The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 8, 1898, Page 19

THE SAN FRANC‘I_SCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY 8, 1898 19 BROADSIDE SLAUGHTER AT THE BATTLE OF THE YALU The Bigges - 1 ve the world s the e it stood so greatly in need of. 1 was not fright- to translate his broken more cor enient mode had no time. “while the bat- a tle said, € half the time there was such F: I did not know where I was what I was doing. I s in the band on board the Ma- tushima, &hip that was in the thiék of all the fighting, but we did not get to play ring the just ed the he rest not see much much chance but our ship shook all were fired, and t in the battery, « guns over, and 1g the whole gun’s c v. all of us at the n we g away 1 r we could the white sides of a Chinese vessel ough the Down in the bat- gone we could not tell what was going and now when our when one of the Chinese shells struck us, for if it merge astern uld almost exploded th i steer west to vn, and when the fumes i ’s fleet it will, © A you would see bits of hu- I ond 0 of the man bodies scattered all over the : h perhaps the con- Place. f ylk,”m‘h“»\!,- “One shell exploded a heap of ammu- i s gth of the Dition, and we found nothing of an of- ficer standing by but his cap. z y s, a lot of the Chinese We found one powder. seemed as if they there was any woodwork to burn. one big blaze down in the coal bunkers next the magazine nearly finished us. had no wvhile the Chinese inst the Japs two broke out ras the second The fire got so strong that the bulk- head between the bunkers and the magazine grew red hot, the flames leap- ed through the crevices, and we had to stuff our clothes into the cracks to pre- vent the magazine catching.” “Of course we were glad when it was over, for though we finished off the ing th en this n of fighting Cpynese, we came very near sinking Lvier, armor was qurselv, Half our crew was killed ter. Yet the or wounded, and the rest were not good for anything. I got off fortunately with this,”” and he lifted up his cap and showed a jagged scar on the side of his head. “It was a fragment of a shell or a flying rivet which did it, but it 1ald me up for the rest of the war, for T did not see anv more fighting.” Even in the old days of wooden ships, ved entirely on , naval constructors g in the dark, and no one ctly how these complicated nasses of machinery would be- 1 real battle And here was a little Japanese, mod- est and unpretentious, who had helped, retical ground t Battle of Ironclads Up to Admuiral Dewey’s Great Victory at Manifa. when the captain fought his vessel from the exposed altitude of the poop deck, he could see comparatively little of what was going on away from his own ves And to-day, when the cap- tain is shut up in a confined conning tower, he certainly will find it difficult to get a general view of the engage- ment. s, in turrets or will see nothing except the ship at which they happen to be taking aim. The only persons likely to get a good all round view of the fight will be the men working the machine guns on the upper deck, and in the military tops of the large fron- cla The probability that they will survive to relate their experiences is extremely small. Contemporary historis ns have given us a fairly good account of the great Yalu fight. ever was the value of calm person courage more clearly demonstrat People are fond of say- ing that our modern war vessel nothing but floating boxes of ma ery. That is perfectly true, but we must not forget that machines require intelligent, self-possessed men to con- trol them. Therefore the most costly ironclad is useless unless she has a courageous, self-rellant crew to work her. Thus it was at the Yalu, and thus it probably will be should the great naval battle on the Atlantic take place. The superiority of the Ameri- can sailor over the Spaniard requires no vroof; if it did, we have lately had brilliant instances on two sides of the globe, in Cuba and the far away Phil- ippines. The Chinese, in the matter of ships, had a considerable advantage over the Japanese. They possesged two power- ful fronclads, the Ting Yuen and the Chen Yuen, armed with four 35-ton Kruop guns, to say nothin~ of many smaller weapons. Their armor was fourteen inches thick, and though their speed was slow. they were formidable vessels compared with the lightly arm- ored cruisers fought by the Japanese. One of the vessels had the advantage of being commanded bv a covrageous American. Captain McGiffin, the story of whose vallant efforts to turn the tida of battle has so lately gone the ronund of the nress. PRut even Captain Me- Giffin, though a host In himself. could not work miracles with a mob of un- digeiplined Chinese cowards as a crew. Still it was entirely due to his efforts that the Chen Yuen survived the ter- rible attack of the Japanese rapid-fir- ing guns. Fight times the ship caueht fire and eight times Captain MecGiffin 2 3 h = ‘1 COULD NOT SEE MUCH FOR THE SMOKE, BUT OUR SHIP SHOOK ALL THE TIME AS THE BIG GUNS WE‘RE FIRED, AND THEN @ BIG SHELL BURST IN THE BATTERY, THROWING ONE