Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1909-04-15
IN TALCAHAUNO
"A YOeman on The U. s. Steam
ship Tennessee" Visits That
Chilean City.

u. S. S. Tennessee, Talcahanno,
Chile, Jan. H. = 1t would take a ter I
rible long time to give you the history
OF my movements from the time of my
enlistment in the U. S. Navy, through
the Yeoman School and my subsequent
transfer to the u. S. S. Tennessee,
Flagship of the Second Division, u. s.
Pacific Fleet, so will only give syn
opsis of one of my shore Liberties
while we were at anchor in the Bay of
Talcahauno. g
The fleet, under the command Of
Rear Admiral w. r. Swinburne, con-
sists of the West Virginia, Rear Ad-
miral iSwinburne's Flagship, Mary
land, Pennsylvania and the Colorado,
of the First Division and the Tennes-
see, Rear Admiral U. Sebree's Flag
ship, South Dakota, Washington and
the California, of the Second Division,
was bound for Talcahauno, Chile, that
2 port being the entreme southern limit
our cruise before our return to Mag
sielena Bay, Mexico, for our Record
= Target Practice, in April
We had been steaming for, fourteen
days straight, going through the regu-
lar routine drills and the. other duties
assigned us. without a sight .of any
1 thing to break the monotony of the
\ continual world of water, save occas-
i ionally flock of birds, or school of
4 flying fish, the poor fish between two
fires. as it were, would leap into the
i air to escape the hungry jaws of
sharks, whose great fins appeared above
\ the surface, now and then, to be
pounced upon by the birds, equally as
4 | hungry and as anxious to procure a
he meal. Thus passed the days at sea.
Ne On the last morning at sea, | went
hp on the deck to get breath OF the
bracing air and take a turn about, be-
fore beginning my duties for the day.
1 Hadn't been up long before / sighted
hnd which | knew that in couple OF
hours steaming would bring us to our
anchorage and then the shore leaves
Il Mould begin ! knew that we would
.oal, as soon as we got in port, as the
] iupply was very much depleted after
10 many days at sea, but at the most
d a -genldn't require moro than two
a days. The Tennessee, by the way
holds the record of the fleet at coaling
j hs You know there is much rivalry
~egaMong the ships during the coalins
watch and we all look on it in th'
light of contest more than actua
work
We arrived in port at 11:00 IA. M.
and the order came in from the Com
mander in Chief to grant the mel
"Liberty," which news was received
with many demonstrations of pleasur
by all and especially by myself, as thi
would BE- my first liberty in foreig1
land OF course / crossed the Isthmu
of Panama and saw the great unfinish
ed canal, but the Canal Zone is owne'
by the United States and | didn't con
slider myself on foreign soil, SO | wa
anxious to get ashore and see the peo
pie and stretch my limbs once more o
\ terra firma.
very good size and the harbor was al
excellent one and many ships of vari
ous natonalities were here, whic
proclaimed the fact that the place wa
/ quite thrifty and bid fair to afford tn
! landing parties no end Of fun, an
then too. Conception was oIly shol
|, distance away, and Of course, woul
be the chief attraction, so in ell W
were assured lively time.
m The liberty parties go ashore in sect
hons Us t, End, Bird and Atm. 1t
K hiviled like this so that there will a
~ ways be a sufficient number on boar
~ 4, keep the ship in good order and
do what work there is to be don,
There are about 800 men on this shil
and so, you see. that will allow q
men ashore each time. The feet wi
be here only six days, there will
one liberty for each section. of twent,
-four hours. am in the last sectiC
and consequently had to wait until I'll
last day, but as ''all things comes
him who waits so mine came arour
at last. l was soon in my "Dre
Blues and on the quarter deck for il
spection, after which ceremony, got
the launch and we were OFF.
| will never forget the sensations
experienced on tho trip over in Il
launch, I'VE were anchored about
mile and a half out from Talcahaun
hardly believing that | was actually
foreign land and was going to mi
gle with people who were strange al
interesting and sFoke a language e
tirely different from our own. Aft
our boat landed we walked down c
pier ami on through the Custom Hou
TO the Gale de Concercion (Concepci'
Street. then myself and several othe
went into the Banco De Something
have forgotten the real name. il is n
If much importance anyway for it W
Il hank Just the same 10 get some
:. money changed to Chilian- T
Gillian dollar. or peso is worth on