The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-07-29
CONTINUED from page II

idly IN the evening bfeeHe. '
stern the flag was still flying and on
the deck a young man IN torn ana
dirty uniform of first lieutenant.
His name is Yates, and he was In
charge OF the ship.
With hands on his hips, this slen-
der young man gave orders and blue
clad seamen saluted anu did his bid
ding Just as though nothing Whatever
had happened.
81 want man who can do good
piece of wire splicing,' called the Of
fcer. "'Say, Bach, you'll do" and
Bach set to work at once. In the gal
lery wiry little Jap was preparing
the evening meal The men OF the
Bennington were to have Dreaded veal
cutlets and as the cook rolled them
in the cracker crumbs he sang 1T
tie song of his own composition, Hop
ping the outlets into the pan in per-
feet time.
1t was all as if nothing whatever
had happened. But for the tangle on
the deck and CRIME and sediment eV-
erywhere one might have been con-
WINGED that there had been no explo-
sion. 1t was hard to believe that two
score men had met death on that same
ship not eight hours before. The slim
little first lieutenant was bringing
order out of chaos and he stopped
long enough to say:
.1Look about all you want, but don t
disturb the commander. He can't be
troubled just now. Id like to talk,
but. we'll, you see I'm very busy.
Then he was gone. Thirty seconds
afterwards he was supervising some
thing else at the other end of the ship.
Lieutenant A. F. H. Yates is credit
to his calling. May he live to wear
an admiral's uniform.
A tousled young seaman came down
a rickety steel ladder.
1tHow is Wright7' he asked. An
other sailor answered without raising
his head, "Dead.'
"And Ensign Perryg'' persisted the
younger.
stDied this afternoon" said another
seaman.
The boy twisted his cap in his hands.
tsMy God, ain it awful?' he MUIR
INJURED to himself, as he stumbled up
the deck. But he was very young. 1t
was his first voyage. By and by he
viii learn to be like the big gunner 8
mate, John Turpin, who escaped the
Maine tragedy without scratch and
was the first man to go to the rescue
this morning.
One experience like that ought to last
a man lifetime, but John Turpin was
not born to die by an explosion.
SCENE IN HOSPITALS.
Leaving the wreck, the first point of
interest was the barracks, on the cor
ner of Arctic and. HI streets. 1t was
hurriedly turned into a hospital, and
on the porch sat number of wound
ed sailors bandaged past all recogni-
tion. They would not stay in bed, but
insisted on coming out into the air.
A number of those whose injuries were
slight were leaning over low fence,
gossiping with the curiosity seekers.
One dark-skinned seaman of twenty
three summers rolled a cigarette with
one hand, the other covered with band
ages.
"What do know about it7' he re-
peated. 'Well, not very much. You
see, it all came so sudden; just big
boom, and then the steam. l ain t
hurt; that is, not much, but they made
me come here. ] worked as long as
could stand it, but my arm was all
peeling and the doctor said I'd have
to be treated. :"
Inside the barracks ,aen were toss
ing on cots, muffled with bandages out
of all recognition. Here AMI there Il
man in his deliriuin babble1 of home.
Others screamed as the agony seized
them.
Side by side two sailors were lying,
both hurt mortally, scalded until their
flesh hung in quivering strips. The end
was only matter of hours, and both
knew it. One of them lifted his voice
in blasphemy, called on God to take
his life from him, cursed and raved
wildly iS his awful pain. The other
man, as badly hurt, turned his head
and looked across the narrow aisle be-
tween the cots.
'Don't talk that way, shipmate, -
he said. "We've only got few hours
to live. Why not be decent9''
The other man cursed no more.
81 know it IS awful to CURSE went
on the man muffed in the wrappings;
lawful to curse. Shipmate. / wish that
/ could just see mother and the girls
once before / die. But guess it won't
VIC lung ho"' iCdSc ooo, IL WIN L.
just try to grit your teeth and stand
it, shipmate. It won't be long now.'
And he was right. Two hours later
I found them side by side in the
Morgue.
Uptown crowds were standing on the
corners, talking over the tragedy in
hushed voices. Across the street from
the little park big crowd stood in
front of curtainea windows. Every
minute an ambulance would drive up
and still figure on stretcher would
disappear indoors. 1t was the Morgue.
''That makes twenty-one right in
this one place. said bystander in a
low voice. "Twenty-one dead in the
San Diego Morgue.''
l went into that house of death.
Sheeted figures were everywhere, thir-
teen lying in one room. There were
no more trestles. so the late-comers
were carried into the back room and
laid out on the cement floor. In side
room 4 man just brought in from the
hospital was being stripped of his band
ages and prepared for the shroud.
The man who worked cut away nerv-
ously with small knife: there was
no time to unwind bandages. Another
assistant asked him a question. and the