The morning call., 1893-10-01

one side and firing t the Blanco. then at
/ the other. and discharglng missiles at the
! Cochrane. III the while lie den hail from
the rapid-fre guns poured upon the little
i craft, ent ering crevices between the armor
/ and dealing death to gunners and marines.
| a fearful blow was struck the little boat, a
| loud report, and no vol ce came from the
coming tower. An officer ran up Grau's
i body lay on the floor, his head torn from
the shoulders by fragment Of a.shell.
| No time to remove the remains. He
seized the speaking-tr umpet from the
warm fingers and took command. Crash !!
! this time against and into the turret! A
1917 ton gun dismounted and twenty men
killed. The. other twenty kicked the
bodies out of the way and sweated as they
turned the one remaining piece to bear on
tile enemy. All silent again in the conniDg-
tower! Another officer dead there. SO the
third took command, but he was killed be-
fore he could issue All order. Into the lit
tie space rushed fourth and slipped on
the dead bodies as he peered between the
Sits. -
"Porti port, 1 say!" he yelled to the
quartermaster. 1.-The third one to take the
wheel; the bodies of the other two. were
on the grating why don'tyou put your
helm TO pOrt?'' - ~. - -. ..:,.':.:.
'.She won't answer" he sulIenly said. !.
Crash and crash again! More shrieks
! and the awful noise of exploding shells.
Twenty more men lay dead in the turret
and the second gun was dismounted. The
Huascar was drifting, her rudder would
not answer, the steeripg-gear had been
shot away, her big guns were silenced.
In the turret were c0rpses, the coming
tower was choked with them, dead men
hung over the military tops where they
had sighted their pieces, the wounded
were screaming in their agony below. 49,
Between those decks what sights there
were! With coats and vests off, shirt
sleeves rolled up. covered with blood from
face to feet, the surgeon and his assistants
labored over the wounded. knife slash
here, stitch there. bandages hastily ap-
piled. lint pushed into gaping wounds to:
stop the flow of blood for time; thus were
| the injured cared for. Down the COM
panien way they were tumbled, no time to
carry them along the narrow ways they
were dragged, no moments to spare in
using stretchers; fortunate were they to
/ be cared for at all. Fl 90.
| Through the sides came the shot; shells
burst below. p0wder-smoke poured through
the ill-veniilated space, sitting the work
ers. binding them, hindering them and
rendering some unconscious. All at once
every man below was thrown down;
! shell had burst in the cabin, pieces Of IL
entered the messfoom, killing the surgeon
as he stoodat wOrk,swOunding his assist
ants and disDatching the few sufferers
who were waiting their turn for the
scalpel. the probe, the knife and the band
age. No more injured could be cared for,
| they had to bleed and wait-wait for
! what!
Wardroom and stern cabin had been de-
stroyed, hardly trace was left of the
| bulkhead. Contents of the stateroOms
were strewn about the flooring, and the
upper-deck ceiling was one mass of pow
der-stains and disintegrated human re-
mains.
Covering near the eneine-room were
dozen non-combatants stewards, cooks,
paptrymen. coalheavers. They were in a
dark passage, lighted by flashes only as
she'll burst. Surrounded by steam and
smoke, they huddled together, enduring
the agones of hell. Locked in below, un-
able to take part in the combat, only wait
ing-walting for whatW
Crash after crash; then a dull. heavy
sound on the deck above. Those below
knew what had happened. A mast had
| been shot away. The word was passed
! that il was the foremost. SPRAYING on
| the blood-s tained deck or dashed into the
| sea. this was the fate of those who had
| been left in the fore-military-top. the men
who bad not been killed by shot from
| rapd-fire guns. Down they came to death
as the stick fell. Then the word was
passed below that the steering-gear was
not working-that all was lost.
! And the Huascar was drifting, utterly
! helpless. while the two big ironclads still
| poured shot and shell into her at twenty
| five yards range, for from the gait of the
| turret-ship flOated the red-white-red of
| Peru.
Soon down it came. not hauled down,
| but sfot away. The fire of the Chileans
was silenced and their boats were lowered.
Fire. shouted man between decks
on the Huascar. 1.-THE ships on fire!"
"Repel boardersw shouted the fifth Off
Ger to take command that day, "and let
! the fire alone"
ship, that, guns silenced lay. drifting on the
Pacific, stood all that was left of the
Huascar's crew. unmindfus of the blaze
that was gaining head@ay. anxious only
to have last bout with the enemy. Their
clothes hanging in rags. blood and sweat
on their arms and faces, armed with rifles,
swords, pixies, axes, anything. they fought
the Chileans, who soon began TO swarm
on the decks. But it did not last long.
The Peruvians were overpowered by force
of numbers, the Chileans put out the fire
and the Huascar was captured.
During the engagement only one other
Chilean vessel fired a shot beside the
BIanco ant. the COchrane The Union, the
Huascar's consort, had been ordered by
Grau to keep out of the fight if ssible.
I The coTvette's superior speed enabled
her to do so. and lingering on
the outskirts she witnessed the Chilean
phi. then sred away to the westward
/ carry ing the sad news 10 Peru.
Out of 200 men on the turret ship over
half we're killed. The exact. number has
never been ascertained.
When the Chileans were finally in pos
session the work of removing the dead
began. There was n time nor inclination
to give them even the burial service of the
dead, so one by one they we're thrown
overheard. In few hours the Huascar
was taken In tow by the Blanco Encalada,
ard when her head was pointed toward
Valparaiso and she got slowly under way
school of sharks followed for miles in
her wake. their fins flashing on the wave-
tops. CLAUDE Fl. WETMoRE.
49,