The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-10-25
CAPTAIN WHITING.
Talks on Matters in the
Philippines.
montojo Not In Battle 4. Maui u Iusu..
gents in The Extremity
Persona otssrVa Ions.

the China are Captain W. III. Waiting.
wife and child. Captain Whiting IS en-
route to the Norfolk navy yard, to
which he has recently been attached.
He left Manila in June last in COM
mand OF the Boston. but obtained per-
mission to detain the ship at Hong
kong, as his wife was quite i'll at that
port. Mrs. Writings health not show
ing signs of improvement. he applied
for and obtained three months leave,
and is now proceeding home to report
for duty, as before stated.
\ reporter from the Advertiser wait
ed upon Captain Whiting at the Along
residence on Nuuanu avenue last eve
ming and obtained some very interest
ing matter from the Captains own OBJ /
servation of affairs in the Philippines. |
Starting from the commencement OF |
hostilities in Manila bay. II would |
seem that the Wanted bravery OF the |
Spanish feet was rather exaggerated. |
for upon raising the sunken vessels the |
damage inflicted by the American fire
was not sufficient to- warrant the eX-
IRENE action taken by the SpaniaTds in
scuttling their ships. Take for in
stance the Isla de Cuba. Upon raising
her the only damage apparent from
shot or shell was one 6-inch shot right
tower. one smaller shell on her port
quarter and another square in the
stern, while in her bows she had two
torpedoes with war-heads complete all
| ready for action. 1t would appear from
this that the one shot in the coming
tower had taken all the fight out o. her
and in turning tail for shallow water
| she received her other injuries. OF
course no estimate of damage to- her
| light upper-work. beats. etc. could be
made. as after the action the Petrol
and Concord set fire to her. MucI the
same state of affairs exists in the lsla
de Luzon and Don Juan de Austria.
| AS is well known. Deweys orders
were only to capture or destroy the
fleet wherever found. and he destroyed
it effectively. IL is probable he would
have contented himself with the cap
| ture only OF those vessels afterwards
| burnt. He, in fact, expressed regret
| that he had not done So. but he was
| not aware at the time that the whole
fleet was in Manila bay and assumed
that he would have to follow stray yes
sells around the various ISLANDS. The
Spaniards, too, probably thought he
| would be content when their vessels
were sunk and take his leave. and this
idea is the more reasonable when IL Is
Il
cocks and valves in order to- sCuttle the
ships they had carefully coated the
machinery with white lead and tallow
to preserve il from the salt water. evil
IDENTIFY intending To raise the vessels
. and refit them after the departure OF
. the American fleet.
peculiar rumor is still current
throughout Manila and IL is that Ad-
miral Montojo took no actual part In
the battle. 1t is said that on the night
previous to the fight he entertained
friends at his house in the city OF Ma
Mia till midnight. and also that nj
Z o'clock on the morning OF the event
full day he was seen by many members
D of the English Club still in the city but
driving towards Cavite, twenty mile:
away, and yet again at IL o'clock o. the
same morning he was again in Manila
Now If these statements are facts. m
was not in battle, since the fight begaI
at daybreak and was over when he re
turned. The rumor further suggests
that on his drive out 10 Cavite he saw
the state of affairs, gave orders &c hi!
captains to scuttle their ships and theI
returned to- the city.
When the raised Juan de Austri'
was placed upon the slip at Cavite q
be patched up, her old captain. VIII,
spoke English fiuently, came down q
} look at her. and returned to the city II
company with Captain Whiting. W.T.
remarked having seen him at the YES
sell Yes" said ner captain. "ant
what surprises me is that you maize $,
| few hits That's So" said Whiting
but what made you run away from
such poor shooting?'
Speaking OF the insurgents. Captain
Whiting says they are manufacturin
their own powder and filling old shells
Several of these homemade product
- were in his possession and caused
much amusement among the Ameri
I cans. The bullets We're badly mould
| ed, powder very poor and shells no
] closed around the bullet at all: n per
! son could shake 10 from its case wit
III ease.
III At Iloilo a proclamation was issue
calling upon all inhabitants to send 4
| all iron, steel and brass goods lCT tn
= purpose of transforming them into be
las and ordnance. \ motley collectio
, of old band instruments. pendula {
clocks. wheel tires, hand irons, etc
was seen by the Captain there waitin
\ for transportation to the interior. FroI
. this and other signs IL would seem ths
y the insurgents are close to their end
the rope. At the commencement
hostilities mostly all used Mauser rifle
III using smokeless powder and their bu
lets were common on the firing lin
but now Remingtons seem the favorit
c. and this would bear out the statemer
:, as regards their extremity, since the
have not the facilities for the mani
dc facture of Mauser ammunition.
4 laughable feature OF the viii
business is the manner in which bot
is Spaniards and insurgents fire the
% rifles, for, while the former fire fro
the hip, the latter get somewhat nea
er the correct style-but only som
what"-for they hold their weapon
straight before them AZ arms lsngt
and without any support whateve
and, as they are invariably behind ei
trenchments and dare not stand N
risrhr thaH- rnnl-n .ha rifle over ~