over May 3.
REPORTS WORTHY OF a CESAR.
Not the least interesting Of the inc
dents Of tho day was the manner
which the commanding officers r.
ported the lack OF serious casualtit
when they came aboard the nag shi
aftor tho first oattlc. Having passe
through such hail of projcCtilea 1
made escape from long list of killc
and wound cd appear almost miracu on
and believing ii to be impo .siblo tn.