The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-07-23

I | men VIII not sell her coal and the span
ism government cannot send her any.
I'VE reached Curacao on May IA. expect
ing to find the GOLFERS, but tney were no
there, and the Dutch authorities wouli
allow US to buy only sufficient coal L
take us to the nearest Spanish port
which was Santiago. Nor would they al
low more than two of our vessels to en-
ter the harbor. Thus we were helpless
Our government had betrayed US. W,
were at the mercy of the neutrality laws
and our only hope was to reach the har
Dor Of Santiago, where We hoped to f1nt
shelter and fuel"
1t should be said here in explanation
that the two golfers, Restornel and
Twickenham. were captured by the St
Paul and ST. Louis, respectively, and
taken to Key West as prizes. They were
in search of the Spanish feet, having
failed to make the rendezvous on the date
arranged This fact was unknown to Ad-
miral Cervera and his officers until they
reach Annapolis, and they were greatly
relieved when they learned they had not
been betrayed by their government.
who would suppose" continued one Of
! the Spanish officers, that the second cap
! A1e@I u CuDdB dilu the IiOSL prosperous
| city on the island, would be empty Of all
| provisions and supplies when we arrived
there? So short were provisions that in
stead of receiving stores we were ordered
by the government 10 take the sailors ra-
tons from the holds of our ships and dis
tribute them among the soldiers. The
merchants hads sold out and had not re-
placed their Stock so that they would
have little to lose in case Of the capture
Of the city by the Americans, while the
commissariat of the army, by some fear
ful mismanagement. had made no pro-
visions for the siege
Half the soldiers were sick and all Of
them were on starvation rations During
the battles of the first days of July 800
sick men were carried in carriages and
carts to the trenches and made to fight,
although many of them fell from exhaus-
ton. The hospitals were emptied. We
sent a lot Of sailors from the ships to as
sist them, but none Of our guns were
taken off. as reported in your papers. The
only naval guns used in the Notifications
were from the Relna Mercedes"
1 asked the officers about the effect Of
the dynamite shells which the Vesuvius
N-+A 2" wv al q lie CITY. Jney TepIleQ that
the noise of the explosion caused great
terror among the soldiers, and great deal
Of earth was displaced, but the shells |
did not hapen to fall where they could do
great damage, All of Cervera's officers |
agree that the Vesuvius is a most formid- |
able and destructive agent of war, but |
they express even greater admiration for |
the Oregon. They say the shells. that were
dropped over the hiils threw up a lot of
dirt and disarranged the Notifications, but
did no great damage, except to castle
Moro, which was a conspicuous target.
If the shells had been dropped into the
city they would have caused great de-
struchon; but it was beyond the range
Of the guns of the fleet. Several days be-
for the feet came out il was reported
that the New Orleans discovered a tor
pedo boat destroyer creeping out one night
and destroyed it. The Spanish officers
say this is untrue. There wre only two
torpedo boat destroyers in the harbor.
and neither of them attempted to 80 out
until that fatal Sunday morning. It is
that small tugboat which left
one night with dispatches for
san Juan may have been destroyed by the
New Orleans
L asked my friend who suggested the
'orti of the fleet. He threw up his hands
n horror.
Would that I knew" ne exclaimed
Would that / knew the man who sus-
,ested our sacrifice It was the most
rue1 and unnecessary command that was
yer given to brave men. We were or
Ierd to enter the very gates of he'll for
10 other purpose, as can conceive than
o crafty the politicians and sensation
nongers OF Spain, who clamored for some
demonstration. Some of nv comrades
hink there was an intention to bring
bout a disaster that would furnish an
Reuse to make peace. but believe in tho {
rst theory"
DID the sailors demonstrate? Was # :
rue that you had to make them drunk }
} prevent a mutiny?"
No. indeed" exclaimed my friend. in )
ignantly. They are the bravest men {
the world. They knew nothing about )
UT plans. Not a man on board any of the I
hips except the commanders, was aware
1at he was expected TO face almost GER
an death until the cruisers started for
le open sea that Sunday morning, and
ven then very few Of them asked ques-
ons. The word was passed around that d
2 were going out TO fight the Yankees. /
nd the poor fellows were enthusiastic )
yer the prospect of battle"
Were no protests sent TO Spain?"
Yes, several very earenst protests.
fter We received our first orders our II
lie admiral called a conference of the d
lpt aims and we concluded that they we're .
'sed upon misrepresentation. We could
1t conceive that our government would e
der our total destruction when nothing 5
'uld he accomplished. Cervera sent d
ng cablegram to Madrid explaining the II
tuation and demonstrating that it would ].
impossible 70 rour fleet TO escape des- l.
uction from an enemy that outnumbered ;
four 20 one. The only reply we got was "
peremptory order TO attack rhe Yankees d
lmediately. Again Cervera sent a pro- o
s. and threw the entire responsibility Of Il
crifice upon the government at Mad o
l." d
Ild You expect to eSCape?" %
No we expected 10 die AS have
10. the sailors knew nothing of +hA r
lie that awaited them. but there was not =
officer on the feet who did not feel y
At his end had come. There was only II
e chance. slight possibility that one %
perhaps two OF the vessels might es ~
Pc The arrangement Of the Yankee a
et vas favorable. The lookopt told rs
at the New York had gone 10 the east N
d the Brooklyn was the only ship in IL
;ht that could outsail the slowest Of our Q
ssels- Il was the intention to ram the y
ooglyn Immediately and sink or disable
2. even though one of our vessels went u
wn with her. Then Il was hoped the Is