Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-10-02

Havana, October 1,-Following close
upon the loss of the Spanish cruiser
Barcastegui, which was sunk in col
Hsion with the Spanish merchant
steamer Mortera, of Moro Castle at
the entrance of this harbor, at mid
night on September IS, resulting ii the
drowning of Admiral Delgado Parejo,
ommander-in-chief of the Spanish
naval forces in Cuban waters, and as
men, comes the news of the wreck and
probable total loss Of the Spanish war
! ship Cristobal Colon, second class
| cruiser Of about /, 200 tons displacement
! and 500 horsepower. The CrlstObal
Colon formed part of the fleet Of Span
! ish warships detailed to watch the
! coast of Cuba in order to prevent the
I landing of filibustering expeditions
from the United States and elsewhere.
| The cruiser carried four II Centemetre
Hontoria guns; two centemetre guns
and two rapid fire guns. Her crew is
estimated to have numbered about 200
! officers and men, but the exact figures
are not known here at present as she
/ had on board men intended for the
| smaller patrol vessels of the Spanish
! feet and may have detailed men
ashore. The station of the Cristobal
! Colon was the waters about Cape An
| tonic. of the western extremity of the
/ Island of Cuba, her commander having
| particular instructions to watch the
/ Gulf of Correntes and Guadiana' south
! and north Of Cape Antonio. The dis
| aster occurred off Colorado Point, in
the Gulf of Guadiana, south of the
/ town Of Mantua, in the province Of
| Pinar del Rio, near which territory
! Havana is situated. The exact details
of the disaster have not yet been made
| known. but. so far as can be gathered,
! the facts are as follows: For some
/ davs past a cyclonic disturbance has
prevailed over these latitudes and Is
understood to have recurved in the CEN
tral part of the Gulf of Mexico and was
looked upon as likely to enter the
United States through New Orleans
and ApalachicOla.
THE CHRISTOBAL COLON
aDDears. to have encountered the severe
weather off Cape Antonio and to have
prt into the Gulf of Guadiana for shell
ter. There she tried to ride out the
fierce gale and heavy seas but was
! slowly driven towards Colorado Point,
off which iutting there is a dangerous
reef known as the Colorado Reef. When
the commander of the cruiser saw that
he could not make headway against
the storm. ne attempted to anchor, ac-
cording to the stories told here; but,
the anchors would not hold and the
/ cruiser was driven ashore.
Another report has it that the cru.s-
| or ran on the reef at night time when
! her commander believed her to be far
/ enough off shore to continue steaming
against the force of the cyclone. In
any case she ran ashore late last night
or early this morning in most dangers
GUS position, and with a heavy sea run
ming. Everything possible seems to
| have been done to save the cruiser, but
all efforts in that direction were use
less and she was finally abandoned
this morning, a helpless wreck pound
| ing herself slowly TO pieces on the Col
| Orado Reef. All the crew, officers and
men were saved by one means or an
other. The commander Of the Chris
| tobal Colon reached Mantua during the
day with the majority of the crew and
nearly all the remainder are expected
! there before night. When questioned
regarding The disaster, the Spanish
captain would only say that the Chris
/ t0bal Colon was driven ashore on the
| Colorado Reef owing to the violence Of
the cyclone and that it is probable that
she will prove a total loss. Efforts,
| however, will be made
TO SAVE HER GUNS, ETC.
The above are all the facts obtain
| able here at present, and owing to the
/ reticence of the authorities, some mac
curacies may have crept in the story.
But. the main facts are correct and the
wreck of this fine warship, so soon af-
the the sinking of the Baracastegui, has
cast feeling of intense gloom over the
! government officials here. There are
! none TOO many Spanish vessels in these
waters at present and the loss of the
Cristobal Colon will be keenly felt by
The government at this crisis.
OF course the friends of the insur-
gents are circulating the usual sensa-
tional stories regarding this, the latest
disaster ito the Spanish government
! claiming that the cruiser was SUNK Dy
a torpedo exploded by insurgents. In
official circles, however, this report is
! classed as being nothing more than
an invention of the rebels and the dis
uinct statement is made that there is
absolutely no reason for the doubling of
the official announcement made. that
the Crfstobal Colon was driven on the
| Colorado Reef by the violence of the
| cyclone and not as result of the ex-
plOsiOn of an insurgent torpedo
In spite of this official assertion. there
is no doubt that the government has
not thought it proper to make public
all the facts in the case and this may
not be done until the official report of
the commander of the wrecked cruiser
has been received and passed upon.
.r,,-, ~ , ~ r70rO0OnA 0ONUUNnT0N