The small gunboats captured from the Spaniards and facetiously called “tin-clads” by the men of the land forces, are of great value in the offensive operations against the insurgents along the coast.—[Manilla Dispatch]
Their draft is a foot and a half,
And a knot and a half is their speed,
Their bows are as blunt as the stern of a punt
And their boilers are wonders of greed;
Their rudders are always on strike,
Their displacement is thirty-two tons,
They are armored with tin—to the dishpan they're kin—
But their Maxims are A number ones,
(Ask Aggie!)