The morning call., 1893-10-01

tie Peruvian sauadronh had left the Chilean
l:ippeared in the.offing off Callao. The two
Heets must have passed at sea without the
knowledge of either. Had they met the;
war w0uld have ended then and there with
a fierce naval conflict. Or, had the Peru,
eiaus found the Chiltans at home or vice
versa, a naval conflict would have followed
off the ports of either Valparaiso or Calao,;
fer both Admiral: Grau and Admiral
Rver0 subsequently, said 1t was their in
tention to challenge the opposing fleet TO.
come out from under the protection of the
shore guns and decide the matter on the
open sea, and the challenge would in all
Likelihood have been accepted.
After accommodating the bay of Callao
for the day and learning, by the aid of
marine glasses, that the Huascar. Inde-
pendeneta and other boats had left, the
Chilean squadron sailed south again. ..Ad-
mirai Rivero knew better than to attack
the strongly fortified city, and, moreover,
he wanted TO see what the enemy was up
to in the south. Meanwhile. Admiral
Grau had followed the same tactics. After
a hasty glance over the bay Of Valparaiso
be steamed northward, but instead OF
steering direct Tor Callao he put into the
Peruvian port of africa, where, TO his sur
prise, lie found two Chilean men-of-war.
For on their way north the Chilean
squadron had left two vessels. the ESmer-
aida and Covadonga. TO blockade that port.
The Esmeralda was a wooden corvette
with battery of twelve guns, and the
COvadonga gunboat.
Signaling tbezIndependencia to care for
the latter, Grau proceeded o demolish the
Esmeralda. But it was no EASY matter. A
heavy swell was rolling in from the sea az
the time and the irOnclaas were burying
/ first their starhoard and then their port
gunwales. For an hour the Huascar's
heavy pieces were discharged. but My one
or two shells struck the corvette, the others
either going nigh into the air or blowing
the water. Finally Grau decided to ram.
Binder full speed the Huascar bore down
on the Esmeralda ana struck her squarely
amidShips. Five minutes later she sank.
The HuaScar's boats were lowered and il
is. said that many OF the crew of the
ESmeralda. who were clinging 70 spars,
tried tn fight their rescners. so bitter was
the feeling between the two natonalittes
And it is also said that many poor
Chilean, swimming for life, received a
pike or sword thrust Instead of a helping
hand.
In the meantime the Independence had
started in pursuit of the Cnvadenga.. The
captain OF the latter. realizing the useless
ness OF standing for a moment under the
enemy's fire, steamed for a narrow pass
age. then cut across through sh0al water
for the ocean. The captain of the Inde-
pendenca. either from foolbardiness OF
lack of knowledge of the waters In the vi
emily, followed. The result was that in
half an hour his irnnclad was hare and
last upon a reef. Each incoming roller
lifted the huge mass of iron, then dropped
the pOnderOus weight upon the solid coral
submarine wal. Two or three such blows
sUtficed to stave the iron plates, and In a
few minutes the Independence backed off,
several Jagged holes III her hull, sank
slowly by the stern. then suddenly went
below the surface. Her. officers and men
had barely time to take TO their boats, and
about the moment the HuRscar rammed
the EsmeraIda the fighting machinery of
the formers c0nsnrt struck bottom in
eighteen fathoms of water--a total loss
Thus terminated the first naval fight of
the war, aud Peru had decidedly the worst
of IL, losing ship that in many respects
was the equal OF The large Chilean vessels,
While the latter country lost only wooden
corvette. 1t is after this man-of-war that
tile medern cruiser that played such part
in the recent Chilean revolution was
named.
SO the Huascar steamed back to Cailao
with the Union and Piicomayo and the cad
news was conveyed to the citizens of Callao
and Lima. 1t cast a gloom over every
thing, and many thought il would bs USE
less to try for coDquests at sea because of
the great odds in favor of Chile. They
argued that the country must act on the
defensive and depend entirely upon the
land forces. So for several months the
naval vessels remained in harbor. The
Chilean fleet did not come north again, but
contented Itself with blockading the south
ern ports of Peru. re-establishing the one
at africa broken by the sinking of the
Esmeralda.
This inactivity caused Admiral Grau to
become restless, and the latter part of
August, 1879. he requested permission to