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20 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. MINIMIZING DEWEY'S VICTORY. Some time ago an engineering company undertook to raise the sunken Spanish fleet in Manila harbor, and according to the Manila American, some revelations are being made which tend to minimize Dewey's victory. 'The raising of the vessels has, the paper says, made it clear that few of them were struck below the waterline, and that they seem to have been scuttled by the Span- iards and not sent to the bottom by the admiral's guns. In con- nection with the raising of the gunboat Marquez del Duero, near Cavite, the Manila American says: "When the gunboat was examined it was found that but one shot took effect on that vessel. It pierced the bow above the water line and the shell exploded in the vessel. This goes to prove that the guns of the fleet never put this little gunboat in the bottom of the bay, and the only conclusion as to its destruc- tion is that the Spaniards scuttled her rather than have her fall into Admiral Dewey's hands. This version of the battle gained _some circulation at one time, but was denied. Now that the seventeen vessels which lie in the bottom of the bay are to be raised, all doubts as to the manner in which the fleet was sent to the bottom will be settled. While this is true of the gunboat referred to, there is every reason to believe that few, if any, of the vessels were sunk by the fire from the American fleet. The engineers are now busy raising the steel cruiser Ulloa, one of the largest vessels in the fleet, now on the bottom of the bay. It is reported that this vessel shows no indication of being riddled below the water line, and it is the impression that she was also scuttled and abandoned. The fact, however, remains that Ad- miral Dewey pounded the Spanish fleet enough to make the officers decide at an early hour that there was little chance of escape. Rather than surrender their vessels to the enemy they decided to scuttle them, and from the developments made recently they succeeded." Four days later the same paper announced that, "from infor- mation received from a diver who made an investigation of the hulks under water a year or more ago, it is likely that when the remainder of these vessels are raised it will be found that the battle of May 1 was more of an 'opera bouffe affair' than the land battle of Aug. 13, of which the hero of the first affair has spoken so disparagingly. The diver referred to made at the time a careful inspection of all the hulks, and his findings, which he has made into a tabulated report, will be of interest and will per- haps send another historic fable to join George Washington's hatchet." : The diver found, during his inspection, the paper added, only about twenty hits on the whole fleet of Spanish vessels, "few, if any, of which would have been fatal to the respective ships." Of the General Leuza, a steel gunboat of about 600 tons, the Philippine paper said she was "found to be entirely dismantled above decks by fire, but below the water line there were absolutely. no evidences of gunshot holes. 'There is one large hole in the starboard side, as if the magazine or boilers had exploded, but no others. 'The hull is covered with oysters. The Argos has two small holes in the port side. She was an inoffensive little coast- survey boat, and would scarcely seem to have deserved even this much ammunition. The Velasco has four small holes in the port side above the water line. The Reina Cristina, the flagship, is the only one of the fleet that. seems to have sustained any severe fire. She has seven holes in her port side and three in the starboard. 'The Castilla, which Dewey reported to be 'riddled with shot,' is an insignificant old wooden tub, and the diver failed to find any holes at all in her. The Ulloa, a steel cruiser, is re- ported clean and clear of wreckage, and has two small holes on the port side, astern." i -To the firing on the Isla de Mindanao, the newspaper re- ferred as "a case of wilful destruction." This vessel was a troop- ship, 400 ft. long, of 6,000 tons. "She was loaded with supplies, and was found by the diver to be still full of bales and cases below decks. When the American fleet appeared in the harbor she 'started to run for Baccoor, and the admiral sent a gunboat after her. She received one shot in the stern, near the stern-post, _ and one small one in the starboard side. The hole in the stern was made by an explosive shell, and is very large. It is said by some that the reason the Mindanao was beached at Baccoor is that she was loaded with the officers of the spanish fleet, who deserted their ships, already scuttled, acording to this version. fll of her upper works were burned away. Of course an exam- ination made under water is cursory and not conclusive, but in view of the question that has been raised, the raising of the ships will be watched with interest by naval people and the general public." Ever since the navy department of the United States was established the naval officers have labored under the impression that the name of the French port Marseilles was spelled just as it has now been spelled. However, last week when the depart- ment got a telegram that the Nashville had arrived at Marseilles and the name was spelled thus on the bulletin printed for daily reference word came from the department printing office that the board on geographic names had decreed that the spelling was ase, aps As this board is the final authority on spelling Mar- seille it is. : as Bop [Oct. 23. SHIP BUILDING AT NEWPORT NEWS. Newport News, Va., Oct. 22.