The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-03-28
MIDWAY NAVAL
BUILDINGS BURNT
The Torch Destroyed All That
Was Left of the Marine
Post.

The United States Marine Post at
Midway is abandoned Men, guns, am
munition and stores have been with
drawn.
! The buildings of the post have been
burned
| The Pacific cable station alone occu-
| pies the sand spit which constitutes
Midway
The last thing that was done by the
| United States naval forces after the
/ men of the marine guard and their
belongings We're aboard the Iroquois
was to apply the torch to all United
States buildings at Midway and burn
Isthem to the ground. They were all
wooden buildings and burned readily.
If any foreign naval or military force
shall in tae Ire seize Midway, it
viii find No 5ui d ngs or building ma
terial angHg o the United States
to ma ta] oenefit.
~ magazine building in which the
aumquitson b onging to the marine
pos vs. kea was not burned down.
vas destroyed before >the Iroquois
rive there. In fact it was destroyed
At ye-r ago last November. At that
time the magazine exploded. 1t con-
tanned about 5000 rounds Of ammuni
ton for the six-pound guns. The cause
of the explosion was never known. 1t
was supposed to be because of the de-
terioration of the gunpowder. AT any
rate the explosion began and six big
cartridges were exploding, sending
their .six-pound balls in every direction.
1t was the most exciting time Midway
had ever had. The island is a mere
sand spit, and it was impossible for
those there to get out of range of the
fussillade. The only thing that could
be done was to burrow in the sand
and wait for the thing to blow over.
The explosion in its course lasted about
an hour and half The cartridges ex-
ploded in an irregular succession like
a big bunch of firecrackers.
That is why there were two six
Founders there but no ammunition.
The ammunition had been spent.
DR.. Myron T. Baker, the naval ply
stefan stationed at Midway received
quite a shock when the Iroquois reach
ed Midway There were orders to take
the marines and their commanding Of
ficer, their arms and stores, and to
destroy their quarters and buildings,
But there were no orders to take DIR.
Baker away With the stores all gone
and the United States buildings all
burned, it would have been rather
lonesome place for. DR.. Baker. He
woulds have had to rely wholly on the
hospitality of the cable people. He
would have had nothing to eat and
no place to sleep.
"A. cable message was sent to the
Navy Department setting out this.
Orders came for him to come back on.
the Iroquois.
The marines who returned by the
Iroquois will be sent to Mare Island
by the Buford, which is expected to
be here from Nagasaki about the 8th
of April.
Never were men more glad to leave
a place than the marines were to leave
Midway After they We're all aboard
the Iroquois on March IS, and then
were weather bound, there was the
greatest impatience to get away. That
they were ordered away seemed too
good to be true. They feared that
orders might come countermanding the
other orders and requiring them, to
stay. They did not feel quite safe UNI
til they were actually on their way
here. Never was an order obeyed with
more alacrity than the order to burn
the quarters they had just left.
~ ~ ss ~ ~ ~ ~ - - - ~ ~ ~ - y - "
the Chfldren's Hospital project, stat
ing:
1.-The generosity of the original
donors is so munificent, and the pos
sibiities of the proposed scheme so I'M
bounded, that we would greatly deplore
the abandoning of the enterprise, ow-
ing to a possible lack of interest on
the part of the citizens of this city.
"A sum of approximately $S6,50O, has
already been provided, conditionally,
that the balance of a further $4,000 be
strongly recommend that the Mer-
chants Association lend it's hearty
support and approval to the raising
of the balance of the amount required.
Estimates of the cost of the pur-
chase of a site, and the erection of the
buildings have been furnished, well
within the amount of the proposed
fund, and the only feature necessary
now to assure the success of the
scheme, is that the various CONNER
cial bodies of this Territory, and the
citizens in general should lend their
approval and aid to the project"
This report was adopted, but no con-
crete method in which the lacking
nineteen thousand could be raised was
presented.