The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-06
7--7------T-- ------------ A MODERN SEA-FIGHT.
Its Horrors as Illustrated in the Chilli.

It's Horrors as Illustrated in the Chilli
 Peruvian War
 The following account of a fight be- tween two modern naval vessels-the -turret-ship Huascar of Peru and the ironclad Almirante Cochrane of Chili-is taken from "A Famous Sea- Fight" in the Chili-Peruvian war of 1S79), in the April Century, by Claude H. Wetmore:
 The drummers and buglers were or dered to sound calls, first for general quarters, then for action; and, stripped to the waist, the guns crews crowded into the ill-ventilated turret, where | they were to toll and sweat at the great pieces in an atmosphere that the suns fierce rays already causing the | morning to be close and sticky, would | make stifiing. Ammunition-h holds were | thrown open, and the long curtains of green felt were slung from the deck beams above to protect the magazine passages, in order that sparks might not fall among the explosives A doz- en men hurried into the main military top to serve the Gatling gun and rifles there. Rubber cloths were stretched over the ward-room table, and fast ened in such a manner that the blood of the wounded would flow smoothly and be caught in buckets that were l placed at the four corners, for there one science would endeavor to save the lives that another science was trying to destroy. The surgeon and his as- sistants laid out scalpels, long gleam- l ipcr lypiuac opd So IJ,1oa niles of l lint were placed on the floor.
 | The stewards hurriedly passed about coffee and bread, and the sailors in the | turret ate their morning meal leaning against the already loaded pieces, and | those in the top had pails of coffee car- | ried up to them, which they drank | while setting their sights. The hinged | bulwarks of the little vessel were let down, and the smooth water rippled | only four feet below the Huascars s deck. The forecastle and main hatch es were battened, but the after com I panionway was left open, for down this | passage the wounded would be taken. | Between decks were stationed those | sailors not needed in service of the guns, where they would be most handy | to assist in the navigation of the ship 1 the service of ammunition, or to re- | place the killed A score of non-com- | batants were also there. At nine o'clock the Cochrane was within three | thousand yards, and Grau, having giv- en last glance around, and having | signalled the Union to keep out of the | enemy"s way, entered the coming tower that was to prove his tomb. Not q shot had as yet been fired. These modern ships, carrying guns that could l throw a shell from four to five miles, reserved their fire for closer quarters. Five minutes later Grau gave com mand to the officer in the turret. and a shot from one of the Huascars ten inch guns whistled over the water. The commander of the Cochrane evil dently wished for still closer range, and did not reply until three shots had left the turret of the little ship. Finally the answer came in the shape of a | broadside, and shell dented the Hu- ascar's protective belt just above the water-line. A moment later the Cat ling guns in the tops of both ships were brought into action, and a leaden hail began to batter, while great projectiles were hurled from the large deck can non. The rapid-firing pieces of the Chilians were trained upon the HuaS- cars turret apertures, while the one in the military top of the latter vessel was aimed at the gun-Dorts of the en- emy. Many a man dropped, dead or wounded, hit by one of these small shot. For fifteen minutes not much was accomplished by the great gun fire; the heavy shot either fell short of the mark or were buried in the armor By this time, when the ships were within fifteen hundred yards of each other, a shell from the Cochrane en- tered the Huascar's turret, exploded and killed twelve men. But the places of the dead were quickly taken by men from below the chamber was cleared of the corpses, the guns were loaded again, and the action was renewed
 Then the Huascar secured an advan- tage. One of her ten-inch shells forced it's way through casemate on the starboard side of the Cochrane, explo- ded on the deck, dismantled a gun and killed several men. For few minutes the enemy was in such confusion that not a cannon was fired; and it became almost a panic on the Cochrane when the Huascar edged in closer, her sailors cheering as they again discharged the twin pieces.
 At this stage of the combat victory perched for a moment on the red
 white and red: but even as it did SC the commander of the Cochrane saw relief which Grau had not perceived
 In fact, a shot that ploughed into the Huascar's side was the first warning the Peruvian admiral had of assistance coming to the Chilians; and, looking to starboard through peep-hole in the conning-tower, he saw the Blanco En- calada bearing down; while veering seaward, only a few cable-lengths