Evening star., 1896-10-24
ADAUNTLESS SAILOR KILLED
The Filibustering Tug Chased by a Spanish
Gunboat.
She Was Discovered After Landing
Arms for the Cubans on Ptnnr
del Rio October IS.

A special dispatch to the Philadelphia
Press from Jacksonville. Fla, dated yes
terday, said: 81 sc
Great splotches on the hurricane deck of
the steamer Dauntless tell story of death
dealt by solid shot from the, Spanish gun
boat Contramastra. The stains were made
by blood from the body of member Of the
crew Of the Dauntless, who was cut In
twain by the shot from the 'Spaniard. For
obvious reasons Captain Lonm and his
crew will not admit that the Dauntless was
chased by Spanish gunboat or even that
the vessel chas been In Cuban. waters, but
from a reliable source the correspondent
has learned the, story Ioo.t
1t was 2 oclock on the morning OF Octo-
Der 1S that the DauntIess. with her third
cargo of arms and ammunition tor the
Cuban insurgents. reached d point on the
ncrth coast of the province of Pinar del
army was waitingrto receive the munitions.
AS rapidly as possible the"ar.as were sent
ashore butsit was nearly o'clock before
the transfer WIS completed and tie DaInt-
less stood out to sea. The Dauf1tless was
barely a.fder good headway when the Span
tsff igunboat HContramastra hove in sight
and signa1ed for the filibustcr to come to.
Instead of obeying, the rDauntless, under
fun head of steam, stood for the open sea,
with the gunboat in hot pursuit.
Ruined Shot and Shell.
From the very beginning of the chase the
Spaniard used his guns, and shot and shell
rained about the filibuster. The Spaniard' s
aim. however. was bad. and.. with the
Dauntless rapidly forging ahead. Captain
I-omm was congratulating himself on being
soon out of range. But while the captain
was congratulating himself there came a
puff of smoke from the Contramastra, fol-
lowed by a roar, and a'solid shot came
whistling toward the Dauntless. mo-
ment later there was shriek % agony
from the hurricane deck OF TIL. 'Dauutless,
and, pushing to the pilot house, Captain
Lomm found that one uf his crew had been
cut in twain by the shot from the Spantard.
The victim was standing in the aOer OF the
pilot house, and the shot strtlcx-him about
the middle, cutting him completely in two
and then tearing great hole in the side of
the pilot house.
With the Contramastr;L still in pursuit,
Captain Lomm ami crew could give no at
tention to their dead comrade, but busted
themselves in iistanciny the Eunboat. In
an hour the Dauntless was far ahead and
the Contramastra gave up the chase.
Decided to Keep Quiet.
Captain Lomm decided. in view of tue Cir
cumstances. and 10 prevent unpleasant
questions from the United States authori-
ties. to bury the victi,n at sea, and this
was done on the 10Th instant. The hole
made in the side of the pilot house by the
SpaE:ards shot was repaired. and the work
freshly painted, but the spiotches ON the
hurricane deck could not he washed away,
and there remain 70 suggest the story
when the vessel reached port
1t Is said that Henry Wilkerson. who ship
ped on the Dauntless, is missing, and il is
supposed that he was the victim. John Will
liams, who is brother-fn-law of Wilker-
son, and who also shipped on the Daunt-
less, escaped from the vessel at the bar
Thursday night and reached Jacksonville
today. Williams was in tears over his
brother-in-law's fate. He left at o'clock
tonight for some point north, presumably
Wilmington, N. c. 4..-z.