18
VALE ALUMNI
WHER KLY
= : a a RTE
where there are few guns, would have
been taken in the rear and could have
been carried easily after the fleet had
silenced them. From this height, these
officers say, the batteries on the west
side of the harbor could easily have
been cleared of Spaniards. The mines
in the harbor entrance raised, the fleet
allowed to enter, and the campaign,
whose one object is the destruction of
the Spanish sea power in the West
Indies, would have been ended. Every-
one knows what has actually been done
and what it has cost. I have heard our
own and foreign officers estimate the
probable loss in the capture of the
Morro according to the original plan,
as at most, 300.
The yellow fever has broken out on
shore,—thirty cases among the Michi-
gan regiments we brought down, and
General Duffield is one. The flames are
destroying the houses of Siboney, but
the harm has been done.
A CONFERENCE ON THE YALE.
Three hours after we left Guanta-
namo, we came alongside the New
York at Santiago. Admiral Sampson
and half a dozen officers came aboard,
and he and Miles had a conference in
the ladies’ parlor, now the Captain’s
office. Miles is a fine looking, well
kept, portly man. Sampson is very
thin, slightly bent with a fine, scholarly
face, very sharp eyes, ‘protruding eye-
brows, white hair and pointed beard.
He looks worn, although in the navy
he is said to be a man of iron nerves,
or no nerves. Williams tells an anecdote
of a gun trial in which the piece ex-
ploded. Everyone else ran away.
Sampson never budged. He has the
universal respect of the navy as the
fairest, calmest, steadiest, best equipped
and most capable of officers. * * *
I see all the fleet orders issued by the
Admiral and they show with how great
care he had provided against any possi-
bility of the Spaniard’s. escape. The
strain must have been tremendous on
him and on the individual captains.
* ok Ox
It is a strange thing that Cervera
came out when he did. Such a night
as last night would seem almost to
have insured his escape. The rain
poured and squalls drove the mist in
one’s eyes, and a ship without a light
could never have been seen one or two
hundred yards away. Had he_ headed
to the east, his fleet could have run
right into and through the transports
off Siboney, and in the blackness the
confusion, the mistaking of friend and
foe, escape would seem to have been
almost sure.
The decks were running water like
rivers, so the troops were allowed in
the mess rooms, and passages. When
I got up at twelve and again when I
went to bed at four, I had to climb
over them. They were piled on top of
one another, every one asleep with his
mouth open.
As we came along the coast this
morning, we could see the puffs of
smoke from the guns of the fleet bom-
barding Santiago, but before we arrived
the truce had begun again. -I suppose,
on the part of the Spaniards it is a ruse
to gain time. We hear that a retreat
of part of our troops had been ordered ©
before the Spaniards agreed to the
armistice.
July 13th~-When we reached here,
there were thirty cases of yellow fever
ashore, now there are one hundred and
thirty-five. As yet, none have died.
The troops are still on board, but Gen-
eral Miles goes ashore every day.
I shall have to be more careful in my
comments in letters home. I have just
been looking over the navy regulations
and find that I could be court-martialed
for nearly every sentence. Merely to
couple the name of an officer with a
verb is enough to warrant court-
martial.
A rigid quarantine has been estab-
lished on board against every one
ashore. This morning a_ brigadier-
general was refused admission to the
deck, and, one of the aides de camp
of General Shafter, who managed to
get on board without the officer of the
deck knowing it, in hope that we would
take him back to New York, was sent
on shore when discovered.
READY TO LAND.
Yesterday I was awakened at seven
and ordered to put on old clothes
(suitable for swimming) and be ready
to take command of a boat to land the
troops. :
and I were to take them into a beach
two miles west of the entrance to Santi-
ago, and effect a landing through the
urf.
The life-boats are most of them made
of iron, so that a shot through the
bottom would soon have left the occu-
pants in the water. On the heights
above the beach are the Spanish bat-
teries, which were expected to make a
vigorous resistance to the landing.
Indeed, Captain Paget, R. A. has pro-
nounced the attempt very dangerous.
The fleet was assembled, the New York,
Brooklyn, Massachusetts, Texas, Ore-
gon, Gloucester, and others, and were
ready to fire over our heads. During
the morning, we all lay of Aguadores
to the east of Morro, but ready to move
to the west as soon as the order came
from General Shafter. About 3 P. M.,
however, a man at the Signal Station
ashore wig-wagged the news “The
Spaniards have capitulated.” That was
all. It is maddening to be right here at
the seat of operations and know less of
what is going on ashore than anyone
within reach of a paper at home.
AT THE CAMP OF THE MARINES.
Guantanamo Harbor, July 13th—We
came up here from Siboney two days
ago and anchored in this magnificent
harbor. Around us are all the battle-
ships and many of the cruisers of the
navy. On the hill, half a mile away, is
a camp of marines, where the first foot
of Cuba Libre was seized. This after-
noon a party of us went over. All the
marines are in perfect health. The
camp is scrupulously clean and is swept
continually by a delightful breeze.
Indeed, Cuba is a surprise as to tem-
perature. It is not so warm as New
Haven often is. I met all the marine
officers and saw where Dr. Gibbs was
shot and buried.
The chapparal about the camp from
which the Spaniards fired is an almost
impenetrable jungle of bushes, interlac-
ing vines and prickly pear, ten feet
deep. We were told of the terrible
strain of those hundred hours without
sleep. The way the Spaniards were
finally beaten off was by filling up their
well, three miles back. This left the
only water supply ten miles away
through the chapparal. This camp of
800 magnificent looking fellows get all
their drinking water from the distilling
apparatus of the ship. We saw several
fine machetes, but were unable to buy
one. They are the ‘essential of travel
through the Cuban jungle, and as it is
easy to get to close quarters in the
‘thicket they are far more effective. as
the Spaniards know, than a rifle. The
marines seem to think that the Lee rifle
gets out of order too easily and, in this
respect, does not compare well with the
Spanish Mauser.
