Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-11-29

MANILA, November %, 9:i5 p. M
When the Manuenz anchored in Manila
bay this morning thirty three days
from San Francisco, there were several
feet of water in her hold, and four
hundred grimy, greasy, hungry, ex-
hausted soldiers and sailors had been
passing buckets of water since Novem-
Der II, night and day. First Assistant
Engineer Dunleavy was under arrest
and according to Col. Webb Hayes Of
fetal report, the chief engineer would
also have been under arrest if there
had been any one to replace him.
The Colonel's report also declares
that the captain of the vessel told him
that the osly thing which brought
them through was the fact that the men
were greenhorns and failed to realize
their danger, while experienced seamen
would have deserted the ship and taken
to the boats in mid-ocean. The Manu-
enz is chartered ship flying the Brit
ish flag. She belongs to a firm OF
which Senator Perkins, of San Fran
CISCO, is alleged to be junior member.
The officers say the firm bought her for
$4,000, and they claim efforts were
made to sell her to the government for
b150,000 She started from San Fran
cisco accompanied by the transport
Pekin, which carried the remainder Of
the regiment and encountered heavy
seas to Honolulu, without accident.
After sailing it developed that she was
under manned and soldiers had to be
detailed to act as firemen, coal passers
and walters and to do other work. Be-
fore reaching Honolulu the crew con-
cluded that the ship was not safe and
the majority agreed to desert. Though
they were closely watched, many of the
crew succeeded in getting away and the
Manuenz left Honolulu with less than
half her crew.
The captain of the transport, Novem-
Der II, told Col. Hayes that the vessel
had sprung a leak, and investigation
resulted in finding several feet of water
in her hold. The steam pumps were
tried, but failed to work, and there
were no hand pumps on board. How
ever, forty-six buckets were found, 9TH
ers were improvised, and the soldiers
not employed in working the ship were
organized into five shifts, and stripped
and forming lines, they began bailing,
the officers working with the men,
passing the buckets which were sent up
to the deck by windlass. The longest
time a shift could stand was two
hours, and often the period was not
longer than half an hour.
rhe bailing continued until the ship
anchored here.
The same day the leaking was dis
covered, the machinery collapsed, and
the electric lighting plant and evapor-
ating, distilling and refrigerating ap-
paratus failed to work. There were no
lamps and the few candles found were
exhausted after a few days. During
the last week of the passage the
Manuenz was in utter darkness at
night. She had been rolling in heavy
seas all the way, but November % she
encountered typhoon and pitched and
tossed alarmingly.
The Pekin became separated from the
Manuenz in the storm. The water rose
rapidly and the bailing force was
doubled. But the buckets were grad
ually smashed, and barrels and boxes
were substituted for them, the men
working in darkness, planks and pieces
Of iron shafting being violently washed
among them. The fremen could only
shoulders of the other men, through
water waist deep.
The typhoon lasted two days and a
half and in the midst of it the engines
stopped. The officers then held coun-
ell and found that there were four hun
bred and twenty persons on board, with
life boat accommodations for 213
In the meantime the men below, ig-
norant of their extreme peril. were
passing buckets and singing What the
He'll Do We Care" while the ship rolled
helpless on the ocean with matches
closed.
The heat was intense until the ty-
phoon passed, and then the Pekin,
which had retraced her course about
seventy miles. came alongside the