El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-20

Liberty's in every blow
Let us do, or die!
Robert Burns.
A New Dewey Story.
One of the brave jackies who twas
with Dewey" at the battle of Manila
Bay tells the New York Journal this
new anecdote of the great admiral.
The teller is Harry Deghman, a sailor
of the cruiser Boston, and his story is
this:
THE most affecting incident which
occurred, and which all Of the sailors
will remember through their lives, was
the action of a powder boy. These
boys act as aids to captains and lieu
tenants in carrying messages and do
ing errandS. When the order was
given to strip for action one of the
boys tore his coat off hurriedly, and it
fell from his hands and went over the
rail, down into the bay. A few mo-
ments before he had been gazing on
his mothers photograph, and just be-
fore he took his coat off he had kissed
the picture and put it in his inside
pocket. When the coat fell overheard
he turned to the captain and asked
permission to jump over and get it.
l
boy then went to the other side of the
ship and climbed down the ladder. He
swan around to he place where the
coat had dropped, and succeeded in
getting it. I believe it was still float
ing when he got there. When he came
back he was ordered in chains for dis
obedience. After the battle he was
tried by a court-martial for DISC
bedience and found guilty. Commo-
1dore Dewey became interested in the
case. for he could not understand why
the boy had risked hts life and dis
'obeyed orders for a coat. The lad had
never told what his motives were. But
when the commodore talked to him in
a kindly way, and asked him why he
had done such strange things for an
old coat, he broke into tears and told
the commodore that his mothers pic
ture was in the coat. Commodore
Dewey's eyes filled with tears as he
listened to the story. Then he picked
up the boy in his arms and embraced
him. He ordered the little fellow to be
instantly released, and pardoned.
Boys who love their mothers enough
to risk their lives for her picture can
not be kept in irons on this fleet he
said.
Just before the action the boys all
exchanged keepsakes and intrusted
numerous packages to each other to
send to their homes in case they were
killed in action. One of the great mis-
fortunes on the Boston was the great
scarcity of tobacco the morning of the
battle. Almost all the sailors were out
OF the weed. But one man had over a
pound, and he divided it in equal lots
among his companions, keeping only
the regular share for himself
yizcaya's Cabin Boy.
Pedro Urizar, formerly cabin boy on
the Inflated Vizcaya, is at the home
OF Lawyer Paul E. De Fere, at 1176
Dean street, Brooklyn. Pedro is IA
years old and built like an athlete. His
shoulders are broad and his muscles
steel. He came to New York from
Portsmouth, N. H, with other Span
ish prisoners, and then slowed away
on a steamer bound for Havana, turn
ing up at Port Tampa, where he met
Mr.. De Fere. He is now studying
American institutions under Mr. De
Fere's tutelage. His tutor in turn is
studying Spanish.
Pedro, with his wounds and his
story, will be a hero when he returns
to Bilboa This is his story put into
English:
Il was on duty directly under the
bridge in the battle Of Santiago. 1t
was a warm place, and before the bat
tie had started 1 wished l was back
with my parents in Bilboa. We met a
big surprise. We thought there were
only two or three American ships out
side. l heard that the Texas was the
argest one, and the sailors said that
We could whip them easily and go on
TO Havana. But l never saw so many
right up to US. The poor Vizcaya-
all. a noble ship, too-was in the cen
ter, and the shells and bullets fell like
rain. Our men were not so much afraid
II the shells as OF the American
Mausers."
Here Pedro made a pencil sketch OF
The masts of the American ships tc
draw the location of the American
Mausers,'' as he called the rapid-fire
guns in the crows nests.
THE poor Vizcaya-alas, for the
nagnificent-she was shot to pieces,
Pedro continued. 81 was inside anc
The thunder was terrible. 1 was hi
IN the leg by a piece of shell about {
haif hour after the first shot was fired
Chen the cabins were shot to piece.