GOSSIP OF THE FLEET.
During the evening, several of us
went over and made calls upon the
officers of the battleships. We were
treated to champagne, as usual, and,
seated on the quarter deck, heard the
accounts of the fight and the gossip of
the fleet. The Oregon really played
the leading part in the battle. She had
a whack at every one of the Spanish
ships and captured the Colon almost
alone. The Christobal Colon was
practically uninjured, they say, when a
thirteen-inch shell scared her captain
into hauling down his flag. His action,
in scuttling his ship, after surrender,
was contrary to all the rules of war.
Indeed. the officers of the Oregon
regret they were prevented from board-
ing the Colon for nearly three hours
after her surrender. If they had only
boarded sooner they think they could
have closed the sea-valves and have
saved the ship.
July 21st.—We are still waiting here
for the expedition to Porto Rico to be-
gin. The fleet is quietly re-fitting,
painting, coaling and preparing for the
trip to Spain. General Miles goes
ashore every day to be near the cable
station, which is a tent on the beach.
I went ashore yesterday afternoon in
the whaleboat to bring him out. While
I was gone, some of my crew started
in swimming. If General Miles had
gotten down to the boat before I did.
he would not have thought much of
us. Still General Miles and his staff
put in a good part of their time, while
ashore, in swimming. I suppose they
The other junior watch officers —
shout telegraph messages from the cool
waves directly to the telegraph opera-
tor.
VERDICT ON RESERVES,
I have managed to learn a good deal
since I have been on board, and shall
take a navy examination when I get
back, but the more I learn of seaman-
ship, the more I am convinced of the
impossibility of learning it from books.
A man should go to sea as a sailor and
serve in all the different grades aboard
a sailing ship, as the naval cadets do.
Ready-made sailors are no good and
it is more honest to admit it. I am con-
vinced that the only effective Naval
Reserve must be composed, or rather
is composed, of the officers and seaman
of the merchant marine.
TIRED OF VISITORS.
Our visitors have eaten us out of
house and home, beef, ice, beer and
fresh water. We drink distilled water
but the refrigerating plant does not
work well here, where the sea water,
used for condensing, is from 82° to 86°.
Every morning at nine, the soldiers
form in full marching order, but bare-
foot. This leaves the decks clear for a
thorough scrub. Then they drill and
in squads are trotted around the deck.
A fire hose is kept going on forecastle
and nearly any time in the day thirty
or forty men are to be seen stripped and
washing themselves and their clothes.
At 5 P. M., the gangways and Jacob’s
ladders are lowered to the water, and
crew and soldiers go in for a swim.
Many of the soldiers are of magnificent
physique and are fine swimmers. They
jump and dive from the davits, forty
feet above the water. Over on the
Oregon, the sailors are also swimming
and diving. Close by us is anchored
the pretty little Spanish gunboat and
the four steamers surrendered in the fall
of Santiago. Captain Wise has sent in
a list of the Yale’s crew for our share
of prize money.
There is no yellow fever here, but
since the troops have been on board
they have developed eighty cases of
what their doctors say is the typhoid
fever so common at Camp Alger. Its ~
symptoms are very like those of typhus.
There are now 500 cases of yellow fever
at Siboney. :
UNDER WAY TO PORTO RICO.
July 22d.—Late yesterday afternoon,
the expedition to Porto Rico started.
The Massachusetts leads the way, then
come the Yale and Columbia on her
port and starboard quarters, then the
transports in two long lines behind
them and the Yosemite in the rear.
The distance between the ships is about
a quarter of a mile.
On General Miles’s staff is Major
Rowan of South Carolina. He made a
trip across Cuba early in the war, to
For the Fall Shooting.
Is your “ Parker” all ready for it? Presum-
ably it is, if it was carefully put away
at the end of the last season. But
perhaps you want something different
this year, as to calibre, weight, or
design. Shooters know all about the
general qualities of the gun. A cat-
alogue gives all details.
N. Y. Salesrooms, No. 96 Chambers St.
PARKER BROS., MERIDEN.
FOOTBALL
As the American Colleges play
it, is distinctly an American
The Englishmen
who see it are amazed at
the development of Rugby
by United States colle gians.
In all the advances, intrica-
game.
cies and elaborations of the
sport, the football special-
ists have found one firm in
the United States always
ready to meet, and even
often to anticipate their
needs. This is one notable
example of the up-to-date-
ness of
A. G. SPALDING & BROS.
New York. Chicago.
F. R. BLISS & CO.
Oa Al
NEW HAVEN, - CONN.
_ “Yale men the world over appreciate high-
grade articles,’ is a statement which explains
the following itinerary of the semi-annual
trip of our representative, Mr. Walker :—
Milwaukee, Pfister Hotel,. Sept. 14-17.
Chicago, Great Northern, ‘“ 19-22.
Springfield, O., Arcade, : 23.
Columbus, Neil House, “c -24—27.
Pittsburgh, Anderson, aes oe
Harrisburg, Commonwealth, ‘ 30.
CHAREST: PENNELL,
Successor to Wm. Franklin & Co.,
IMPORTING | AILOR,
AO Center St., New Haven, Conn.
PAtsi BeOS. ,
COLLEGE PHOTOGRAPHERS,
1024 Chapel St., New Haven.
Branch of No. 935 Broadway, - New York
THE MURRAY HILL HOTEL,
_ Park Ave., 40th and 4ist Streets,
NEW YORK.
AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN PLANS.
Headquarters for Yale Men.
