The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1902-05-02
CROOK GOES
EVERYWHERE
Big Transport Has
Entered Many
HarbOrs.

nand.r uf the transport CROOK. nov
In port. which sails this morning i"r
Manila. and az the same time there Is
rot IN the service OF the Government
perhaps. n single commander Who has
dropped his anchor In 50 many ports
of the new possessions OF the nation.
The ship which is now under captain
Waicotts control has been commanded
ny him for the past four yeaIs and
has seen every Kind of service and done
every kind of work.
Captain Walcott Is nephew OF the
hon. w. N. Armstrong and has spent
mach Of his time while In port VIII
Mrs. Weaver, Of Lunalil0 home, and
her son, seeing everything that is To be
seen about the city and thoroughly en-
isying bis stop. Captain Walcott Is
oRe Of the progressive men of the sea,
having learned his business from the
steuna up. His wider sphere of action
began when he left the second plar"
10 thc Aztec, OF the Pacific Mail line.
Running TO Central America. to try the
greater opportunities of the Atlantic
ocean. He was able to secure "A place
on the roll of the American liner st.
Louis. and counted himself fortunate,
although he took the fourth officers
he left the Pacific Mail service.
Captain Walcott said of this expert
enSe yesterday: ut was the most val
uable experience l have had. for II
gives "a young officer command OF him
self TO have such a place upon a great
express steamer. There are many
things which a man knows but which,
never having done. he feels nervous
concerning their doing. The handling
of a great express steamer is thing
which gives confidence to the officer,
and thoroughly enjoyed the life on
the 81. Louis
When the war broke out and the st.
Louis was taken by the Navy Depart
rnent for service as scout and gun
beat, Captain Walcott was given
commission as ensign. and served
through the unpieasantness as such
officer In the South Atlantic and Car
ribbean seas. He returned to his SER
vice with the American line al the
close Of the war. but it was only for
a very short time, for the place Of cap
tain in the transport service offered
and he took the command of the Crook.
Then began three years OF service
which meant pOking the nose Of the
big twin screw ship into every we'll
known and many Of the smaller har-
bOrs OF Cuba and Porto Rico, until at
length the ship was ordered around
the world, and made the trip to Ma
Mia through the Suez canal and thence
by way OF Nagasaki to San Francisco.
1t was the fate OF the Crook to be
known as the Hcarse of the Sea dur
ing the second year of her service, for
one trip was made from Santiago de
Cuba to New York carrying the bodies
OF several hundreds of those Amerl-
cans who died in the battles before
that city and during it's occupation, OF
the fever. But this was not the only
peculiar trip, for later it was given to
The ship to be designated one of the
SehsOlkouses of the Atlantic, and the
pupils Of the trip were teachers gath
cred from the Antilles for transport to
New hngland, where there was con-
Quoted summer school for their in
struetisn in American methods of ped
agOgy.
I'VE had a most delightful voyage in
every way. We stopped just often
enough while going through the Med
iterranean sea to bring us in contact
with the SCENE points, and not so Of
ten that the stops were tiresome to the
officers We had rough passage
across TO Gibraltar, occupying two
weeks, but there was smooth water al
most al the rest of the way, and al
though the change of climate might
have been expected to bring some ILL
ness, among such large body of men,
there was not SINCE soldier in the
hospital when we reached Manila.
I'VE had an opportunity to become
acquainted with the Philippines on our
first stop there, as we were ordered to
take troops TO the south. which meant
a run down to the ports of Mindanao.
ana we saw some Of the country and
had chance ~ get in touch with the
Ports. Then We went up to Nagasaki
and on 10 San Francisco. We had the
Gaest trips that any ship could have
and we are now making our first out
ward voyage TO Manila. There is much
talk about the sale of the transports,
but j know that the Crook will be re-
taineS as long as any other vessel. The
ship ranks sixth, easily, in the list OF
the Army vessels. The Sherman, Sher- |
idan, Grant, Logan and Meade, all
from the Atlantic transport line, are
the largest and best, with our ship
next.
Il Do not believe there will be any |
sale of the transports perhaps for some |
time, as the uses of the ships are such |
that the Government could hardly
hspe to secure az good service from a
merchant line. For instance the ships,
when they reach Manila, are always
liable TO be ordered right down to the |
southern islands with their men. This
would greatly interfere with a regular
liner and perhaps might initiate
against the success of such a service
Then, too. there is a better service
given to the army now than could be
had under other conditions. The men
and the officers are well treated In
every way, and the men have comforts
that they could not hope for IL they
were being carried by contract service.
have seen the transports of almost
every country and even those of Eng