Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 July 1898 — TELLS OF THE BATTLE [ARTICLE]

TELLS OF THE BATTLE

SANTIAGO NAVAL ENGAGEMENT IS VIVIDLY DESCRIBED. I ■! Associated Press Correspondent Probably the Only Non-Combatant Who Witnessed the Fight from an Advantageous Position. How Schley Smashed 'Em. The following description of the battle between the American and Spanish warships off Santiago was written by the only non-combatant who witnessed the entire fight. That non-combatant was the correspondent of the Associated Press, who saw the engagement from a position almost nt the elbow of Commodore Schley on the cruiser Brooklyn: Daybreak of Sunday, July 3, the fifth Sunday for the American squadrons before Santiago, brought no particularly different situation from what had marked the preceding Sundays. The monotony, the lack of picturesqueness at daybreak, the heat of the tropical sun—aU were there.

Over the tops of the supposedly destroyed earthworks appeared the muzzles of the same old guns, quite ready, despite the Saturday bombardment, to speak their piece if called upon. On the slightly rolling sea the great gray battleships of the American fleet swung lazily at a distance of from four to five miles from the harbor entrance. The line, which at all times was supposed to be a half-circle inclosing the harbor entrance as a central point, was more than ordinarily broken up this hot morning. The big battleships had drifted to the east considerably, and the Massachusetts, the New York, the New Orleans and thq Newark were not in sight. The NeW York had taken Admiral Sampson doVvn to Alta res, eight miles east from the blockade, to make a visit to the camp of the American army, while the other missing vessels were at Guantanamo, forty miles to the east. The vessels on the blockade were the lowa. Indiana and Oregon, battleships, the flagship of Commodore Schley, the Brooklyn, and the small yachts Gloucester and Vixen. The lowa swinging a mile further out than the rest of the squadron, trying to fix her forward 12-inch turret, which was out of repair, while the Indiana was doing the same thing to her forward 13-inch turret. The absolutely available entire ships in the squadron, therefore, were only the Oregon, Texas and Brooklyn, although later Capt. Evans and Capt. Taylor fought their ships. It is a custom on ships, regulated by the rules, that there shall be a general muster at least once each three months and that the articles of war shall be read. First call had been sounded at 9:15 a. m. and the men were assembling on the decks. The lookout in the masthead of the Brooklyn had some time before refiorted smoke in the harbor; but as the same thing had been noticed several times, no special attention was paid to it. The Brooklyn and the Vixen were the only ships to the west

Of the entrance, the other ships haring drifted well to the cast. Reported bmoke Moving. On the bridge Navigator Hodgson of the Brooklyn said sharply to the lookout: “Isn’t that smoke moving?” and the lookout, after a minute’s inspection with the long glass, dropped it excitedly and fairly yelled: “There’s a big ship coming out of the harbor, sir!” Hodgson, who is a particularly cool man, looked once himself and then, grasping the megaphone, shouted: “After bridge, there! Tell the commodore the enemy’s fleet is coming out!” Commodore Schley was sitting under the awning on the quarter deck. Going to the ’bridge he said: “Raise the signal to the fleet,” and turning to Capt. Cook, who stood near, he said: “Clear ship for action.” Then he went forward and took his place on a little platform of wood runping on the outside of the conning tower, which had been built for him. He was dressed in blue trousers, a black alpaca jacket and the regulation cap, without the broad band of gold braid. The men with a yell went to their guns and the rapid preliminary orders were given. Schley, glasses in hand, watched the first ehip turn out and saw her start for the west. Still he gave no signal to fire or move. The Oregon opened with her 13-inch shells, and the Indiana and Texas followed suit. But the range was a long one. Still the Brooklyn waited. But down below the coal was being forced into the furnace, every boiler was being worked and every gun made ready to fire. Schley wanted to know which way they were all going, or whether they would scatter. In the meantime the Oregon began to turn to the west and the Texas had moved in closer and was damaging the leading ship, the Infanta Maria Teresa. Commodore’s Order to Fire. “They are all coming west, sir,” shouted Lient. Sears. And just then the western batteries opened up. “Full speed ahead. Open fire!” shouted the commodore. "Fire deliberately and don’t waste a shot,” he added; and the orderlies carried the word to the turrets. In an instant the Brooklyn’s eight and five-inch batteries on her port side opened, and the cruiser headed for a point in front of the first escaping ship, firing at and receiving the fire from two of them. Then Commodore Schley jaw the first ship was coming out shore, headed directly for the Brooklyn, with the evident intention of ramming her. A clever manoeuver was here accomplished. f*Hsrd-a-port with your helm I” shouted

