The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1902-02-15
ENROUTE TO THE PHILIP
PINES.
Grenada Boy Tells Of His Voyage
in an Interesting Manner.

The following interesting letter was
not written for publication, but will
no doubt be read with pleasure. 9th
ers will be published later on. The
writer, Willie O'Callaghan, and his
mother were raised in Grenada and
have lots of friends here.
4 Transport Mcclellan, July 81, 1901.
My dear Mother:
AS today is Sunday, and l have
nothing to do, thought with its magic
power flies back over the wide expanse
of water between me and America,
land that reminds me to write letter
giving you partial description Of my
voyage up to the present. The sea Is
very calm, making the ship steady,
which is comfort and makes writing
easier. We are at this date ten days
out from New York, and SO far have
had quite pleasant time, though We
encountered some exceedingly rough
weather the first three days, accord
ing to my notion, but the sailors told
me that was nothing. This is a fine
trip, but extremely 'watery." Wa
ter, water everywhere and all the
time. Itgets monotonous to me Occa-
sionally, however. The captain says
it will be about fifty days before we
reach Manila. We.will all be glad
enough to see land even If it is in
''furren parts" l have been singu-
larly fortunate as l have not been sea
sick at all, though lots Of the boys
were, and tell you they certainly
fed the fishes"
If were cabin passenger l would
enjoy the trip more, Of course, but l
, am not complaining, as we soldiers
fare very well under deck in the for
ward part of vessel. There are about
! ten or fifteen Congressman and Sena-
tors on board, besides eight or ten
ladies. The latter are all from the
North. l heard one Of them trying
to play on the piano, as there is a
nice piano in the saloon, and l
stopped to listen, but was not pleased.
l thought about you, and how l did
wish you could have been there to
give them III TrovatOre, THE Last
, Hope" and some Of your gay and
spirited music.
have seen great many kinds OF
fish, the shark, star amt other varie-
ties. 1t is a very pretty sight tc
: watch them fash In the sunlight a.
they spring up out of the water and
4 back again. l have also seen the
: whale and porpoise. We have passed
\ only few ships, nearly all Of which
4 were sailing vessels. Passed a British
! tramp steamer this morning. She
had shaft broken and was drifting
? until it could be repaired. We went
} very close to her; SO near that the re-
/ spective captains talked to each Other
: through megaphones. We expect t.
\ reach Gibraltar tomorrow, SO l vii
! finish and mail this letter there.
\ Gibraltar, July 23rd.-We arrived
( here Monday morning with all we'll
, and having a pleasant voyage. W.
} are anchored about two miles ou
\ from the city, which is at the base o
z the rock. We are carried there by {
Z steam launch that belongs to tn
\ transport. ''As firm as the rock 0
( Gibraltar" How often have hear
} that without in the least realizing
7 the Significance of the words; no
J could all that have read about |
1 give me perfect idea. The Rock
wonderful sight. 1t can be seel
- for miles out at sea its height is S
great. There is perfect network o
Notifications on it; cannon every
where. The truth was assuredl
spoken when it was said to be tn
strongest fortified place in the world
Holding the position that it does,
think it would be impossible to cap
ture it. / saw sights" in the city
There you find nearly every natiol
represented, each subject in nativ
costume, which gives a picturesqu
appearance to street scenes. Th
streets are about as wide, includin
side walk and ALL as the side walk o.
Main street in Memphis, some are nc
as wide. In the way of public con
yeyances there are only few cab:
which are drawn by ponies. Ther
are also burrows, or pack mules
which you can ride if you desire. Ft
my part didn't want to. The cit
is walled in, with gates for entranc
and exit. The gates are closed at l
O'Clock at night, and everyone wh
does not belong inside has to get OF
by that hour. There are 5000 Bri
ish soldiers stationed here. l WI
shown all over their barracks by
number of them. They are fixed u
very nicely, but cannot compare wit
the barracks your Uncle Samuel pr
- yides for his boys in the U. s. Bl
thew euual-I NAV saw SurpaSS-tl