Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-11-29

fher for $45 ,000. and they claim effort,
were made TO sell her to the govern men
for $3.50, 600.
companied by the transport Pekin,
which carried the remand er of the regi.
ment, and encountered heavy seas tt
Honolulu without accident. After
starting it developed that she was .un.
dermanned and soldiers had to be de.
tailed to act as tiremen, coalpassers anc
walters and to do other work. Before
reaching Honolulu the crew concluded
that the ship was not safe and the ma.
lority agreed to desert. Though they
were closely watched many of the crew
J succeeded in getting away and the Ma.
nansuse left Honolulu with less than
half her crew. The captain of the trans
port. Nov. II, told Colonel Hayes that
the vessel had sprung leak, and inves.
'-t;gatioa 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, 46 buckets
were found, others were improyised,
and the soldiers not employed in work.
ing the ship were organized into five
shifts, and stripped and forming into
Lines, they began baling. the officers
working with the men, passing tho
buckets which were sent up to the deck
by windlass. The longest time a shift
could stand was about two hours, and
often the period was not longer than
half an hour.
The baiiing continued until the ship
anchored here.
- The same day the leaking was discov-
cred the machinery collapsed anc the
electric lighting plant and evaporating,
'distilling and refrigerating apparatus
Tailed to work. There were no
lamps and the few candles found were
exhausted after few days. During the
last week of the passage the Mananeuse
was In utter darkness at night. She
had been rolling in heavy seas all the
way, but Nov. % she encountered a
typhoon and pitched and tossed alarm
ingly.
The transport Pekin became separ-
ated from the Manapeuse in the storm.
The waller rose rapidly and the bail.
ing force was doubled. But the buckets
were gradually smashed and barrels
and boxes were substituted tor them,
the men working in darkness, planks
and pieces of iron shafting being vic.
lently washed among them.
The fremen could only feed the fires
by being lifted on the shoulders of the
other men, through water waist deep.
The typhoon lasted about two days
and half, and il the midst of it the
engines stopped. The officers then held
a council and found that there were 420
persons on board, with hfeboat accom-
modations for 2l3.
In the meantime the men below,
ignorant of their extreme peril,
were passing buckets and singing
''what the he'll do we care" w hile the
ship rolled helrlessly on the ocean with
matches closed.
The heat was intense until the ty.
phooE passed.
The meat and vegetables rotted be.
cause Of the failure OF the refrigerators
snd were thrown overheard.
After the storm the water supplied to
the ship at Honolulu had to be used Tor
the boilers, and there was little or none
for drinking. In fact, it was asserted
that during the last week Of the voyage
the men lived almost entirely on whisky,
beer and hard tack,
When the Pekin, which had retraced
her course about 20 miles, came along
s1de the Mananeuse was rolling so heav-
lily that the soldiers in the hold could, at
each roll, see the Pekin through the
matches overhead.
Colonel James S. Petit, commander
of the Thirty. first volunteer regiment,
ordered the Mananeuse to proceed to
Guam and await relief, but the captain
of the Mananeuse demurred, the officers
say, because the government was rent
ing the ship for $500 per day.
Throughout the remainder of the voy
age the engines of the MananeuSe failed
and the ship would roll for
: few hours while the engines We're re-
pairing. Then the steamer would pro-
ceed again for few hours.
The officers and soldiers were utterly
exhausted when they reached Manila.
They declare the engineers were grossly
incompeteut. The officers also say that
the behavior of the troops was beyond
praise Fer days they worked in the
dark. suffocating hold, with water
sametimes up TO their shoulders and
blanks washing about in manner dan
rerous to life and limb. The offlcers
Sook the lead in bailiDg aad encouraged
the men.
The captain of the ship promised the
men 25 cents day fo- baiiing, but he
now proposes to pay then sl-5o- The