The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-11-12


First Tennessee Volunteers and 101
military prisoners from the Philip
j pines, arrived in port yesterday
morning after voyage of thirty
three and a half days from Manila. The
trip across the ocean was reDlete with
exciting Incidents. among which were the
attempt of the prisoners to take posses
sion of the ship and the startling discov-
cry when the vessel was still five days
away from port that the supplies were all
but exhausted. The Indiana arrived off
of the Faralones Friday evening, but the
fog and mist We're so dense that the Off
GERS decided not to run the risk Of pass
ing into the harbor until yesterday morn
ing.
AS soon as the ship was sighted the
Tennessee delegation which has been
awaiting the home coming of the troops
for several days went out to meet them
in the State tug Governor Markham, &C
companied by the Citizens Committee on
the Governor Irwin. At the sight of the
people from their own State the boys
crowded to the rails and cheered and
otherwise gave expression to their pleas
ure at once again being in sight of Amer
ica's shores; for these boys have had
enough of the Philippines, and they are
probably in as good a position to judge
the country across the seas as any of
the troops that have gone there Not one
of them has a good word to say of the
islands, or their future, and not one of
them will ever return there of his own
volition.
The Citizens Committee. the Tennessee
Reception Committee and many friends
and relatives of the soldiers kept along
side of the Indiana until she dropped an
Choir in the stream off the Government
dock. Then they rushed aboard of the
transport, and for the rest of the day
had possession Of the ship. Troops could
not possibly wish for a more sincere greet
ing than those Tennessee boys received
from the people who had travelled across
the continent to meet them at the Golden
Gate.
When the Indiana was off Alcatraz The
military prisoners were transferred to the
island on the tug Fearless and their de-
parture from the ship was a great relief
to the officers and every man on board.
From the time they were taken aboard
at Cavite they have been source Of con-
tinual worriment to those in charge of
the ship Last Monday night the trouble
with them reached a climax, when they
broke through the bulkhead separating
their quarters from the commissary store
room and secured several cases of
whisky Had they been moderate in con-
Stunning 1t the theft would probably not
have been discovered until after the
transport had locked, and the melee that
followed might have been averted.
The prisoners, however, attempted
race against time in consuming every
drop of spirits in the storeroom. They
made some Roadway and about 10 o'clock
at night they became veritable demons
and broke loose. With a sudden rush
they splinte1ed the wooden bars that
formed the front of their prison and scat
tered over the ship. The onslaught was
so sudden that the guards were taken I'M
awares and the situation became serious
The men are reported to be of the most
desperate class-criminals and outlaws
who managed to join the army without
the recruiting officers learning of their
true characters. With their vicious ma
ture intensified by the liquor, they be-
came bloodthirsty and vengeful and ran
over the ship threatening to kill any one
who dared to check them. When the Off
GERS became aware of the situation all of
the available men were called to duty
and a fearful hand to hand combat en-
sued The drunken prisoners fought with
viciouSness. 1t was an act of providence
that they had not secured arms in their
mad run over the vessel, for there was
murder in them, and they would not have
hesitated to Kill.
Commands to surrender seemed to make
them more determined to take possession
of the transport They rushed at The SOL
diers with their fists and had to be
dubbed back with the butt ends Of rifles
and pistols The orders had been given
to the soldiers not to shoot, unless as a
final resort, and the rebellious men had to
be literally beaten into insensibility be-
fore they were quelled. A dozen or more
of the ringleaders of the revolt were nut
in irons, while the rest Of them were
placed in solitary confinement and kent
on a diet CT bread and water. What fur
ther punishment may be melted OUT to
them when their action is formally re-
ported to the authorities is problematical
The pathetic incident of the trip oc-
Cured shortly after the Indiana cast an
Choir in the stream. Private Frank f. Nc
Neal of Company D. who had been sick
with dysentery but whose condition was
not considered serious, took a turn for
the worse early in the day, and In the