New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-23
TALES FROM THE RALEIGH.
HOW SHE FIRED THE FIRST AND LAST
GUNS OF THE WAR.
ENSIGN BARN TELLS THE STORY OF MANILA BAY
A BIG COLLECTION OF PETS AND
MAsCoTs DEPLETED.

Ensign Babin. OF the Raleigh. has heard a
great deal lately about that first gun of the
war" which he fired at Manila Bay. He has
been obliged to point it out so often and to
answer so many questions in regard to 1t that
he cannot help rejecting upon the inconven-
enoes which fame often brings in its train. He
will be lucky indeed, as some one remarked the
other day. if he escapes the nickname Of First
Gun Babin" for his achievement
We'll this is the way it happened" began the
young officer patiently. as. standing at the foot
Of the after companon-way.. he started to tell
the story once more to visiting acquaintance.
II one of the days when the ship as
she lay of Thrty-fourth-st., was fairly swarm
ing with sightseers. "Oh," said the ensign,
after a moment or two of being pushed ana
1osted by the crowd which gathered swiftly
wherever an officer observed to be talking,
let's get away from here and come into my
room where we can talk in peace" He led the
way TO his stateroom fled into it with his caller
and shut the door emphatcally. you can
hardly keep them even out OF. here" he said,
desparingly; they almost own the ship.
But you wanted to hear about the gun. Well
You know, II was about midnight When we CAME
to the outer entrance to the bay, which is be-
tween Corregidor Island and an island called
FL Fraile The passage is five miles WIDE put
instead OF taking the middle channel which
was mined with torpedoes, we took the chahnei
that runs close to Corregidor Island. We
thought it was better to take our chances with
the Spanish batteries on the island than with
the torpedoes. Just as we started in, few min
utes after II o'clock, the smokestack OF the
dispatch boat on the end of our line caught IRE
and blazed up like a piece Of Fourth OF July
darkness
the night this illumination gave US away at
once to some Of the Spaniards on shore, ana
presently a gun doomed out from FL fraiie.
They were firing in the general direction OF the
faring smokestack.
Now. I am in charge OF the four guns on
the poop The orders to each captain were 10
use his own discretion about firing, and as soon
as that first shot came from FL Fraile Captain
Coghlan sent me word to answer at once win
the after gun. The order had scarcely reached
me when our second in command came rushing
I'D. full Of eagerness to have me hurry
For goodness sake get in the first shot!
he said.
$50. after giving a hasty glance around 10
see that everything was right, and correc'ihs
the sights-it WAS a pretty long range ana Inc
gun had to be elevated a good deal-I gave the
word and we let her go. The officer doesn't
actually do the firing hlrnSel1, you Know e~SePN
IN rare cases He sees that the aiming and
sighting are correct, and then one OF the men
presses the electric button which fires the gun
] took hand myself occasionally in the course
OF the engagement, just to keep the men steady
when 1 thought they were getting a little
ratified and firing too fast. without stopping to
take good aim. Afte- that first shot which
was fred, / should say at just about IZ:lo
We didn't fire any more until daylight, when
we had got well inside, and the actual battle
began near Cavite.
81 don't suppose / shall ever know positively
whether that first gun hit anything or not
Some time afterward l met a Spanish officer
who had been stationed at FL Fraile, and he
told me that il had disabled twenty-three men
and put one gun out Of commission. But l
wouldn't vouch for that" added the ensign
smiling: ct may have been only Spanish
politeness."
The Raleigh also claims the credit for firing
the last big gun Of the war, August 13. when
Manila was captured This, it VIII be rernen-
bered was after the protocol was signed put
before the news had reached Dewey. On lhe
morning OF August 13 the fleet got under way
little before 9 o'clock. The arrangement OF
the vessels placed the Concord in a position al
the north end Of the line; the monitor Monterey
close in by the Luneta battery. and the Chdi'es
ton the Baltimore ard the Boston further out
for the purpose of engaging the same batteries
This left the Olympia. the Raleigh ana the