The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-12-08
WORK FOR LIFE.
Terrible Trip of the Thirty
First Infantry.
A TRANSPORT CAUGHT IN A GALE
Short of Provisions and watcr-Ep-
gineers Totally Incompetent and
At the Mercy OF the Typhoon
for at Least Sixty Hours. -s,

The transport Manauensc, with Lieu.
tenant Colonel Webb Hayes and three
companions of the Thirty-frst infantry
on board, has arrived here, says Ma,
Mia dispatch of November 2S. She
narrowly escaped disaster. The officers
and soldiers were for twelve DAYS bail.
ing with buckets. The steamer was
nnseaworthy, undermined and short
OF provisions. Her engines broke down,
and she rolled three days in a typhoon.
When the Manaucnse anchored in
Manila bay this morning, thirty-threc
days from San Francisco, there were
several feet of water in her hold and
four hundred grimy, greasy hungry,
exhausted soldiers and sailors who had
been passing buckets of water since
November II, night and day.
First Assistant Engineer Dunleavy
was under arrest, and according to Col
Webb Hayes Of the ship the chief
engineer would also have been under
arrest If there had been any one to
replace him. The coloncl's report also
declared that the captain of the vesse |
told him that the only thing which
brought them through was the fact that
the men were greenhorns and failed to
realize their danger, while experienced
seamen would have deserted the ship
and taken to the boats in midoccan.
The Manauense is a chartered ship,
flying the British flag. She belongs to
firm OF which Senator Perkins of San
Francisco is alleged to be junior
member. The officers say the firm
bought her for $45, 00O and they claim
efforts were made to sell her to the
government for $15O,0OO.
She started from San Francisco ac-
csmpahied by the transport Pekin,
which carried the remainder of the
regiment, and encountered heavy seas
to Honolulu with accident
After starting it developed that she
was undermined and soldiers had to
be detailed to act as frcmen, coal
passers and walters and to do other
work. Before reaching Honolulu the
crew concluded that the ship was not
safe, and the majority agreed to desert.
Though they were closely watched,
many of the crew succeeded in getting
away and the Manauense left Honolulu
with less than half her crew.
The captain of the transport Novem-
Der n told Colonel Hayes that the yes
sci had sprung a leak, and and investi-
CATION resulted in finding several feet
of water in her hold. The steam
pumps were tried but failed to work,
and there were no hand pumps on
board. However, forty-six buckets
were found, others were improvised
and the soldiers not employed in work
ing the ship were organized into five
shifts, and stripped and began bailing.
The same day the leak was discov-
cred the machinery collapsed. The
lighting plant failed to work and af-
ter the supply of candles We're cx-
hausted the ship was in utter dark
ness at night.
The captain of the ship promised
the men rs cents day for battling, but
he now proposes to pay them II dollar
and half. The soldiers talk of at
taching the ship. The regiment will
proceed to Zamboanga on the Pcl1in to
garrison several ports on the island of
Mindanoa.
1t is asserted that the voter and pro-
visions ran short, and that during the
last week of the trip the men lived al
most wholly on whisky, beer, and hard
tack.