OF THE GUNS OVER AND KILLING THE WHOLE GUN’S CREW.” and his European advisers extinguished the flames. The last time, indeed, the gallant captain narrowly escaped de- struction from one of his own guns which was fired so close to his head as to knock him sensele: ~.But though the Chinese had the ad- vantage in the matter of ironclads their guns were notably inlerior to the Jap- The Chinese had only the old- oned, slow-firing weapons, where-" as the Japanese had the latest variety of quick firers, ranging up to six inches in caliber. ~The destruction wrought by these weapons was so tremendous that every naval power took the hint and there are few ironclads now afloat in which the secondary battery is not equipped entirely with quick firers. The splendid marksmanship of the Japanese gunners enabled them to pour a hail of these awful projectiles upon the ill-fated ships of the Chinese, killing and demoralizing the gunners and setting fire to everything inflam- mable. The Japanese did not suffer so much, for they had tak-n the precaution to strip their vess! of every particle of woodwork which could be removed. Even the mess tables and benches had been taken out and the hardy little sail- ors contentedly lived on the bare deck. The burning of the Spanish fleet at Manila gives us another instance of the destructive effect of shell fire, and in future war vessels will be built with little or no wood about their fittings. Everything will have to be of iron, cold and comfortless, but infinitely safer in time of action. The fight at the Yalu was mainly a long-range one, and most medern na- val engagements are likely to proceed on the same lines. The Chinese formed up in line abreast, so that their vessels fought end on. The Japs on the other hand fought in the formation known as line ahead, the ships bringing their broadside to bear on the enemy. The Chinese, when they saw the enemy approaching, opened fire at six thousand yards (about three and one- half miles), but the shell fell short. The Japs, more wisely, reserved their fire till they came within three thou- sand yards, when their guns could be used with disastrous effect. The com- bat, as far as the Mongolians were con- cerned, soon became a general melee, the Chinese admiral lost all control of his fleet and each ship fought the enemy as best she could. Admiral Ito, on the other hand, who commanded the Japanese fleet, kept his ships well in hand, the attack was de- veloped on orderly, systematic lines, and one by one the weaker Chinese ves- sels were either runk or Hlown up, or destroyed by fire. Altogetherthe Japa- nese ‘finished off five vessels and only the two Chinese ironclads were left in a condition fit for fighting at the end of the day. It is said that the Japs did not close and ram these vessels because they wished to capture rather than sink them, otherwise the victory might have been even more complete. The Chinese, on the contrary, tried to use the ram several times, but each time they were foiled by the superior speed of the Jap~ anese cruisers. Of course in such a stubbornly con- tested battle the loss of life was enor mous. There were about three thou= sand men on each side and out of these the Chinese had 700 killed and wounded, the Japanese only 4, The heavy loss of the Chinese was mainly caused by drowning, for as their vessels sank the crews perished. All boats were early destroyed and neither friend nor foe had the means to save the unfortunate strugglers in the water. J. F. ROSE-SOLEY. R R R * : OOR MEN AT THE HELM IN KW KKK KK EEEFE KKK R LR A E R KK L F IDENT McKINLEY shows |sees his pathway straight before him now, no matter »w rough it may be. kes little recreation, t ks away from his desk for a few moments every day. Sometimes he strolls through the White House grounds with a member of the Cabinet, or with some friend, and usually his arm is locked in that of his companion. He deligh to wander through the broad area known as the ‘‘white lot,” just in the rear of the executive man- sion, and during these wanderings he is frequently followed by a curious crowd. He has a courteous greeting for everybody and usually a word and a smile, which lights up rather sadly his careworn face. Every day or two he takes a long drive into the country late the strain of the stress of the war. None but those who have been close to him can realize what the past three months have e nation’s executive. With i of h ave responsi- » power inherent in ct results, and yet days went by of his ent the fulfillment of endeavored to guide events could in a course which d the people blameless world for whatever s withstood the meant tc full a bilit his pc gni strain bears testimony to his!in the afternoon, and on these drives mental p nd strength of character | he always takes a friend along. and body. Secretary Long, the head of the Navy e ey aethentes e . | Department, shows the effect of tension TE Pl ”“"?