The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-02-12


for superiority IN equipment, together
with the unknown destructive power of
modern inventions and appliances, COM
bine TO sharpen the appetite for contests
that shall decide something and prove who
and what rules the wave. Is it the nation
with the swiftest ships, or the toughest
armor, or the most powerful guns, or the
ono that can command the best fighting
menu A very modern authority, trained
to the deck, says that it all depends finally
upon tho imam behind the gum"
This battle on the Yalu has been called
by Europeans the greatest of the century.
Some Of its incidents, it Is widely claimed,
have not been paralleled in modern times,
except in the Paraguay river in tho war
between Brazil and Paraguay. II SO, there
are more points than one of similarity be-
tween the Yellow war and that in South
America in the sixties Brazil invaded
Uruguay in 1864 to close the Paraguay and
its outlet, the Rio dc Ia Plata, to the in
terror countries, and the plucky little re-
public of Paraguay declared war. 1t was
like the challenge Of David to Goliath.
Brazil, vast In territory, was also rich in
material men and ships. Little Para
quay had nothing except some money a
few patriots and cause. Ships, guns and
ammunition, ordered from Europe while
the conflict was impending, did not arrive
Paraguay under blockade. In hopes of
raising the blockade by destroying the
Brazilian ships and possibly capturing
them for his own use, President Lopez,
ruler of Paraguay, instituted two separate
attacks which, because of their boldness
and the desperation of the fighting, have
become notorious I'm naval annals The
stories have not been told in this country,
and readers who have followed the course
of the war in Japan may compare the ma
val events Of these wars with those Of the
civil war.
The first great battle on the Paraguay
took place on the Rischuelo, an inlet near
the southern border Of Paraguay, in June,
1865. Early in April a Brazilian feet of
nine seagoing steamers had assembled the
Paraguay and anchored below the mouth
OF the Parana. Lopez decided to capture
the vessels by boarding attacks and gath
cred force Of 500 men, which embarked
on river steamers, rugged out and manned
as gunboats. An English engineer on
board the flagship advised Lopez to run
his vessels down at night close to the Bra
zilians and at daylight send each Of them,
nine In number, to lie alongside an en-
emy's ship and board it. Lopez followers
were the bravest men known TO modern |
war and would fight to the death every |
time, but Lopez ordered his feet com |
LnduOhnC 20 run past the BraZilianS, then \
turn and attack. After numerous DELAYS
the nine ships steamed past the Brazilian
anchorage ground, effecting a complete
surprise. The Brazilians had no steam III,
and could easily have been run down and |
overpowered. The gunners of the anchored |
ships, however, opened fire upon the daunt-
less enemy sailing past, exploding a shot
In the boilers Of the Igurey which killed
e men, and also one in the Jejui, which
Ieft her helpless. In passing the Para
guayans returned the fire as best they
could with their small cannon The fleet
OF Lopez carried "a guns, while the Bra
zilians mounted 90.
The experienced fighting men who wit
messed their maneuvers concluded that Lo- |
peg would lose his own ships in place of
capturing new fleet. One such spectator
was General Bruges, n Paraguayan com.
handing some land batteries opposite the
brazilian fleet. Although astounded az
the sight of the fieets recklessly pIunOine
INTO brazilian waters, he did not lose his |
1ead, but rightly inferred that the enemy |
YOU'D pursue, and in pursuing run the
Santlet past his guns. The Brazilian ad.
niral mistook the plan Of the Paraguay
ms entirely and believed that they had ,
un down below him to cut him of from :
ne lower fleet and friendly forts, SO he | ,
made all haste to run through the fleet | !
which had got between him and his base. | :
n the haste and excitement of the passage
To or the ships took a side channel under
ne range OF General Bruges' batteries. :,
'hfch speedily riddled and sank the Ia =