Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1913-05-31
NEARLY CLOWN UP'
Forgotten" incident IN Life Of
Late Admiral Eaton.
Naval omSesr's stOry Of How tho Sup
ply ship RssOIute. L.aaded VITA
Explosives. Aimcst Ramnsd
tine Bztaseaiip Oregon

tire b1ttieHnip Orc0ch
Lieut. d. u. MeG-.- who In said 10
be q Msutennnt Of the United States
navy. although the initials are ncxi-
rsouk. 10 the author OF q remarkable
article in which ne tells how the
naval supply ship Resclnte. com
manded by the la1e Rear Admiral
Joseph c. Eaton. narro~ly zssssec
ramming and blowing up the famous
baSsIekhip Oregon dnring the Spanish
war. says the New York T1mek- Mrs
Jennie May Eaton widow Of the nd
lnirzl. Is now NJ Plymouth. Mass.
awaiting trial for the murder Of the
fermer naval oGscer.
In his story OF the Resolute and
the Oregon. which appears in the
April issue OK Master. Mate and Pisos.
Lieut. b. a Les- gives as his re7-
son for the telling Of the incident the
recent death OF Admiral EzfCn- which
he adds -unseals the lips Of those Of
M who served under him when he
Vas commander Of the u s. 8 ResO-
lnte~
The story 10 creating q lot OF talk
II AAAr navy LDA IAA1 DrA@AAA1r VI -
nature. bat also because OF the motto
Tfety thar has attended the death Of
Admiral Eaton and the Subsequent
Indictment OK his widow for his mzr-
der.
Lieut. B. b Meg says
1t was on June 5. only \ few days
after tie Oregon anchored on San
ttRg0 and her memorable voyage had
become history. thnt the Res0sute.
carrying mail for the eeet. hove in
sight In cur forepeak and against
the fore balkhezd were piled forty
mines. each containing 500 pounds Of
gun cotton Twenty charges for the
dynamite cruiser yeGavtas. containing
10000 pounds Of gun e0eton. we're On
the deck below
Lust aft or this Was 500 pounds Of
gunp0zder for the great guns Of the
Feet sun farther AFT we're thou
sands of rounds Of raid ere ammunE
ticn for ssx-polnders and four six-anch
guns. while on the upper deck. in one
OF the cabins. was 2s0 pounds of dry
gun cotton and decorators for the War
heads Of torpedoes-the fun compile
Esnt Of twenty-five b1ttle4hIps
We steamed down the line Of
blockA6tng ships and delivered orders
and E1zl to the vessels Of the SQUAD
ron Arriving al the western end of
the line. we came RhOat and steamed
back to the eastward toward Guanta-
nano. which was our station The
Oregon NJ this time was near the cen
ter CT the line. about Opposite the
harbOr entrance. lying with her bow
toward the shore and rolfiag heavily
in the swell raised by n monsoon
We steamed fun speed toward her.
pointing for her about midshfps
Il wks-oS duty and ehznced TO be
standing aFt. near the engine room
hatch Near me Past Assistant Er-
gineer Louis l. Bernter wan leaning
against the RAN. gazing ahead OF the
Oregnn- Il hooked as n we WosHd
pass her very close II we sheered OF
al onces but we held straight o. Our
course. heading night ~ her.
Lest Be-uIer had been ehief engs-
Reer Of the Resoznte--ehe w1s for
msriy tire Yorkfcwn-fcr many years.
50 he ANEW to nm inch whnf she couId
and w0uld do under any cpndBtIcn-
Il saw him look hard ahead. thea
jump for the engine room hatch and
disappear But n moment or two
elapsed ws were rapSdiy nearing the
oregDn- and stiEE we held straight
toward her Thea Suddenly the whole
chip erembled conwulziyeAy as she en-
ganez reversed at fan power
~An Instant later from the bridge
came the signal. -Fuu speed as4erz-
With the helm hard over we swung
past the stern OF the Oregon 30 close
that could have tossed biscuit
aboard the battHesEiIp. which looked
Hike n vast tide rock es1ah In the
waves
The men who lined the rafl On the
Oregon apparently Thought nothing OF
the cAnseness OF oar passage. AZ II
they deemed no zn2rmore& craft
cOnlG do her any harm. bWt the white
faced officers on our bridge heaved
one great sigh Of relseG They had
faced anuihilation- utter. absolute
-Uutil now this remarkable stCry
has newer been made public Com
mAnder Eaton may have reported the
incident to the navy department. bar
II he cid 20 his officers we're moi 50
informed Naturally. we were careful
10 forget an about III
The Naval Register does not ahow
the NAME OF any o@cer. active or re
tired. whose initials arg n r. Med
B