The morning news., 1899-01-28

This she'll after piercing two thicknesses
Of steel one-quarter of an inch thick,
struck the deck and penetrated till il
reached one of the heavy deck beams,
which it cracked clear through. 1t was
then DETECTED upward, coming out of the
wooden deck and tearing its way through
the steel combing of the engine room sky
light, again passing through two quarter
inch plates. As it had been turned side
ways on rising from the deck. the hoes it
made through these plates were about
eighteen inches long by six inches wide
ragSed, torn spots, very unlike the clean
cut punctures made by such a shell when
entering point foremost. Leaving the sky
light, the shell, ranging slightly forward,
struck the recon cylinder of the port g.
inch gun on the quarter deck, disa abing
the carriage. AT last it met an object
strong enough to resist its attack-the steel
shield, which curved in front of the gun
in a complete semicircle. Following this
curve, the shell came out on the forward
side of the carriage. travelling in a direc-
ton exactly opposite 10 its former course,
until it reached the starboard side of the
snip again, where il struck a steel venti-
lator, and was finally stopped. In other
words this shell passed through one inch
of steel, ripped up a deck, broke a deck
beam, and bulged a shield about an inch
out of its original shape. 1t crossed the
Baltimore from starboard side to port and
back again to the starboard side and yet
had hit none of the many men engaged at
the guns nearby 1t is true, it was the
cause of wounding two officers and six
men, for in its course it exploded two g.
FOUNDER shells which were lying on the
deck ready for use in the small gun on
the Baltimore's rail; but directly it in
jured no one. and it is regarded as holding
the record for eccentric action.
Our courteous and courtly commodore
made no sign. He was waiting until he
could put an end to the whole annoyance
with one crushing blow At last the op-
portunity came He learned on unques-
tionable authority, that one of the Ger
man vessels had landed provisions in Ma
Mia, thereby violating neutrality 1 was
not present when he sent his message to
Admiral Won Diederich, and, therefore,
do not speak from personal knowledge
concerning it; but I learned the facts from
perfectly authentic source, as follows:
Orderly. tell Mr.. Brumby 1 would like
to see him. said Admiral Dewey, one
forenoon
'Oh, Brumby," he continued, when the
flag lieutenant made his appearance on
the quarter deck Il wish you to take the
barge and go over to the German flagship.
Give Admiral Won Diederch my compli-
ments, and say that I wish 10 call his at
tention to the fact that the vessels of his
squadron have shown an extraordinary
disregard of the usual courtesies of naval
intercourse, and that finally one of them
has committed a gross breach of neutrality
in landing provisions in Manila, a port
which l am blockadng."
The commodore's voice had been as low
and sweetly modulated as if he had been
sending Won Diederich an invitation to
dinner. When he stopped speaking,
Brumby who did not need any better in
dication of the commodore's mood than
the unusually formal and gentle manner
of his chief, turned to go, making the
usual official salute, and replying with the
customary "Ay, ay, SIR
And Brumby" continued the commo-
dore, his voice rising and ringing with
the intensity of feeling that he felt he
had repressed long enough, tell Admiral
Won Diederich that if he wants a fight, he
can have it right now!'
Brumby went with his message and the
commodore paced the quarter deck in ST.
lence for a considerable time, evidently
working off some of the high pressure
that had brought forth his emphatic mes
sage to the German admiral. The latter
sent back the extraordinary reply that he
had not known anything about these ac-
tions of his captains, and that they would
not be repeated. When one considers the
rigidity of discipline that is supposed to ex-
ist in the German navy, the character of
Admiral Won Diederich's apology is all the
more incomprehensible.