The evening times., 1899-09-29
MOUNTING DEWEY'S GUNS
The AdmirarS Contribution to the
National Museum.
A Historic Collection Captured From
the Spanish mt Manila and Santi-
jcctile Unknown I'm Warfare to
Civilized Nations Used by the Dons.

| Admiral Dewey soon after his great vic
tory at Manila Bay sent to the National
Museum two 5-inch bronze guns of obso-
| Iete pattern taken from the Reina Chris
tina, the flagship of the Spanish Admiral,
and which were manufactured during the
reign of Carlos " about 1892 and the Navy
Department subsequently presented the
Museum with nine other guns These
| pieces of ordnance have just been received
at the Museum, and the employees there are
now engaged in mounting them. The posi-
ticns in which they will be placed have not
| yet been determined.
| One of the guns supplied by the Navy De-
partment IS 5-pounder pneumatic, TAX
en- from Fort Cavite. Two were old iron
| wall oarronades of English make in the
| year 1902 and two others were 5-inch
| bronze of obsolete model also taken from
Cavite The pneumatic gun is of Franch
make and was constructed by the firm OF
Snyder & Creusote.
In addition to these curios of the Span
! ish war brought from Manila, there has
| been presented to the Museum by the Navy
| department. many OlHtI vi lllCISStl
which as yet the public have not seen.
| All of these curios are interesting aside
| from the historical event that they repre-
| sent but none are more SO than the four
| Spanish searchlights taken from the vessels
| DESTROYED by Admiral Dewey, May /, 1898
These lights are damaged beyond repair,
but furnish splendid though mute evidence
! of the havoc wrought by the American
guns.
Another interesting relic of the famous
naval engagement on Manila Bay is the
| steering wheel of the gunboat Liete, which
| was sunk by American gunners. The wheel
| is an old-fashioned wooden one, similar in
many respects to the kind used by river
| schooners in this country One of the de-
vices employed by the Spanish in Manila,
| to punish offenders is also on exhibition.
| The article in question is known as a leg
| shackle. 1t is an iron rod sixteen feet
| long, the ends of which are secured to the
prisoners with padlocks of primitive make.
| These rods would secure from eight to ten
prisoners, and when fastened to it the un-
| fortunates were in continual torture. The
| Manila collection has many other articles
| of interest but these have already been
placed on exhibition and described.
| The Navy Department has also presented
| to the National Museum many articles of
warfare taken from the wrecks of the ma
val battle at Santiago, and the land en-
| gagement at San Juan Hill. There are
| also many curios Of this character IN the
| collection which were brought to tie Mu-
scum by Prof Paul Beckwith, aide to the
| section of American history in the Muse
um. In this collection is a torpedo tube
nearly thirty feet long, new and containing
modern attachments. 1t was taken from
| the cruiser Maria Teresa. Two torpedoes
| with war heads are also exhibited. they
were obtained from the Reina' Mercedes
and the Maria Teresa. The steering wheel
| CT the Merrimac, the vessel that made a
hero Of Lieutenant Hobson, is Also in the
collection, and has just been enclosed in a
| glass case. This wheel was secured by
Prof. Beckwith when it was removed from