--The large and palatial passen- ger and freight steamship Monroe, built by the Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. for the Old Dominion Steamship Co., was launched here Saturday morning. Mrs. Andrew Jack- son Montague, wife of Governor Montague of Virginia, christened the new vessel as she started down the ways in the presence of about 8,000 people, many of whom came from distant cities. Ex- cursions were run from all near-by points and several large parties came down from New York as guests of the Old Domin- ion company. Following the launching an elaborate breakfast was served at Hotel Warwick in honor of the fair god-mother of the Monroe, covers being laid for about 200. Several toasts were responded to by the more prominent guests. Among the well known shipping, ship building and railway men present at the ceremonies cf the day were President W. Ll. Guilleadeu, General Traffic Manager H. B. Walker, Superintending Engineer HG Higgins, Asst. Engineer R. S. Haight, General Freight Manager F. N. Rouse, Emigrant Agent Peter McDonald, M. B. Crowell, agent at Newport News and Norfolk, all of the Old Dominion Steamship Co.; President Calvin B. Orcutt and Gen. Supt. W. A. Post, of the Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co.; President George W. Stevens and General Manager C. E. Doyle, of the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad; General James A. Dumont, of Washington, supervising inspector-general of steam vessels; Col. John W. Oast, supervising inspector of steam vessels for this federal district; Horace See of New York; Irwin Weisiger, general manager of the Virginia Transportation Co.; J. M. Blankenship of Baltimore, superintendent cf the Merchants' & Miners' T'ransportation Co., as well as a large number of naval officers on this station. The Monrce is a steel passenger and freight steamship built for service between New York, Norfolk and Newport News. It is estimated that the total cost of the ship, when completed, will be in the neighborhood of $800,000. No expense will be spared in her construction, special attention being paid to in- terior finish, and in this respect she will eclipse any other ship of the Old Dominion fleet and probably of the American coastwise fleet. Ample accommodations will be provided for first and sec- ond-class passengers and for officers and crew. They will be the very best in all particulars and the ship will be provided with all appliances and conveniences customary in the latest practice of the most modern passenger steamers. The principal dimensions of the Monroe are: Length be- tween perpendiculars, 344 ft.; length over all, 366 ft.; beam, molded, 46 ft.; depth, molded, 37 ft.; draught, 18 ft.; displace- ment,, 5,375 tons. Accommodations will be provided for 122 first- class white passengers, twenty-two first-class colored passengers, seventy-eight steerage, fifty-seven deck passengers and eighty-one officers and crew. The facilities for handling freight will be of the very latest design and complete in every respect. The Old Dominion Steamship Co. does an immense freight business be- tween New York, Norfolk and Newport News, and in order to properly handle it all of the ships of the line are equipped with the latest appliances. The new ship, which will be the queen of the fleet, being larger than the other vessels, is designed for a speed of 15%4 knots, but there is every reason to believe that she will easily exceed that. She will be propelled by a vertical, inverted, direct-acting, triple-expansion engine, designed to de- velop 4,500 H. P. Capt. J. G. Hulphers of the Old Dominion' JLine has been ordered here until the completion of the Monroe, which he will command. This promotes First Mate Crowley of the Jamestown to master of the Guyandotte. Capt. Hiller of the Guyandotte goes to the Jamestown and Capt. Tapley of the Jamestown goes to the Princess Anne. The next ship to be launched here will be the lumber steamer Francis H. Leggett, building for the Hammond Lumber Co. of San Francisco, which will go on the redwood trade on the Cali- tornia coast. : On the ways vacated by the Monroe Saturday, the keel wili soon go down for the monster oil steamer which will be built for the Saginaw Steel Steamship Co. Unless some new merchant work is secured in the meantime, the next keel to go down will probably be that of the 16,000-ton battleship Louisiana, which the ship yard will build in competi- tion with the government force at the Brooklyn navy yard, where the sister ship, Connecticut, is building. _ The battleship Texas will go in commission at the navy yard Noy. 3. Capt. W. T. Swinburne has been detached from the naval war college and ordered to command the Texas when placed in commission. The entire North Atlantic squadron is expected in Hampton Roads about Noy. 10, to prepare for the winter maneuvers in southern waters. 'The torpedo flotilla at the navy yard has been ordered in commission at once. The old training ship Hartford has sailed on her winter 2 ae The Essex, Lancaster and Monongahela are in Hampton oads. The torpedo boat destroyer Worden, built by the Maryland Steel Co. at Sparrow's point, Md., has arrived at the navy yard, joining the Whipple and Truxton, which were already there. She is a sister of the Whipple and 'Truxton.