Newark post., 1922-02-22

and there was no American battle
ship in Pacific waters to even the
chances.
Then some one in Washington
thought of the Monterey, thought or
big Betsy" and those three other
great guns in her turrets, OF the toot
or more of armor that belted the ship
and guarded the gunners. II Dewey
could but have that force to aid MN,
there was never a doubt OF the out
come.
Still. Dewey was across the Pacific,
5000 miles away. The Monterey had
no fuel capacity for such voyage.
She had no high sides to help her bat
tie a road to the scene of danger. Her
decks stood less than two feet above
the water with her ballast tanks
empty. She would be playthlng to
any storm, for small waves would
bury her to the turret tops. No hatch
could be opened.
The situation called for desperate
remedies and the wires carried to
San Francisco the order that set the
men and officers of the Monterey wild
with Joy. Against all odds, they were
to take her over. Lashed down on her
wide decks would go the coal she
needed, carried in sacks. So laden, the
sturdy ship finally wallowed out OF
the harbor.
Day by day, with life and perhaps
the lives of hundreds of men with
Dewey at stake, the men on the Mon
terey worked the ship across the
ocean. They endured discomforts as
she rolled and bucked her way. h"
submerged in even calm seas. She was
not designed to meet the sudden
storms of the Pacific. But she plowed
on, out of touch for weeks, for there
was no wireless then to tell what lay
before, until finally the entrance to
Manila harbor loomed ahead of the
sea stained, rust reddened bow and in
side lay Dewey's fleet.
That ended all fear of the Paleyo.
With the batteries of the Monterey to
back him up, Dewey was eager for the
battleship to come, but she had turned
back at Suez. There remained only
the last scene of the war to be staged,
the capture of the city of Manila. In
that scene the Monterey was to take
a picturesque part.
Just a few days after her arrival
the monitor, her turrets overhauled
and big Betsy" glaring omlnously
shoreward. moved into action. Behind
her Dewey on the Olympia led the
cruisers fleet down to hammer at the
Spanish fort and break the back OF
the Spanish trench line for the troops
Close in under the ancient walls OF
the old city, however, stood the Lu
netta, massive earthworks that housed
Krupp guns of greater power thar
anything aboard the cruisers. 1t wa:
: on these the Monterey trained "Bit
: Betsy" The ship steamed down in
side the bombarding line, ignoring
: every other object. She planted he
' bulk squarely opposite those menacins
7 Krupps. Broadside on and just feV
hundred yards from their muzzles, sh
e stopped. No reply came to her fire.
p The roar of Deweys guns died ava
= succeeded by the mutter and crack
o or rifle fire ashore as the troop
S pressed home the attack. The dus
= kicked up by the shells settled owe
l. the wrecked fort where the cruisers
e fire had centered. Struggling group
ID of Spanish troops passed sullenl
y backward over the Lunetta into tn
i. walled city. White flags appeare
rs everywhere, on the walls, the batter
s earthworks, the clustering house
re and then the blue-shirted, bare-arn
ct ed men of the army swarmed o'