Show ICE ISTHIT DOLLARS A TON I DISCOMFORTS OP A WEST INDIAN DIAN CRUISE Tepid Water No Fruit and Worst of All Sometimes No Tobaco Weather 1 Blistering Hot Copyright 1S9S by the Associated Press Key West Fla June 21Vhen the gunboat Machias came in yesterday afternoon af-ternoon just after the auxiliary gunboat gun-boat Leyden and in front of the revenue reve-nue cutter Woodbury she stood very high out of the water and had only ten II tens of coal aboard Worse than this the supply of tobacco was entirely exhausted ex-hausted and the men had had no fresh fruit for many days She had been out more than three weeks There was great rejoicing among the crew when the bum boats came alongside with ice cold beer cakes Ic cream limes and soon other fruits The boats were empty One of the officers went aft to i was disposing where one of the merchants posing of their wares to the sailors and got two goodsized pieces of ice with which he ran forward Diamonds boys he cried to the other officers I who shouted with delight Ice water I was prepared at once The newspapermen newspaper-men produced tobacco and cigars and I the famine was reiievea The men of war and officers are obliged to drink tepid water in their long cruises They have some ice when they start from Key West but it soon gives out owing to the great heat of the ships and the icemaking plants which some of the larger ships have are either out of order or do not yield a large supply Off Cape Haytien during Admiral Sampsons San Juan cruise the Asso dated Press dispatch boat Dauntless twice brought ice to the flagship New York half a ton each time The price of ice in Cape Haytien is 30 a ton The halfton of Ic had shrunk somewhat by the time it had been conveyed through the streets of Cap Haytien to the Dauntless which lay at anchor When the Dauntless reached the fleet the New York sent out a boat to takeoff take-off the ic The sun was blistering hot I and the ice melted at an alarming rate while it was being put into the boat The boats crew refused to take small pieces five pounds or so saying that they would only melt and they would have to bal the boat The men were barefooted of course and got a good deal of comfort out of the ice by putting put-ting their feet on it There was not much ic to hoist on board the New York in bags but the officers said it was well worth the money |