Rensselaer Democrat, Volume 1, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1898 — SANTIAGO IS STORMED [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SANTIAGO IS STORMED

Report of Fierce Attack on Cervera’s Stronghold. SPANISH ARMADA REPULSED Commodore Schley Is Said to Have Forced the Mined Harbor. STORIES ARE NOT CONFIRMED Washington Officials Inclined to Dis* credit the Dispatches. - I ....... Reported at Kingston and Cape Hay tien that a Great Battle Is Fought— Terrific Bombardment Said to Have Drawn Cervera’s Fleet from the Harbor—American Battleships Batter Down the Fortifications with Their Heavy Guns at Long Range—Claimed that Uncle Sam’s Ships Forced Their Way Into the Bottle—Reports Discredited in Washington. Persistent rumors were in circulation in Washington Tuesday that an important engagement had taken place at Santiago. The reports came by way of cablegrams from Cape Haytien and Kingston, Jamaica. The Hayti report said that about 2 o’clock Tuesday afternoon an American squadron composed of fourteen warships, of which the cruiser Brooklyn displayed the flag of Commodore Schley, and a number of torpedo boats, began a bombardment with heavy guns of the forts and the harbor of Santiago de Cuba. The American fire was directed principally against the forts and the harbor. The forts of Morro castle. La Zaeapa and Punta Gorda suffered especially. The town, which is situated near the inner end of the harbor, escaped damage. The vessels wore constantly maneuvering during the firing. On account of the height of the forts at the entrance to the harbor the big guns could not be used at close range, so the battleships worked far

off shore. The lighter craft, coming farther in, pounded hotly away at Morro. Cervera, during the hottest part of the firing, brought his ships down near the mouth of the harbor and spiritedly returned the fire. The cannonading at 4 o’clock was terrific. It was believed that at that time the Spanish ships had left coverund come out into the open, but this is not definitely known, for the smoke was so dense as to envelop nearly everything shoreward. The forts were badly battered, but the Spanish gunners stood stubbornly to their work. Later advices sftid that Schley forced the harbor and that the advantage was on our side. Notwithstanding the persistence of the rumors and the apparent detail in which they described the attack, the navy department up to a late hour Tuesday evening had not received any confirmation of the fight.

COMMOPOBE W. a. SCHLEY.