{‘““Th“ ‘;r"dbe“' | as well as Fis chief. His pocition has g a not ge. The affable, |y op iy a nieasure paradoxical. An of- cheery mood merly character- | ficer of the Peace Society, an organiza- ized fas given way to a sternness | tjon the avowed purpose of which is of manner the prevention of war, he Is in charge of one of the military arms of the Gov- ch befits a humane but just jud e 1 upon to execute a righteous A curlous fllustra- | ernment, and stern duty compels him tion of Mr. Mc temperament is | t© exerclhs‘e functions which are abhor- shown in the differ nce { rent to him. ;?mxv\‘r e hp”: tter : r,'l’n) his bearing | "B o Cmany anxious weeks follow- ks P L Of the resolutions | ;o the” destructi n of the Maine he whic ade war i itable. So long as clung to the hope that it would be | there was the slightest chance for peace | shown not to have been blown up with the pressure of uncertainty bore heav- | design and that Cuba could be freed iy upon him, and his face assumed a | without a resort to arms. As time wan and haggard look. That look has | rolled relentlessly on and the events of ot entirely disappe: ut eagh succeeding day pointed .o the ul- b i Pheccnt.but ey te disappointment of his hope, Mr. longer marked by anxiety. From the |t o - ong’s optimistic manner gave way un- e L R s reaChEdtfl‘er fhe ’;x‘essure: the tender-hearted which imposed upon him the leadership secretary is a saddened ma. of a nation at war, he seems to have| hard to realize,’ he says, that we are experienced a sense of relief, for heactually at war.” “It 1s | WASHINGTON. : * P TR EEETEEE R R R RS R | Secretary Long is naturally an easy- going man. He makes no fuss about | his daily work and there is no bustle | or rushing about. He is quick of de- cision and orders glide easily into their | proper places. He never loses his head | and nobody would suspect, in seeing | him at his desk, that upon him de- volved the conduct of a naval war. Every day a litt.» after noon he packs a lot of papers into a green flannel bag, such as Boston lawyers carry, and walks home to luiich, his head a little bowed, his face overcast with thought. | But thoughtful though he may be, a | word of greeting always brings an answering smile and a cheery word. The secretary takes a long walk every evening after leaving the department and sometimes it is an hour before he | reaches his apartments from his desk. | He goes to bcd invariably before 9 o’clock. The President usually stops | up till midnight. | Secretary Alger is a man of war and | has considered the Cuban situation all | along from the viewpoint of a soldier. | From the day that the news came of | the destruction of the Maine he has re- | garded war as practically inevitable, | and his thoughts and actions have been | guided- accordingly. General Alger is | not of a sanguinary disposition. On the | contrary he is one of the gentlest of men. He is regarded with a legree of estimation approaching affection by | those who come in official and personal | contact with him, and admiration for his personal qualities as a man is equaled by appreciation of his abilities as an officlal. General Alger has borne the strain | remarkably well, in view of his en- feebled condition, brought on by physi- cal allments. He seems to be every- where at once, -~ during every im- portant debate in Congress he has been at the capitol, lister.ag to the discus- sion, consulting with Senators and members, and feeling th- legislative pulse. Alger has been the President’s eyes and ears. He sees more public men in the course of the day than all other members of the Cabinet com- bined. Charles Emory Smith, the newly appointed Postmaster General, is also invaluable to the President through his faculty for reflecting outside opin- ion. Owing to the practical retirement of Secretary Sherman, Assistant Secretary Day has willingly borne the brunt of the diplomatic battle which has been waged with Spain. Judge Day seems to have a remarkable aptitude for hard work and has emerged from the days of unremitting toil and nights of sleep- less thought without visible effect upon his mind or his body. He is the most modest appearing of men, reserved to the point of taciturnity, a hard student and little acquainted with politicians or their ways. He keeps his place at his desk in the department, where he broods over his books and parers more industriously than any of the clerks, and he is rarely ceen outside. Speaker Reed has been the most im- perturbable man during the war excite- ment in Congress. He has been the tar- get of his political opponents and has been assailed by murmurs at times from men of his own party. Through- out the progress of events he has re- tained the coolness which is such 4 dis- tinguishing characteristic of the man, and shows no trace of the exciting times through which he has passed. One hour he may mold a murmuring and restless majority as he wills; in the next he may be seen walking leis- urely up the avenue, his hands clasped lazily behind his back, stopping at every second shop window to gaze with childish curlosity at the pretty things displayed. Sometimes it takes the big er more than an hour to walk from his hotel to the capitol, so many are the diversions along the way. | of us, aged 35 years.” HEERREFEEEXERFFERXRRLTERRXF R XXX XL XN XXX R AR L X RS LE R XL XEREX XX RN * * * * HE President and Secretary of | War are receiving letters from | patriotic women all over the| country anxious to be mustered | into service in case there should | be an outbreak of war with Spain. 