The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-02-28
BREAKFAST IDEAA BLIND.
Dewey was Short ofAmmunition and
Stopped for Consultation.

Dewey was Short of and
stopped for Consultation.
Joseph L. Stickney. in Ha-per's Mag
azine: 1t Will be remembered that the
battle began at b:O6 o'clock on the
morning OF May l; that Commodore
(now rear admiral) Dewey led the line
of American warships Into action In his
flagship Olympia: that after a fierce
fight las;!nH two hours and half the
attacking feet retired from the battle
into the centre OF Manila bay. and did
not renew the attack until nearly four
hours later.
When we hauled off from the fighting
line. at 1896 o'clock. the situation had
become apparently serious for Commo-
dore Dewey. We had been fighting
determined and courageous enemy for
more than two hours. without having
noticeably diminished the volume OF his
fire. II Is true at least three OF his
ships had broken into flames. bu; so
had one OF ours-tbe Boston. These
fires had all been pu; out without ap-
parent Injury TO the ships. Generally
oDtuhLlS. iHONAllib VI bIcdk
had occurred to show that ne had SER
lously injured any Spanish vessel. .TheY
were all yteamng about In the blight
back OF saneley Pein. or In Baker bay
as actively as when We frs. sighted
them In the early dawn. So far. there
fore. we could see nothing indicating
that the enemy was less able 10 de-
fend his position than he had been at
the beginning.
On the 6the. hand. Our condition was
greatly altered for the worse. There re-
manned In the magazines OF the Olym-
pia only eightF-hve rounds d, 5-lnch
ammunition. and. though the stock OF
S-incn charges was not propcrtidnately
depleted. 1t was reduced enough TO
make the continuance OF the battle for
another two hours impossible. When
II Is remembered that Commodore
Dewey was more than 1000 miles from
II home port, and that under the most
favorable condition I supply OF ammu-
milton could not be obtained In less than
n month. the outlook was far from be-
Ing satisfactory. The commodore
knew that .the Spaniards had just re-
ceived an ample supplyot ammunttionin
the transport Mindanao. so that there
was no hope % exhaustlng their fight
ing power By an action lasting twice as
long. II we should run short Of powder
and shell We might become the hunted
Instead OF the hunters.
do rot eXaggerate In the least when
sag that. as We hauled of into the
bay, the gloom on the bridge Of the
Olympia was thicker than London
fog In November. Neither Commodore
Dewey nor any OF the stan believed that
Ieh ol,t atn See.
| !aiured by our fire to prevent them
from renewing the battle as furiously
as they had previously fought. Indeed
we had all been distinctly disappointed
in the results OF our fire. Our projec-
tiles seemed TO 20 too high or too low
just as had been :he case with those
fred at US by the SRaBiards. Several
times the commodore had expressed
dissatisfaction with the failure OF our
gunpers TO hit the enemy. We had be-
gun the firing at too great distance.
but we had gradually worked In further
IN each OF the turns, until we. were
within Gb8ut 900 yards al the close OF
the Nth round. At that distance. on a
smooth sea. Ne ought TO have made n
large percentage OF hits: yet so far MS
we could judge. we had not sensibly
crippled the foe. Consequently, C0mmO-
dore Dewey hauled out into the open
bay n the end OF the f1f;h round Ia take
stock OF ammunition AMI devise new
plan Of attack.
ASH went aft the men asked me what
we were hauling on for They were In
distinctly different mood from that
which prevailed on the bridge. They
believed that they had dane well. and
that the other ships had done likewise.
The Olympia cheerad the, Baltimore,
and the Baltimore returned the cheers
with interest. The gun captains were
not at all dissatisfied with the results
OF their work Whether they had bet
ter knowledge OF the accuracy VI their
aim than we had on the bridge. or
whether they took II for granted that
! the enemy must have suffered severely
after so much fighting, / do not know;
| but. at any rate. they were, eager to 20
| on with the battle, and were confident
OF victory. I told one Of them that we
were merely hauling of for breakfast.
which statement ELECTED the appeal to
Captain Lambert0n. as he came past a
moment later: +:
For Gods sake, captain, don't let US
stop now. TO - with breakfast
When I told the commodore that Ia
| tended to attribute our, withdrawal ~
the need OF breakfast. he intimltcd tina
! II was not matte. OF much import
ance what reason l gave. SO long as
did not give the true one. And so the
breakfast episode went TO the world as
| a plausible excuse FOR what seemed like
on extraordinary strategic manoeuvre
leone which has been the subject ~
more comment than utmost nny other
event during the battle. Many people
have said to me that 1t would be pity
to spoil 80 good Il story by telling the
truth: but. as the commodore will be
sure to let the cat out Of the bag some
day. may as well let her have her free
dom now.
81 OWE my whole lie to Burdock
Blood Bitters. Scrotulous sores cover
| ed my body. seemed beyond cure. y.