Schley; and the cwrfaev began to go around, the smoke coming from her funnels in huge volumes. Quickly she turned and quickly her big steel ram was pointing at the first ship. The Infanta Maria Teresa had to work in shore to avoid being rammed. The shells of the Texas and Oregon, with the terrible storm of shells from the Brooklyn, had done their work and the smoke began to appear pouring from her decks. In the meantime the converted yacht Gloucester could be seen, with the help of the lowa, destroying the two torpedo boat destroyers that had followed the last ship out. At 10 o’clock the entire Cfipe Verde squadron was outside the harbor and going rapidly westward. The lowa and the Indiana could not keep r.p pace; but the Oregon was coming across to the assistance of the Brooklyn, which at 10:05 was engaging the first throe ships, the Infanta Maria Teresa, the Cristobal Colon and the Vizcaya. At 10:11 the Spanish ships had all concentrated their shots on the Brooklyn and she was in a perfect rainj>f shells, most of which went over her. Standing in this hail of shells, Commodore Schley asked a young man named Ellis, who stood near with a stadimeter: “What is the distance to the Vizcaya?” The man took the observation. “Twentytwo hundred yards, sir,” he said, anj. there was a whistle followed by a splash as his head was literally torn from his shoulders by an eight-inch shell. . “Too bad,” said Commodore Schley as the body fell at his feet, and then, with his glasses to his eyes, he said: "The first ship is done for. She is running ashore.” The Maria Teresa was running her nose on the beach and in tin instant was a mass of flames. The Brooklyn was ordered to concentrate her fire on the Almirante Oquendo, and with the Oregon’s assistance, in ten minutes mope the Oquendo was sent ashore a burning wreck, but a short distance from Santiago. Tbe lowa in the meantime had sunk one torpedo boat destroyer, and the other one had been driven ashore by the Gloucester's terrific rapid fire. At 10:49 the Brooklyn turned her attention to the Vizcaya, the Cristobal Colon having passed the latter and now being in the lead well up the coast. At the time the only vessels in sight from the Brooklyn were the Oregon, about a mile and a half astern. At 10:54 the Vizcaya was raked fore and aft clean along ter gun deck, by an eight-inch shell from tbe Brooklyn. Another one, a minute after, exploded in her superstructure with terrific force, killing eighty people. She was afire and at 10:55 she headed for the beach at Asseradores, where she went ashore. The Brooklyn did not stop, but went on the chase after the Cristobal Colon, the Oregon closing rapidly up and following her.

OUR FLAG IN SANTIAGO. The Stars and Stripes Raised and the Americans Take Possession. Sunday was an American gala day in the ancient capital of Cuba. The first item on the program was the surrender of the plaza and all stores by Gen. Total at 9 o’clock a. m. Promptly at noon Gen. Shafter and staff and Gen. Toral and

staff, with picked escort, entered the city, and the red and yellow’ emblem of Spanish authority was.pulled down from the staff on the house of the civil government, and in its place the red, white and blue emblem of American authority was flung to the breeze in the presence of a vast concourse of people, with military honors, a salute fired, no doubt with a will, by Capt. Capron’s battery, and to the strains of the “Star-Spangled Banner” by the bands. The President’s congratulatory telegram was then read to the regiments, who were witnesses of the enthusiastic scene from their positions around the city. Among other items turned over by the Spanish were a gunboat and 200 seamen left behind by Cervera. Notwithstanding the siege and the natural discomforts arising from it, Gen. Shafter reports the city in good condition.

TERMS OF SURRENDER. The Conditions Under Which the City of Santiago Became Oars. The terms of surrender under which Gen. Shafter took formal possession of the city of Santiago are as follows: 1. All hostilities shall cease pending the agreement of final capitulation. i 2. That the capitulation includes all the Spanish forces and the surrender of all war material within the prescribed limits. 3. The transportation of the troops to Spain at the earliest possible moment, each force to be embarked at the“carest port. 4. That the Spanish officers shall retain their side arms and the enlisted men their .personal property. 5. That after the final capitulation the Spanish forces shall assist In the removal of all obstructions to navigation in Santiago harbor. & That after the final capitulation the commanding officers shall furnish a compie, e inventory of all arms and munitions of war and a roster of all the soldiers in the district. 7. That the Spanish general shall be permitted to take the military archleves and records with hiip. 8. That all guerrillas and Spanish Irregulars shall be permitted to remain In Cuba If they so elect, giving a parole that they will not again take up arms against the United States unless properly released from parole. 9. That the Spanish forces shall be permitted to march out with all the honors of war, depositing their arms, to be disposed of by the United States in the future, the American commissioners to recommend to their government that the arms of the' soldiers be returned to those "who so bravely defended _ Germany Meant No Offense. A Hong Kong correspondent says the German admiral in the Philippines has protested that he meant no offense by his action in Subig boy.

Within the past menth the first iron bridge erected in the State of . Ohio has been removed. This bridge was over Salt creek on the Central Ohio division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in Muskingum County, and was built in 1851. It was a single span, 71 feet in length, and was known as a "Bollman deck truss bridge with plate girders.” Bollman was at that time chief engineer of construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.