Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-22
ECHOES OF ouR WAR.

chip OF the old block For the third time In
three years the Navy department has Off.
cially recorded his bravery in the saving
OF life The first was when three sailors
were swept overheard from the battleshiT
Maine in tremendous gale off Hatteras or
February 6, 1897 aud Gherardi, then a naval
cadet. volunteered to take a boat to theii
rescue The boat was destroyed FIVE minutes
after 1t was launched and the cadet and his
crew were rescued with litelines.
Several months later while Gherardi was
attached to the Texas, then at the Brooklyn
navy yard he plunged overheard dressed in
uniform and rescued a drowning sailor.
Captain A. s. Snow commandant OF the
United States naval station at San Juan
Porto Rico, has reported to the Navy de-
partment Ensign Gherardi's latest feat In
the cyclone of August s, 1899, the schooner
Conception, loaded with $50 emigrants from
Santo Domingo, and the steamer Vasco
dragged their anchors and went ashore in the
harbor of Mayaguez. Ensign Gherardi and
]. j. Jiminez, civil engineer, ran down
the beach to render assistance. The storm
was at its height and the wind was terrific.
Gherardi plunged into the water with his
clothes on and saved, with the assistance
Of Jiminez, such members OF the crew and
passengers of the Conception as the waves
brought within reach. All but five or six
people who did not dare to jump into the
water were saved, and after providing them
with shelter Gherard led his little party Of
rescuers to the relief of the crew of the
steamer Vasco, which was beating herself to
pieces on the beach few hundred yards
from the Conception. The Vasco threw out
lifeline, but it fell short OF the shore.
ing hands, which extended out into the surf
with Gherard in the lead. BY this expedi-
ent, which was the only possible one in the
circumstances, Gherardi caught the lifeline
and brought it ashore, and by means of It
the crew were saved. Captain Almy of the
Fifth cavalry, who voluntarily reported
these rescues to the commandant Of the
naval station at San Juan, says:
That so many lives were saved from the
schooner Conception and the steamer vasco
is undoubtedly due to Ensign Gherardrs eff
cient leadership and his heroic efforts"
Mr. Gherardi is son of Rear Admiral Ban
croft Gherardi, who was retired in 1894
after gallant career in the navy.
New York genius bearing the peaceful
name of William Whitney Christmas, be-
heVlng that war is altogether too refined
Tor the times, has invented a death dealing
she'll which will be handed over to pur-
veyors of leaden civilization for a satisfac-
tory price. Mr.. Christmas thinks that
boring hole in the enemy does not fully
meet the needs of the hour, therefore he
has contrived shell with four huge knives
When the shell leaves the gun the knife
blades open and are rotated by the force
OF discharge so that when 1t reaches the
loathsome enemy it will cut through 'em
as smoothly as butchers cleaver BY
carving the enemies of progress into Con-
venent slices it is presumed they can be
handled without much trouble and ma
terially expedite the work OF the burial
corps.
When General Miles was present at the
luncheon given the other day in Seattle to
the returned First Washington volunteers
who have just got back from Manila, one
of the decorations at his table was a pair
of beribboned swords. One of these was
a Spanish staff officers and the other
Filipino's. These Governor Rogers pre-
sented to the general in the name OF the
Washington regiment
Onesdoe not have to go very far to prove
churches in Luzon. Dispatches from San
Francisco say the pawnshops of that city
are packed with clerical vestments and other
relics of churches in Manila and adjacent
towns, which were brought back by the re-
turning volunteers. They were sold at ridic-
ulously low prices, but now command fancy
figures Among the relics are solid silver
chalices, fragments of gold chalices and
miniature cardinals hat taken from an
altar. Scratched on the rim of the hat Is
the name Reilly, Company. -, Twelfth
Minnesota regiment. Besides these there
are two sections of golden ostensorium.
the last gospel of st. John, inscribed in
Latin on a thin plate of solid silver;
bishops miter, inscribed on which is From
the People Of Malata and Pasay to Our Be-
loved Bishop" a pure gold rosary, valued
at $25; a deacons vestment OF white silk,
ornamented with golden braid; red velvet
cape, bordered with a deep fringe of heavy
golden lace; three bases of monstrances of
pure gold, white silk stole and set of
black vestments
These articles, with one exception, were
sold to dealer named Benguiat by James
Barre of the Twentieth Kansas regiment.
The name of the man who disposed of the
gether with the remark, Captured from the
insurgents by James Barre while the Twen-
tieth Kansas regiment was engaged in an
attack on Calumpit."
At other places silver church candlesticks,
rosary beads, censers and scores of scapulas
were for sale