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most of the night translating long cable
Seren ae into the complicated navy
code. :
One day, while cruising to the South
of the island, four columns of smoke
were made out faintly against the hori-
zon. In vain the look-outs strained
their eyes. One of the officer climbed
almost to the truck and scanned the
horizon with his glass. But nothing
was discovered and darkness soon shut
off all hope of following the strangers.
UNDER THE ENGLISH FLAG.
On Sunday, May eighth, the Yale
was again off San Juan. Captain Wise
and Captain Watkins were both upon
the bridge, and as they neared tke en-
trance of the harbor, the former asked
“What ship does the Yale most resem-
ble?” “She might pass for the City of
Rome,” replied Captain. Watkins.
Thereupon Captain Wise ordered the
English colors run up and the “City of
Rome” signals displayed, and steered
close under the Morro, where every
corner of the harbor could! be seen.
Then having made sure that Cervera’s
fleet was not within, Captain Wise
ordered the borrowed colors of the Yale
to be dipped in salute to the Spaniards
on the Morro, and as the ship passed
close under guns which could have sunk
her, the courteous and unsuspecting
gentlemen in the fort dipped their, flag
in returm.
Scarcely was this peaceful British
merchantman out of range when the
English flag was hauled down, the Stars
and Stripes were hoisted in its stead
and the Yale started in pursuit of a
Spanish steamer which had come up
from the eastward. At first the stranger
tried to reach San Juan, then turned
and headed for the harbor of St.
Thomas. Meanwhile on the Yale the
stokers, who were off watch, had volun-
teered to go down to the fires. The
smoke poured from her funnels and the
twin screws drove her at top speed
aiter. the fleeing 'Spaniard.:: For: ana
hour and a half the pursuit continued
and every minute the ocean greyhound
drew closer to her prey. When close
alongside, ‘Handsome Dan,” the star-
board bow gun, sent a shot across the
Spaniard’s bow. But he still held on
his course in a desperate attempt to
escape. A second shot did not stop
him, nor a third nor a fourth. Then
Lieutenant Key sighted the gun him-
self and sent a shell right over the
bridge where the captain was standing.
Whether or not, as the Spaniard
claimed, the shell really burst above his
head and knocked him down, it cer-
tainly brought him to his senses. A
moment later the steamer hove to and
hoisted Spanish colors.
CHASE OF THE RITA.
She proved to be the Spanish steamer
“Rita” bound from Liverpool via
Corunna to San Juan. She was accord-
ingly seized by Captain Wise. A prize
crew, consisting of Mr. Porter and Mr.
Walcott (American Line officers and
the latter a Yale graduate of ’88S),
two engineers, three seamen and two
marines, was sent on board and the
“Rita’”’ laid her course for Charleston,
no ee
Although the Spaniards on board the
Rita outnumbered the Americans two
to one and were in possession of arms
(as it afterwards proved)no attempt was
made to recapture the ship. One even-
ing, however, the Spaniards succeeded
in getting one or two of the marines
and sailors drunk. Then contrary to
the orders of Mr. Porter they held a
meeting in the cabin and the officer on
the bridge could hear the Spanish cap-
tain haranguing his crew in a style
worthy the Cortes. Later that night
Mr. Walcott, who was on the bridge,
saw a man creeping along the forecastle
and apparently trying to aim at kim
with a long dark object. As he was
dressed in white duck he felt that his
position was more conspicuous than
safe. Nothing more occurred, however.
At first the solitary woman who was
a passenger was the object of the pity
of the Americans. When the Yale ap-
peared she was all readv to go ashore
to be welcomed by the husband whom
she had not seen for two years. She
and the rest of the Spaniards evidently
expected to be clapped into a dungeon
and treated with barbaric cruelty.
When they discovered their mistake,
however, they soon recovered their
spirits and the lady lent a ready ear to
the unselfish consolations offered by the
Spanish mate. After an easy passage
the Rita reached Charleston and was
given a true Southern welcome. Later
she was sold to the army as a transport,
for $150,000, half of which went to the
officers and crew of the Yale as prize
money.
FIRED ON AT SAN JUAN.
Meanwhile the Yale continued on her
way. Two steamers were stopped and
boarded, but one proved to be English,
the other Danish. A Spanish steamer
was pursued but escaped under the guns
of the Spanish batteries of the Morro.
On the tenth of May, the Yale a third
time approached the harbor of San
Juan in search of Cervera’s fleet. By
this time, however, the Spaniards had
learned that the peaceful City of Rome
was a dangerous enemy, and, instead
of a salute, the guns of the Morro
opened fire. All the shots fell wide of
the mark, but, a few minutes later, a
steamer was seen coming out of the
harbor and bearing down on the Yale.
