Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-03-20
WITH THE BATTLESHIP FLEET.

points on top Of the mountains.
| WITH THE BATTLESHIP FLEET.
| Through the kindness of Mr.. T. M.
Dobson, The Enquirer is able to re-
produce liberal extracts from a letter
recently written by Past Assistant
Paymaster B. M. Dobson, on the sup
ply ship Glacier, of the United States
battleship fleet, recently arrived at
Magdalena bay, California, after
steaming around South America
through the Strait Of Magellan and on
up the Pacific. The letter was not
written for publication; but it deals
with matters that are very well cal
cuated to interest the public. This
letter is dated AT Sea, off Valparaiso,
Chile, South America, Wednesday,
February II, 19OS," and the extracts
mentioned are as follows:
Il have not written since leaving
Rio because there has been no opportu-
nifty to mail the letter: but / can mail
this at Callao, Peru.
Rio is a very pretty city and the
Inhabitants certainly did their best to
entertain the feet. ! was ashore sew
eral times, but did not go to any of the
entertainments. | did not care to; but
several times l almost had to.
Everything is very expensive in
Brazil. l was talking to one Of the
German merchants and he told me that
the duty on imports is very high,
ranging from forty to two hundred
per cent. Three-fourths of the reve-
4, 4
ties on imports.
Very few people realize that Brazil
is just about the size Of the United
States, excluding Alaska. Its seacoast
| is about three thousand miles long,
and in going from Trinidad to Rio, we
had to go as far east as the AZore Is
lands in order to get around the east
ern corner Of Brazil.
The trip from Rio to the strait was
uneventful except for some bad wealth
er A squadron of Argentine cruisers
came out from the coast as we passed.
fired a salute to our admiral and re-
turned. They were very much disap-
pointed because we did not visit
Buenos Ayres Only the torpedo fiotil-
la went there.
I'VE entered the Strait of Magellan
about noon on January 81, and anchor
ed for the night during a westerly gale
that blew very hard. At daylight next
morning we started for Punta Arenas,
ARRIVING there about 2 that afternoon
The town Is the most southerly in the
world and has a population Of about
ter thousand inhabitants. The harbor
is the open strait, and the weather is al
most always bad, but it was very good
during our stay. At times, without any
warning at all, the wind blows gale
AMI because of the deep water the
ships frequently drag their anchors
We had little excitement on this ac-
count. A British collier which was
anchored near the Glacier was struck
by a hard squall and came, dragging
it's anchor, in our direction. The cap
tain of the collier attempted to pick up
his anchor and steam across our bow,
but the wind forced his ship down on
us and our bowsprit was carried away
The collier was still more seriously
damaged.
There was a Chilean and a British
cruiser in port here when we arrived.
"You know that the seasons here are
the opposite to what they are in the
states. 1t is summer time here now;
but the day before we entered the
strait the weather was so cold that
was forced to put on the heaviest un-
derwear 1 had, and did not do that in
middle of December, we have been in
the tropics where the temperature was
eighty or a hundred in the shade, and
when We suddenly struck the cold
winds from the Antarctic, we certain
Ily did feel the change. The latitude Of
Punta Arenas is about so degrees
south, corresponding to the climate Of
Labrador | could plainly see the snow
on the hills back of the town.
I'VE LETT Punta Arenas at IL o'clock
On the night of February 7th. Day.
light begins before 3 o'clock and 1T is
necessary for ships to leave this port
a.r such g. time as will enable them to
pass through the strait and reach the
Pacific before dark. And frequently
the weather is so bad and the rain and
snow squalls so thick, that 1t is nee
essary to go very slowly. In some
places the strait is less than two
miles wide, and navigation is rather
difficult.
But we were favored with good
weather most of the day. during which
time the scenery was beautiful. l
could see hundreds of snow capped
peaks and two glaciers. The wind was
piercing cold. Although it was sup
posed to be summer time, whenever
went on deck, had to wear my heavy
overcoat with the collar turned up over
my ears. During the middle OF the
afternoon the weather became foggy,
and for quite while we could not
even see the ships ahead of us. That
was rather exciting, as there We're
twenty ships in the column, with six
torpedo destroyers coming along be-
hind, and a merchant ship meeting us
every few hours. The last two hours
we were in the strait the fog was so
thick that we could see nothing and all
we could do was to steam ahead and
trust to Providence. When we discov-
cred from the heavy swell that we had
passed Cape Pillar into the Pacific
ocean everybody breathed more cas-
| lily. Severe westerly gales blow in the
Pacific at the entrance to the strait
every few days, but we escaped these.
From the heavy swell that was rum
ming from the southwest, we assumed
that a gale had just blown out and we
did not lose any time getting beyond
the reach of another as soon as pos
sible.
I'VE left Punta Arenas Friday night.
1t is now Wednesday afternoon, and
we are seeing the sun for the first
time. There have been times when we
could not see a ships length ahead
because of the fog. and this is always
disagreeable and dangerous. Monday
night the admiral telegraphed the
auxiliaries to proceed singly to Callao,
and three of us started out in the fog
to get clear of the fleet. At noon today
we learned that we were about fifty
miles ahead of one of the ships and
about twenty-eigh miles ahead Of the