New-York tribune., 1900-07-22
TRIPS OUT OF MANILA.
THE "TINCLADs" PLACE IN AFFAIRS
HOT SPRINGS AT CALAMBA.

{Spectail.-Ine
quartermaster's launch which tows cascoes OF sup
niles every dav to CaIamba, Los Bafos and other
places which we hold the Laguna near the pres
ent military operations. takes over hve hours 70
do the few miles Of river between Manila ana Ihe
town of Pasig You can leave Manila in a carriage
at l O'Clock and. driving straight to Pasig catch
the boat there which left Manila at 9. At this rate
the destination cannot be reached before midnisht
and sometimes not before ! or In the morning
The launch must zigzag across the lake 10 denver
the supplies at the various small stations so that
you lucky If you can transfer to some other
boat. Sometimes one manage TO get on
'tinclad" II one of those little gunboats happens
be waiting off Pasig for any OF it's crew to come
up from Manila; II you have sufficient pull you
may induce the Captain to take you on board
After this the whole character Of the. trip Is
changed When you step on the tiny forward deck
of the ''tinclad' you feel as II you were starting
out on a pleasure trip the Corsair or some
other similar craft. for you have spent hve hours
on a small crowded boat without even seat, trying
to avoid sitting the piles of refrigerated meat
which take up all the available space fore ana
aft, and the smell is rather distasteful after an
hour two.
The "tinc1ads" have been often alluded to-for
they have made history out here-but seldom de-
scribed They originally small river tugs used
for freight and passengers for the towns on the
river and the lake, but seized by the Govern
ment to meet the emergency and quickly fitted out
with gatlings and 5-pounder rapid fire guns. Bands
Of quarter-inch armor were bolted about the bull
warks forward and aft. and about the wheel. The
two largest of these. the Napindan and the Laguna
de Bay. about ninety feet long; the former Is
a side wheeler. and fifteen feet beam. while the
Laguna de Bay is much wider The Napindan has
one little stateroom forward, which is used by the
Captain, a young man. Mr.. Larsen, OF the 11th
Volunteer Cavalry He came out with the South
Dakotas and has been identified with the tin
ciads" since the first. having had some experience
the Missouri River Besides commanding the
Napindan he might be called the admiral OF the
in tors
He receives his orders from the commanding gen
eral OF his division. Of whose staff he IS member
OF the twenty-seven who live the Napin-
dan the rest. including the second officer and the
engineer, obliged to sleep in hammOcks the
deck. The galley is small by of the
wheels, which is just large enough to hold cook
ing stove. The officers have their meals served on
a folding table, which is set up IN a spare part of
the forward deck
The Florida. the third boat in the Laguna section
Is small launch. with deck and no cabin
accommodation whatsoever. Yet there almost
twenty men living board She Is painted gray
like the others--the battle color of the Army fleet
as we'll of the Navy--and has plates OF thin
armOr above the gunwaIe. while she bristles with
several effective, though small, guns The gatIings
on the Napindan and the Laguna De Bay are ten
barrel ones instead of five, and the barrels are
about twice as long the others.
REGULAR FLOATING BATTERIES
The part that these little boats and few others
IKE played IN the along the
Grande, the Rio Pasig and the Laguna can hardly
be overestimated. No more effective method of pry-
ing insurgents out of small has been found
than that of bombardment. which can seldom be
accomplished by land artillery. Ii is a more simple
matter 10 hoat an effective battery a position OF
advantage None of the Navy gunboats could
ascend either OF the rivers referred to- but the
little "tinclads." drawing not more than four feet
or water. could go anywhere in the rainy season
and almost everywhere In the dry season After
of OF
the river the Napindan lay nearly opposite for
several months. and hardly a day passed that she
was not peppered by the insurgents who were
gathered together in force the other side of the
river back of a stretch OF rich fields which are
submerged under three feet of water during the
months OF rain. Tomatoes had been planted there
and a luxuriant crop had grown. but none OF the
natives dared come out Of the patch OF woods back
of it, on higher ground. from which they shot at
the boat. so that it safe for anybody on
board to expose himself
One night however, two men who were braver or
more foolhardy than the rest emerged from shelter
and started TO gather OF the ripe tomatoes to
supplement their Commissary supplies. They were
promptly picked off by the soldiers on the boat and
in the morning they lay there just as they had
fallen in the midst of the tomato patch with their
baskets but half filled with the vegetables which
destined to be carried within their lines
Perhaps the most amusing feature OF the tin
clad service is the sight of our "doughboys" with
their leggings and cartridge belts and their Krag
Jorgensens in a rack. winding windlasses and row
Ing boats, and repeating the Captains order stand
by the anchor, sir" 1t Is another Illustration OF
the versatility of Army which draws intelligent
recruits from all walks in life. all professions and
all trades.
BIG CHANGE IN Level.
All three Of the "tinclads" now on the Iar7,na
were at one time transferred to the Rio Grande
They were there to cooperate with General Law
tons expedition. But there are certain parts Of the
when these light draught boats caDno+
navigate the river far up. there being difference
OF at least ten feet in the depth between the wet
and dry months. 1t will be remembered that when
General Lawton started the river was so low that
he experienced great difficulty in getting supplies
up to Aryat, tugs and cascoes being continually
stuck on mud banks. 1t was an accident of this
kind that led to the death of Major Howard the
quartermaster of the division. Then the unex-
pected rains fell with great violence for few DAYS
making the land routes almost impossible by food
ing the paddy fields and making mudholes of the
roads The river rose seven feet and the necessary
supplies were transported up it with ease
The rise and fall OF the Pasig is not so great and
the river being deeper we'll as swifter naviga-
ton Is not affected. There is probably rise OF
seven feet during the rain This is not only on
the river. but the lagoon as we'll This seems
a large figure for an expanse Of water almost as
large as Manila Bay, but it be verified at anv
time by actual measurement along the shore When
you glide out from the river into this body of
water YOU realize why this is so. 1t is entirely
surrounded by high hills and mountains which form
a perfect watershed, that II receives the drain
of many square miles of country The lake fs
so shallow that when typhoon is raging outside
in the China Sea and in the bay IL is VIOLENTLY
affected. The average depth is not more than five
fathoms; in some places 1t is shoay. Navigation
on the Laguna is at times dangerous task Al
this season OF the year it is likely TO be calm
on account OF the shalowness the waters Of the
I.Qu haV no 6pRO coll