1 A letter received at the White House | and addressed, “President McKinley, | Washington, D. C.” reads: “I write | asking if I vould be of any use to you in this Cuban trouble. woman, but I can nurse the sick and | wounded. I only wish I were a man. I would go and volunteer to take one of our unfortunate one's place who went down in the Malne. If you need | women to nurse, or if in any way I can | be of service to you for my country’'s sake, please let me know. I am strong, | weigh 150 -ounds, height 5 feet 5| inches, age 27 years and a good nurse. | Hoping to be of service to my God and | country I am at your command.” i Another says: “I was one of the first volunteer nurses during the war of the rebellion; experience on transports and in hospitals. If there is another war I am ready.” A Canadian wcman, who says her brother fought for our flag in the late war, offers her services, and adds in her lett:~ to the President: “Failing the position of nurse I shall be glad to give my services in any other capacity where I may be of use.” From away down in Colorado an- other woman, who addresses her letter “War Department,” offers her services in these words: ‘‘Should there be a war between the Usited States and Spain would there be any show for us to get transportation? We are nurses and strong, healthy women. There are two I am only a;n LOTS OF WORK FOR WOMEN IN WAR. XEEEEXEXEF L H XXX XX XXX RTX SRR XXX R R IR LA XX RRIRXIXTRIIXXRRER RN These are but several examples of the correspondence being received from American women. ‘While the typical army nurse is al- ways described by the idealist as a youthful, tender “angel of mercy,” with a beautiful face, it is interesting to know that generals in command of armies prefer middle-aged and homely women for such service. A circular distributed by the superintendent of es in 1861 read: “No women under 30 need apply. AL nurses are required to be very plain- looking women. Their dresses must be either brown or black. with na, bows, no ‘curls or jewelry and ro hoop | skirts.” The pay given to nurses in the late | but it is said | war was-$i2 a month, that hundreds of women of social rank and position, without waiting to be formally mustered in, served without | pay or hope of reward. She who is now volunteering to aid in a conflict | with Spain is not the “new woman,” but the same patriotic creature who offeréd hersif to her flag in 1861 General Sherman called ‘“Mother Bickerdyke,” the celebrated nurse of the Civil War, one of his “best gen- erals.” The woman who would be the most conspicuous of her sex in a great war between the United States and Spain is Miss Clara Barton, president of the American Red Cross Society, who is now caring for the starving Cubans. ‘Within a month after President Lin- coln’s first call for the army of 75,000 volunteers an association of New York women had chosen from hundreds of candidates 100 competent nurses to be trained by the physicians and surgeons of this city. At the same time women throughout the country organized sol- diers’ aid stc!eues, sewing circles, fairs - * s * | and entertainments of various sorts for the purpose of furnishing the brave | boys both necessities and - delicacies. | Trains running into Washington were | weighed down with a tremendous ac- | cumulation of freight for this purpose. | Its distribution was finally turned over to the Sanitary Commission, which co- operated during the war with women’s clubs and societies throughout the en- | tire North. After each battle agents | distributed the supplies as received. Statistics show that during the late | war the women’s organizations raised altogether fifty millions of dollars among their societies in the Northern States, the amount just appropriated by | Congress to put the nation upon an ef- fective defensive footing. The little girls of the North, by their miniature "%im and handiwork, contributed $100,- 0. ‘Women might serve this Government as spies in a great war. That a woman | cannot keep a secret herself or let any Lone else keep one is not borne out by certain secret archives kept in {a large fireproof safe in the War Department. One of the | most active and reliable TUnion | spies in the late war was a woman, who | worked successfully for a long perfod. | Eventually, however, she was caught | by the enemy and hanged to a tree. Martial law, which states that “the spy is punishable by death by hanging by the neck,” has no respect for sex. The story is also told of a Confeder- | ate brigadier general who sent his wife in the night to one of our generals wil the proposal that he would for $1000 so place his force that it might be tured by the Yankees without any | trouble. Tt is related by an officer that the proposal was accepted, and that the Northern troops captu:ed the force as arranged. 3