The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1909-01-26
CAPTAIN REEs
At MANILA BAY
fcontinned from Page one. }

oH ACCOUNT Oh MS PREVIOUS experience
in that position and the excellent man.
ner in which he had carried out his
duties.
During the voyage to Manila the
vessels of the squadron were cleared
for action. Aboard the Olympia they
did less clearing than the other vessels
and were afterwards glad of this as
they had chairs to sit on and tables to
eat from. Before the fleet entered the
bay Dewey held conference with the
captains of the other vessels and told
them that the bay was said to be hon
eycombed with torpedoes, but that the
Olympia would precede them and that,
If there were any such mines to be
encountered, she would clear the way
for them.
| The tense excitement of that silent,
stealthy passage of the entrance and
bay was described so graphically that
one felt relieved when Captain Rees
told of the first sound of firing when
the Corregidor forts opened and were
silenced by one of the cruisers, while
the Olympia kept silently on her way.
| AS executive officer it was Captain
Rees' duty to visit different parts of
the ship during the action and he said
that he saw no signs of fear anywhere.
"It might have been Different he
said, ''if men were being shot down
close by one, but for myself l found
that the intense interest of the battle
| precluded any thoughts of physical
FEAR Once during the battle Captain
Rees missed being killed by few feet.
A shell struck the iron structure of the
bridge on which he was standing and
| then glanced off into the water on the
far side of the vessel. The shock was
sufficient to almost stun him but
neither he nor anybody else in the
neighborhood was injured.
| In speaking of the craftsmanship of
the Americans, which has been criti-
| cized since the battle, Captain Rees
said: cit is easy enough to sit at a
desk and figure out percentage of
shots, but why don't they say some
thing about percentage of ships2 We
took them all-ships, men and guns
and | think that is pretty good aver
age The Breakfast incident was
explained by the fact that it was mis-
takenly reported that ammunition was
running low and so Dewey decided to
draw off out of range and see what
damage had been done. When reports
came in from all the vessels of no cas-
ualties, and it was seen that the enemy
was in bad way, Dewey said: every
well, we will have breakfast and then
90 after them again. ~ HAnd a very
good breakfast it was,'' said Captain
Rees; CATER being up all night, We
ate very heartily. And why not stop
IA IN d..
idea to stop to take breath between
rounds
An amusing part of the talk was the
reading of a translation of the procla
nation sent out by the Spanish genera
in command to his soldiers and the ma
: tives, when war was declared. 1t wa:
, a splendid example of Latin bombast
and one sentence which stated that
the war would last but short time
: was referred to by Captain Rees as be
ing one true statement, but ironical
ly so. @t
When the speaker had concluded
with the recitation of his poem, the
applause was loud and long, and the
audience echoed the sentiments of sew
eral speakers who stated that, of al
the Men S League meetings which they
had attended, Captain Rees' lecture
had afforded the most interesting and
, delightful feature.
Previous to Captain Rees' speech. 9
chowder was served in the parish
, house to members of the league an6
their friends, and every one of the
many tables had it's complement OF
diners, SO that the hall was filed will
as representative a gathering of prom
nent Honolulu men as one could find
; Before Captain Rees was called on fol
his address, reports were made by
leaders of the different departments OF
the league. Professor II. Babson re
ported on the civic section, which, HI
stated, had taken Off its coat and roll
ed up it's sleeve for hard work; C. r
Frazier spoke in an interesting way Of
the Sunday morning Bible class, which
he is conducting on somewhat uncOn
ventional lines; Ed. Towse made {
strong plea for the mdweek service OF
Wednesday nights; j. A. Rath report
ed on the social section; w. A. Bower
, told of the friendship section and L
j. Lowrey spoke for the Sunday even
= ing service.
Shortly after half.past eight tn,
meeting concluded, and all who wer,
present went away feeling that the,
had enjoyed very delightful enter
tainment.
" \ ~ ~ - - y - ~ y " " y x y y
!, rett, Mrs. NJ. Barrett, Mrs. W. l.. Bird
= Miss j.. Bird, J. c. Coppage, Lloyd Crel
J. lin, j. S. De Mena, James d. Dole, S
y Durbin, Mrs. S. Durbn, c. 7. Elliott
!. Mrs. C. n. Elliott, Miss Adelaide En-
:. tress, Thos. C. GARNER, Clarence Grange
), w, S. Hall, Mrs w. s. Hall, B. F. How
7, land, Mrs. A. L. Knudsen, DR.. Hugh 3
J. Mitchell, p. Peterson, Mrs Clara Chank
). land, Mrs. Katherine r, Smith, j. X
). Wetherby, Miss Marion Wetherby, Capt
/ Il. Wirschuleit.
}, Per S. S. Asia, from Japan, Januar
(, 23.-For Honolulu: p. G. Bird. Mrs
J. p. @. Bird, Harry Hill, Mrs. Harry Hill
J. For San Franchises: r. j, Berrymar
Mrs. r. J, Bergman, L. Clotworthy
d Miss ID. Carter, Sister Cornelius, Mn
s. j. G. Currie and infant, G. A. Drew
H. A. j, Francis, Mrs. A. j. Francis. N
r. Hoffman, j. n. Nord, H. NJ. Jones, Mr.
G, II. NJ. Jones, j. o. Keene, Lee Sinl
II -