Evening star., 1896-10-23
F1GH11NG FoR FIVE HOURS.
Spanish Report Of the-Capture Of the
Dauntless' Cdf4<O.

Spanish Report Of the-Capture Of the
Dauntless' Chrko.
Following is the Spanish Recount Of the
engagements Of the crews OF the Spanish
gunboats Contramaestre 4rTd Ardilla with
the rebels at the entrance t6 the San Juan
river, Cuba, which resulted I'm the capture
Of the cargo disembarRed by the tug
Dauntless on her third trIp 20 the island.
At am on the 18th instant Lieut.. Car
ranza. commanding the Contramaestre,
sent boats crew to complete reconnois-
sance Of the shores at the. mouth of the
San Juan river. The crew, Of the boat con-
sisted of an officer and sixteen men. On
s be the sxehanse saHSs s oo%sa
during which two sailors We're wounded,
while several bullets went through the
boat. Cadet Passquin. in Command. with
gunboat Ardilla. then nearly at the Hondo
river: Gen. Molina and his staff were on
board the Ardilla. He embarked on the
Contramaestre, when the two vessels pro-
eseded to the mouth of the San Juan river
The crew of the Ardilla was reinforce ed by
Lieut. Carranza, commanding the Contra
maestro, and fifteen of his men. The Ar
qua tnen stood inshore, when both vessels
disembarked landing parties An engage
ment lasting five hours followed, when the
Ieoels were dislodged and driven inland
" the large and valuable cargo of the
naun,,ess aan an was captured. save single
cannon taken by the rebels. Apart from
tne stores on shore, two boats from the
Dauntless, not then unloaded. were cap
turea. In them were seven hundred rifles,
.anI suIal stores ana their trunks and per-
sonai enects, among the latter lot of
correspondence of the greatest value to the
island government
Ihe rebels had concentrated there to
cover the landing of the cargo of the
Dauntless. Their number was estimated at
three hundred. Their losses have not been
reported: On the Contramaestre one ma
thn tine ana,,,a ana tour sailors were wounded. On
the Ardllia her quartermaster and two
men. as well as the aid-de-camp to Cen
Molina, were wounded.
The Dauntless Case.
Inc tug Dauntless. which was seized by
the cruiser Raleigh off New Smyrna We'd
hesoay' and which was brought to the ST.
Jenn par, under the escort of the Raleigh,
old not come up to Jacksonville yesterday.
although the revenue cutter Boutwell, went
down tc escort 1t up. The reason was that
the state health board had stepped in and
Fernandina
This is because the captain of the Daunt-
less Will not swear that he was not out
OF certain line during the recent trip.
In the meantime the collector of customs
structions what to do, and the boat is being
held at Mayport, pending the receipt of IN
structions.
The Raleigh went south Wednesday night
after escorting the Dauntlass 10 the mouth
of the river, and when the steamer r. L.
Mabey went out from Mosquito Inlet at
New Smryna early yesterday morning, the
latter signaled to come alongside of the
Raleigh. This it did, and a search was
made. Nothing but coal was found on the
Mabey. The Raleigh then steamed to the
south, and the Mabey headed north.
The government officials at Jacksonville
do not seem to know what charge is to be
preferred against the Dauntless as they
are acting entirely under instructions from
Washington. The instructions sent to tie
commander of the Newark which were
transferred to the commander of the Ra-
leigh, were sealed, and no communication
has been had with the latter