The evening times., 1899-02-14
DENEY'S FLEET
BEFORE CAVITE
Facts Taken From the Diary
of a Sailor.
A Vivid Description of the Great
Battle.
EyoIutiOns of the American Squad
ron-SpIendid Craftsmanship of
Our Gunners.

of Uncle Sans navy.
The man was Thomas Bailey, of No. 126
Fairmount Avenue. Mr.. Bailey was in
Philadelphia last on December Is. 1897.
On that day he sailed from Cramps ship
yard as one of the crew of the United
States revenue cutter Hugh McCulloch.
Although none of the McCuliochs crew
with the possible exception OF Captain
Hodgson, knew it at the time, the staunch
little vessels ultimate destination was
Hongkong, where Admiral Dewey, with
his Asiatic squadron, was stationed.
The McCulloch sailed from the Norfolk
navy yard on January u, and going by
the way Of the SueZ Canal, reached Singa-
pore April s. Outside the entrance to that
port the cutter was met by a steam launch
carrying the United States consul at Sin
gapore. The consul bore a telegram for
Captain Hodgson from Admiral, then
Commodore, Dewey, which gave him the
first inkling that there was a possibility
of war with Spain.
The dispatch ordered the McCunoch to
make for Hongkong with all possible speed
BY good sailing the vessel arrived at the
latter port on the morning of Thursday
April Z, finding assembled there the Olym-
pia, Raleigh, Boston, Petrol and Concord
together with two supply transports. The
fleet was all ready for active service. The
next Friday. The following Sunday the
squadron left Hongkong for Mrs Bay, in
obedience TO the instructions OF the British
government, forbidding il to remain in the
port OF Hongkong after war between the
United States and Spain had been declared
Six days later. as the world knows, Admi-
raj Dewey and his collection of fighters
were, in the gray dawn of the morning,
stealing toward the entrance TO Subig Bay.
Kept Il Diary.
Realizing. as doubtless did every other
man who had the honor to be attached to
the squadron, that history was about to be
made, Seaman Bailey kept a diary in
which every movement from then on was
minutely set down. A reporter was given
an opportunity to look over the diary yes
terday. II tells how the proclamation of
the Spanish governor general of Manila
Augustin, was read 10 the sailors on board
the warshps, and how the unjust and
cowardly manifesto aroused the anger and
Indignation of every man. from the highest
to the lowest. Then the passage of the
fleet into Subig Bay is graphically de-
scribed.
In order to pass the fort on the sum-
nit of Corregidor." it continues, the for
nation of the squadron was changed, the
McCulloch leading the second line. All
was darkness, and the six fighting ships
off the fleet had succeeded in passing the
fort when, just as the McCuloch passed
opposite a fort on the mainland. from the
Ell Fraile battery there came binding
flash, followed by a loud report, and the
scream of a shot as it sped through the
air. Almost Immediately there was a sec
ond and a third shot. and then We knew
that the squadron had been discovered by
the enemy. The McCulloch answered with
three shots from her 6-inch rifles while
the Concord and the Boston sent two shots
each toward the battery from larger guns
Nothing more was heard from the fort, and
Corregidor was passed in safety
Vivid Description.
The now famous maneuvers of Admiral
Deweys feet in front of Cavite naturally
occupy by far the greater portion of the
diary. After telling how. a little after
o'clock on the eventful morning of Sunday,
May l. a puff OF white smoke from gun in
one of the batteries on the Manila shore
announced 10 the watchers on the Ameri-
can warship that news of their coming had
been signaled from Corregidor, and how
this opening shot was followed by several
from the heavy guns in the fort at Cavite,
all of which went wide of the mark, the
diary continues with a vivid description
of the great battle as seen from the decks
of the McCulloCh
'As the squadron again wheeled and
came down the line il says in one place
we saw a large white ship move out TO
meet the Olympia We suspected. and this
afterward proved to be true, that the
vessel was the Spanish admirals flagship,
Reina Cristina. She was net by Il storm
of shot from all the guns of the fleet that
were in range, and realizing that she
could not reach the Olympia at close quar-
tiers she wheeled about and tried to make
bor IN 40 littla hnrh0r. nf "
vite, from which she came At the in
stant. however, that the stern swung in
line one of the big S-inch rifles in the for
ward turret OF the Olympia hurled q $50
pound percussion shell, which, true 10 its
mark raked the fleeing ship from her stern
forward, exploding her boiler and setting
her on fire. This shot. the Spanish sur
geon afterward stated, killed the captain
and sixty men, while the entire loss on the
Reina Cristina during the desperate sally
was 147 killed and more than 200 wound
ed
Another exciting description, and one
showing the coolness and splendid mark
manship of the American sailors, is that
telling of the attempt to blow up the
| Olympia by two Spanish torpedo boats.
The Attempt Failed.
I'VE could see two black boats, which
turned out to be torpedo launches" the
| diary says, 'coolly waiting the Olympias
approach AS the flagship came on they
| started for her at full speed. The Olympia
| gunners realized the danger to their ship
! but were not ratified for an instant. Fail
| Ing to hit the small targets with the large
! guns, as the launches rapidly approached
! within eight hundred yards, the secondary
battery Of rapid-1re six-pounders poured
| in their shell with such deadly effect that
the first launch blew up, one of our shots
either exploding their boilers, or the tor
| pedo which was destined for the Olym-
| pia, as we could see huge column of
water go up, and the torpedo launch i'm
mediatcly disappear with all her crew.
| The second launch was riddled with shot
and was beached. Afterward it was found
| by us with dozen holes through her. and
all bespattered with BLOOD
| The diary, which will doubtless be pre-
served in the Bailey family for genera
| tions to come as one of its most precious
| beirlooms, fills a hundred or more large
| pages Among it's other contents is COM
plete transcript of the notes made by
! Col. George A. Loud, paymaster of the
| Asiatic squadron, during the progress Of
| the battle. Colonel Loud was also on
| beard the McCulloch. There are besides.
| three original poems written by members
| CT the crews of Admiral Dewey's squad
| ron, an accurate map of the Philippine
! Islands, drawn by Seaman Bailey, table
| of distances from different ports to Ma
Mia, roster of the ships that took part
in the memorable engagement, complete
translation of the account of the battle by
Spanish newspaper published in Mania,
| and comparative statement of the pay
| drawn by officers of the Navy and the
| United States Army.