The herald., 1898-05-20
4 WINSLOW SURVIVOR
TELLS or HIS xxPERrENCE AT
CARDENAs |
While o'Hearn Lives He Will Never
Forget the Sound Of Heavy
Shot and Shell


Shot and Shell
KEY WEST, May 20.-(Copyrighte
1SSR by the Associated Press.) For Al
hour before the passenger steamer Ke,
West left her dock for Tampa a man wear
Ing the uniform Of naval seaman sa
.Wearily against great bale Of cordag
looking out past the harbor and the dis
tant Keys toward the gulf. He was VIM
OHearn Of Brooklyn, and one Of the sur
vivors Of the torpedo boat Winslow's crew
which passed through the terrible storm
Of ahell and shot that poured in from thu
Spanish batteries in the bay Of Cardenas
He was going home on a furlough for rest
Deside him In bright tin cage was ths
Winslow't parrot. which made himself ia
xuous on the day Of the battle by shrieliue
and chattering like a demon during this
whole engagement.
BY degrees and after much questioning
o'Hearn told the story OF the battle, and
no doubt his account Of the engagement Is
the most correct in detail Of any given
yet
~From the very beginning" he said, u
We could not escape being sunk and that
is what would have happened had 1t not
been for the bravery of the boys on the
Hndsof, who worked for over an hour
under the most terrific fire to get us out
Of the range"
'sWere you ordered to go in there?" he
was asked.
szes. just before we were fred upon
the order was given from the Whining
ton"
twas II a signal order"
mo. we were near enough to the Will
mington. so that they shouted it to us
from the deck through the megaphone."
do you remember the words Of the
command and who gave them?'
II don't know who shouted the order,
but the words, as remember them. were:
Mr. Bagley go in there and see what gun
boats those are.' We started at once to-
ward the Cardenas dock. and the firing
began soon after"
"what was the first you saw of the FIR
ingf''
The FIRST I saw was a shot fired from a
window or door of the second story OF the
storehouse Just back of the dock where
the Spanish gunboats were lying. 1 saw
the hash and the smoke and the same In
slant q she'll went kissing over our heads
Then the firing began from the gunboats
and from the shore. I don't think any
man cap forget the sound and the effect
Of shell and heavy shot the first time he Is
under fire. 1t Is something terrible. When
q shell passes close by you. you feel it.
something like the effect of lightning, when
It strikes near by. You feel as though It
had taken your head of. First you hear
that awful buzzing or whizzing--it is hari
70 describe-and then something seems to
strike you In the face and head"
Il noticed that day, when the shells first
began to fly about the boat, that the boys
threw their hands to their heads every
time shell went over. But they soon
came so fast and so close that 1t was a
roaring. shrieking. crashing hell. can
describe 1t in no other way
what was your position?"
s'I am the water tender" he said, "and
my place was below. but everybody went
on deck when the battle began. John Var
wares, the oiler; John Donief and John
Meek, the flremen, were both on watch
with me, and had they remained below they
would probably not have been killed. After
tend to the boilers, and q few minutes later
y solid shot came crashing through the
side OF the boat and into the boiler. where
4 exploded and destroyed 70 Of the boiler
tubes. At first 1t stunned me. When the
Rhell burst in the boiler 1t threw both the
furnace doors open, and the fuse from the
shell struck my feet Two pieces Of the
shell came out of the door, and I am TAX
ing them home with me as souvenirs of the
war. 1t was terrible crash and report al
together. and the boiler room was filled
with dust and steam. For several seconds
I was partially stunned and my ears rang
% ! could hear nothing. I went up on the
deck to report to Capt. Bernadou."
''What did you say to him?"
IT saw him near the forecastle, jumping
about with towel bound about his left
leg. He was shouting and the noise Of all
the guns was like continuous thunder.
Captain I shouted, 'th forward boiler Is
disabled. A shell has gone through her.
Get out the hose he said and turned to the
gun again. I went back into the boiler
room and In a few minutes I went upon
deck again, and the fighting had grown
hotter than ever. Several of the men were
missing and I looked around. Lying In a
heap In the after-deck, near the after
coming tower, saw five Of our men,
where they had wilted after the shell had
struck them. In other places were men
lying groaning or dragging themselves
about, wounded and covered with blood.
The deck had blood on it and it was strewn
with fragments and splinters. I went over
where the five men were lying In a heap
and saw that they were not all dead. John
Meek could speak and move one of his
hands. went up to him and put my face
down close to his.
Can I do anything for you, John?' I
asked. and he replied: No, Jack, I'm
dying; goodbye and he asked me to grasp
his hand. Go help there he whispered.
gaaing with fixed eyes where Captain
Bernadou was still firing the forward gun.
The next minute he was dead. He was my
friend" and there was a pause in
O'Hearn's story.
Ensign Bagley." he continued. after a
little. was lying at the bottom badly torn
to pieces and the bodies of the other three
Wefe on top OF his. The colored cook was
lying little apart from the others, badly
mangled and in cramped position. We
supposed he was dead and covered him
Up the eame as the others. Nearly half
IN hour after that we heard him calling
and making Z slight movement under the
cloth. We went to him and he said: oh
boys, for Gods sake, move me. am lying
over the boiler and burning up At that
fime the d0ck was vary hot ord ~. a..