The stranger proved to be the Alphonso
XIII, and as the six pounders of the
Yale were no match for the heavy bat-
tery of the Spaniard, Captain Wise
decided, much against his will, that “dis-
cretion was the better part of valor,”
and headed out to sea. At the same
time he ordered signals to be set as if
asking assistance from an American
fleet to the northward. Whether this
imaginary fleet was that of Sampson
or Schley the Alphonso XIII did not
wait to see, but, discouraged by the
speed of the Yale, gave up the chase.
By this time the Spanish captains had
learned that the safest place for their
vessels was in port, and were anxious
only to keep out of the way of “el
crucero Americano, contres climenas”’
as Mr. Edwin Emerson, Jr. tells in his
interesting article in the September
Century. Indeed the Porto Ricans
were so impressed with the attentions
which the Yale paid their coast, that
three weeks later a report reached
Hampton Roads, that the people of San
Juan believed the Yale must have been
sunk as she had not been seen recently.
She was then quietly recoaling in that
port.
On the 19th of May the Yale dropped
anchor in Cape Haitien harbor, and for
the next week hovered round the South-
eastern coast of Cuba. For a day or
two she lay off the harbor of Santiago.
Then, on the 2oth the “Flying Squad-
ron” was sighted, and for a time the
Yale towed the Merrimac, to the great
disgust of Captain Watkins, who ex-
claimed: “This ship is no tug.”
FIRST RETURN HOME.
On the 29th of May her bow was
turned homeward, when she passed the
St. Paul and received the startling news:
“Enemy’s fleet entered Santiago de
Cuba, and is now blockaded by Com-
modore Schley.” Exactly a week be-
fore the Yale had been off the mouth
of this very harbor. Just before reach-
ing Cape Maysi, late that afternoon,
the log shows that “two steamers were
sighted on the port bow, who altered
their courses and headed for us.” Then
follow the orders “hard a-port,” and
“full speed away from the strangers.”
One was a cruiser unlike any built by
us, with two funnels and two masts, on
each of which latter were two military
tops. To the eyes of the anxious
watchers on the Yale, she bore an un-
pleasantly close resemblance to the
cruisers of Spain. One of the officers,
however, had a copy of the Scientific
American containing a picture of the
New. Orleans, and the stranger was
soon and gladly identified as this latest
addition to our navy. On the 30th the
Yale passed the flagship New York and
received the Admiral’s orders “proceed
to Hampton Roads.” Four days later
she dropped anchor off Fortress Mon-
roe. In her bunkers were scarcely ten
tons of coal,—enough for just one more
hour’s: steaming.
During the three weeks the Yale was
anchored in Hampton Roads, she
underwent great changes. Eight five-
inch rapid fire guns of the latest type
were added to her battery and mounted
on the promenade deck. All but seven
of her lifeboats were sent ashore. The
ship was given a coat of dull gray
war paint, and her bunkers were filled
with coal. The Yale and Harvard,
it will be remembered, were once
under the British flag and were
built according to specifications of the
Admiralty, in order that they might
serve in the English Navy in case of
need. All their engines and steering
gear are, unlike the St. Paul and St.
Louis, below the water line. These two
ships, therefore, became the most
powerful commerce destroyers which
have ever sailed the ocean, for although
some cruisers, like the Columbia and
Minneapolis, of our own and foreign
navies, have attained a speed on their
trial trips greater than that of the Yale
or the Harvard, yet none of them have
the enormous coal capacity and conse-
quent wide steaming radius of these
auxiliary cruisers. They could have
crossed the ocean, have spent a full
three weeks harrying the Spanish coast,
and have returned without recoaling.
The lack of armor, their size, and the
large amount of woodwork in the state-
rooms would indeed have rendered
them very vulnerable to a shell, yet
the arrangement of the engine room
and the many watertight compartments
into which these ships are divided,
would have made it almost impossible
for one shot to disable tiem, and their
batteries were heavy enough to defeat
any enemy (a torpedo boat, for in-
stance) from whom their speed did not
insure escape.
During the second voyage of the
Yale the writer was on board, and as
a full diary was kept, it is believed that
accounts written at the time will afford
a more satisfactory picture of life on
this auxiliary cruiser than any descrip-
tion which could be given after the
events were passed.
AU» REPORT . BY.- DIARY.
U. S. S. Yale, Fortress Monroe,
Va.; -June 22, .1808.—-We are. still
anchored here, from us. Although
the darkies have been piling coal
into the ship for three weeks, I can
still hear them down on the lighter
laughing and talking. We certainly
will not come here for coal next time,
but go straight to New York. Ernest
Carter, Yale ’79, and now Assistant
Paymaster on board the ship, was
ashore all day yesterday arranging with
the authorities in the Navy Yard for a
lot of supplies which we are to take
down to the fleet off Santiago. He and
I take great pride in our uniforms. He
particularly enjoys standing on a barrel
shouting directions to the sailors who
are getting supplies on board. The
sailors are many of them from the
Illinois Naval Reserve. Most of them
have never seen salt water before, and
show a tendency to give more orders
than they obey. One is Professor Hat-
field of Northwestern University, a
well-known philologist. I take great
pleasure in the salute which he gives
when I, an officer, pass him. The
American Line officers have now been
given commissions in the Navy and are
to act as watch officers and sail the ship.
