The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-03
AFAHOUS LITTLE GUNBOAP
Some Stirring Incidents in Which
the Petrol Has Figured.


Milking Remarks About the Di-
minutIVcness OF Their Craft.
The tragic death Of Lieutenant Com
mauder Roper, IF the gUnboat Petrol,
While eudeayOring TO rescue members Of
/ his crew who were fighting fire in the
! forward hold of his vessel brings that
noted vessel again into prominence. The
( little Petrol, one of the smallest boats Of
/ the American Navy. has figured more or
/ less in national affairs ever since she was
( launched. Her record would be a credit
/ to any battleship
! When Admiral Dewey achieved his glO-
rious victory in Manila Bay on May l,
( 1895 the little Petrol was one of the boats
/ in the fleet flying the Stars and Stripes
/ which brought disaster TO MoHtojos
! squadron and did worldwide honor to the
! United States flag.
The niucky little craft ran close in .
/ shore and engaged the Spanish ships at
! quarters the other American vessels Were
/ unable to reach on account of their heavy
draft With her G-iuch guns she silenced
tie formidable shore batteries. Since tina,
that time no sailor has regarded a trans
fer to this little boat as a degradation
More than once bluejackets of her crew
! have resented insults TO their ship.
The worst thing one can say about the
/ Petrol Is that she is 3ittle, and tbs e
/ mark, made in a GisparaE ing tone, is by
no means pleasant TO anyone corrected
I with her In spite of her small size she
is d stanch, ocean-going craft, and has
braved the terrors OF many a heavy gale.
The Petrol was built IN Baltimore in
1889 and went into commission in the
same year. Her only protection is steel
deck. Her armament is made up of .
main battery of four -6-inch guns, sec
ondary battery OF two 5-pounders, one l.
FOUNDER, two Hotchkiss revolving cannon,
and two Calling guns She was first as
signed to duty with the North Atlantic
! squadron under Commander W H
Brownson. and later was assigned to the
Asiatic squadron, and went for the first
time into Chinese waters After that the
Petrol went TO Behring Sea 70 protect the
seal fishery interests of the United States
during the controversy with Great Brit
ain Part of the time she was com
Tnanded by Commander Dayton, who was
/ later succeeded in command 10y Comman-
der W. L. Emory
Il was during the time that COmman-
der Emory had charge Of the little
| gyInboat that an incident occurred which
illustrates apJIy the loyalty of her crew
10 their flag and TO their ship It was
when the Petrol was ordered 10 Shanghai
:
fords moorage for vessels of moderate
draft only When the Petrol steamed
into the harhor she looked like pilot
boat There were great many ships
fixing the ensiSns OF other nations an
chored there. There were no batueships
in the harbor nor fighting ships of other
nations save British cruiser After the
Petrol dropped anchor she was subjected
To considerable ridicuIe from the crews
- q - T,re
were especially amused that the Petrol
should make any pretensions 10 being
/ fighting craft They made suggestions
through the megaPhOne to the effect that
/ they needed q steam launch and would
hoist the Petrol 70 the davits when they
cleared the port. The chatting was re
1 | ceiVed with all good feeling. and during
] | the day nothing more was thought OF the
Al night. however. it was resumed in
/ ! q more serious form The deck oblcer OF
/ | the English cruiser IA spirit ot Iul
I ! turned his Searchli2ht on the Petrol Such
I | an action Is considered . direct breach OF
1 naval COURTESY The ri;jicIie was not in
I the least reiishsd by the officers of the
] American craft. They regarded the act
( mach as an individual would VINO de-
/ Uected somebody in the act Of throwing
| reflection from = lookug-glaSS int ms
/ eyes II vas repeated several times. and
/ then the officers of the watch on The Pc
I trei thinking that the joke mad gone TOO
! far reported the fact 10 Commander En-
| orv. That officer immediately sent an Of
/ fcer in a boat to the British cruiser. The
English commander was plainly informed
;. that the Americans considered the act
= both irlpertinent and discourteOus, and
- he was requested not 4 put his search
: lights 10 such use AGAIN de proIeSSed
> / ignorance OF the matter and had the deck
= officers sent below This closed the Incl
dent rs far IS The CtIcGTs OF the ships
. were concerned and IS Tar as national
= honor was involved
But the crews especially that Of the
< Petrol. were not 50 eaSiiE SdtlS44eu- II
= was doubtless due TO the TACT th@t
. | friendship between the two nations was
- not 50 firmly cemented as IN more recent
: ! years When the sailors Of the TWO ma
= tons met on shore there was likely TO
u | be trouble. The incident of the search
light only served to accentuAte what
! suifited feeling already existed
! Finally. one night about dozen tafS
/ from the Petrol encountered fifteen or
Z | twenty Britishers in one oT the bamboo
agrge shops which abound in Shanghai
n US evident from the first that there
q ! WAS going to be trouble The English
. | men called the Petrol a -Yestp0Cket
- / .uuboat and said that they would come
u over some night, take out her machinery
@ put III oars. and equip her as a long boat
' The Americans came back al the Brit
| ishers with Il statement that their craft
yas Il worthless old hulk that would
t founder in q mill pond and that the crew
= fought their TatiOns better than they
TN sIant-eved Monaghan who con
Quoted the place tried to quiet the bel
- IieerrntS with no avail Before anyone
g was ware Of it there was fierce mix
2 s1r1 and the air fas fun of hourishiug fists
. ana 1ving tables Thomas Sharkey. the
80 | erSt,yhile puSiliSt, was member OF the
e ! Ferrel's crew at The time and i Is stated
| that on this occasion he carried himse Il
{ | I'm true championship style He went in
&C action with ShoTt-arm Jolts and left-arHl
= | swings He varied Queensbury tactics
Il | by breaking bottles and bamboo chairs
p ! over the heads Of his adversaries. 1t
was q rough battle for ten minutes but
| in the end the determined onslaught OF
the Yankee tars carried the day in spite
| Of their inferior numbers BY this time
| there was not much left Of the gr0g
L. / shop. The sailors of both nations then
.e | Joined hands against the native guard
s. / ans OF the peace. who attempted 10 make
9 ! arrests. and soon put the officers to flight
! lie P,.trel's crew returned to their shin
L ! q little worse for wear, bat tTlum plant
| They made all sorts Of explanations. but
d | the next day the truth came out Com
! fnander Emory was a strict disciplinarian
but he called none Of his men 70 account
= | for their injuries He simply failed to
] see the Disbursements. The story was
told in the ward rooms Of the n4yies ali
| over the world, ana after that time the
little Petrol vas never subjected to criti-
| cism on account of her diminutivc size
Bruce Raynor's Body Found.
Il NEWPORT NEWS. Va. April 3--After
s having been given up as hopelessly lost
g for more than three weeks, the body OF
g Rruce Raynor was recovered yesterday
y near Ocean View. The unfortunate young