Los Cerrillos rustler. (Cerrillos, N.M.) 188?-1891, 1891-05-22
A fight


Ths Unit~d stats. War sse.msr Ch.ri--t.s
ts MAJ Ensa@
SAS FRASctsco. May ia-The fact II
no longer concealcd. even In official
naval circles that the swift cruiser
Charleston l. nov In hot chase after the
Gillian transport ItatA which left san
Diego last Wednesday while under ar
rest
The itatA. after leaving San Diego.
took on board = consignment Of rifles
shipped from San Francisco on the
schooner Robert and Minnie. The
transfer Of the latter's cargo Is believed
10 rave occurred on the San Clemente
island. northwest Of san Diego harbor.
and IL l. believed the ltata steamed south
Friday night or Saturday morning
The Gillian cruiser Esmeralda is be-
lieved 10 be lying of Caps san Lucas,
which Is the southermost point Of land
in lower California. awaiting supplies
carried by the Itata-
The ltata being heavily loaded, nj.
though reputed a fast craft II is esti.
mated. cannot exceed six 70 eight knots.
and the Charleston. which left San
Pedro yesterday morning. Il Il thought
certain, can overtaSe her or reach San
Lucas In advance Of her. II not found
there the Charleston will proceed di-
rect to Acapulco, which will be the
first point at which any further intelli.
gcnce can be received.
Even though the cruiser Esmeralda
Is met rs convoy Of the Itata, IL Is un-
derstood that the orders 10 the Charles.
ton are explicit on the pointof capture.
and IL the ltata is sighted II Is believed
certain nov that there will be Il capture
or eight or both
The Charleston was sighted of Point
Iona. She was under full steam and
heading southeast
The fact that n CHILEAN cruiser accom-
panied the Itata north was first ascer.
tanned through deserters from the Itata
who escaped some days ago. 1t was NJ
first doubted thatone of the most power.
full of CHILEAN warships should go so far
from the Gillian coast at this juncture.
but II is now definitely known hat the
Esmeraldn Is nov nj Acapulco, on the
Mexican coast, OF which fact the navy
department at Washington was fully
advised when orders were issued TO the
Charleston. The effort 10 keep the
destination OF the Charleston a secret
was natural as the representatives OF
the Gillian insurgents would be prompt
to advise the Esmcralda Of the inten.
ton of the American government 70
seize the ltata and IL is now deemed
probable that the Esmeralda will
cruise northward in the hope of meet
ing the ltata before the Charleston can
arrive to protect the cargo and crew
from seizure II possible.
The orders TO Captain Remy, of the
Charleston, are well authenticated 10
be binding In the recapture of the Itata
If sighted, and on the part Of the Is
neralda il is believed as fully that she
will fight If she can reach the scene in
time.
The Charleston and Esmeralda are
similar ships as to general plan and
possess nearly the same armament The
Esmeralda, however. has two pivot
guns of ten-inch calibre, with weight of
twenty-five tons each, while the Charles
ton has two eight-inch rifles fore and
aft weighing twelve and a half tons.
This is regarded by some critics as out.
matching the Charleston in ease of a
fight, but, apart from these guns, the
ornaments Of the two ships are praeti.
cally the same. The Charleston is the
swifter ship, and while never in action
has a splendid crew and Il fighting com
mander.