Captain Watkins thas the rank of com-
mander and will act as navigator. The
ship is now an auxiliary cruiser with a
crew of 430 souls all told. The regular
naval officers on board are Captain
Wise, Lieut. Key (the executive officer),
Passed Assistant Surgeon Pickrell,
Lieut. McCully (ordinance officer),
Ensign Williams (signal officer), and
Lieut. Thorpe, in command of the
marines.
My work as Captain’s clerk is mainly
a sinecure. Typewriting has to be done
for about an hour every morning, but
the Yeoman, who was formerly an
expert accountant and has given up a
good positon ashore for the chance of
seeing some fighting, does most of the
work, and when we get to sea there will
be even less to do. Lately the office has
been rather busy with the red tape of
enlisting all the old crew and the IIli-
nois Naval Militia. A good deal of
trouble was experienced with the for-
mer. Many refused to. enlist, some
deserted after enlistment, and one engi-
neer who received a commission ran
off before it reached here. :
As yet things are in a very chaotic
state. Every morning at 9.30 the crew
is mustered on deck and put through
gun drill. It comforts me greatly that
I am not the only greenhorn on board.
All the former American Line officers
have to learn gun drill, bugle call, etc.
So far we have all learned one call—that
for dinner. All the officers mess in the
grand saloon. The tables and carpet,
from the middle under the dome, which
it is thought may come down the first
time we fire the guns, have been re-
moved. The two captains sit at one
table in the forward cnd of the saloon.
The ward-room table is by the door.
The junior officers, including Carter
and myself, sit on the port side, and
close by is the steerage mess where the
cadets eat. By special arrangement
the chief steward, an official unknown
on a regular man-of-war, is to cater.
The crew mess in the after saloon, and
the second cabin is fitted up as a sick
bay. I have a very comfortable room
on the promenade deck with a bath
next door. All the suites were taken
when I arrived. |
The ship has a new mascot. It is a
little black billy-goat, which has been
named “Eli” by the sailors after one
of our guns. I find that all the men
take a lively interest in the two guns
and in the relation of the College to the
ship.
We are now wrestling with the army.
First they wanted us to take 1500 regu-
lars. Captain Wise agreed to take 1200
as a limit. The troops are now ashore
and number considerably more than
1200. The Major is trying to persuade
the Captain to take a lot of horses. He
sees no reason why the promenade deck
should not be filled with them. When
asked how we could work the guns if
we met a Spanish ship, he replied
“Why, throw the horses overboard.”
CAPTAIN WISE.
I have never seen anyone who could
dispatch official business like Captain
Wise. He rushes into the office, tears
open a dozen or so of the big navy
envelopes, and throws them to me to
stamp “Approved,” or “Forwarded,” or
“For Endorsement.” After that he
reels off a telegram which has to be
copied for sending by wire, by mail, and
for file here. Then everything has to
be in a certain form, endorsed in cer-
tain ways. Yesterday the Yeoman
sealed and sent off some letters before
the official signature was affixed. Cap-
tain Wise went for him in a way that
gave me a wholesome dread of any
similar mistake on my part.
Captain Wise was once in command
of the Amphitrite and afterwards of the
Texas, and has been lately at the navy
yard at Norfolk. As an instance of the
kind of man he is, when he took com-
mand of this ship, Captain Watkins leit
the head of the table for him, but Cap-
tain Wise insisted on his resuming it.
Yet, when one of the cadets learned that
I was sitting one seat below one of the
old officers of the ship, a hundred times
better seaman than I, but who received
his commissison one day after I did,
the little fellow was greatly shocked,
and seemed to think of course I would
turn him out. The seriousness with
which naval men take such points of
etiquette is hard to appreciate. Captain
Wise, at least, is above it.
THE SOLDIERS ARRIVE.
June 24th.—Yesterday afternoon the
expected soldiers arrived. In the morn-
ing a lighter had come alongside with
most of their luggage and with two
horses. These were hoisted on board
after several attempts had been defeated
by the vigorously expressed objections
of the animals. The troops arrived on
one of the Washington and Old Point
steamers and came alongside with the
regimental band playing. Every avail-
able point of view was full of men.
Brigadier-General Duffield was standing
on top of the pilot-house. The troops
number about 1300. They are from
Michigan, the 33d and 34th, and are a
fine lot physically. They are lean, wiry,
rather slouchy, but very independent in
their way of walking and looking about
them. They are dressed entirely for
work and go about most of the time
without their coats, with ragged suspen-
ders showing.
They all wore a broad grin as they
