The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-05-12
RESULT OF THE BATTLE

nESUL Ut IHI DH LE
HONGKONG, May 9.--This Is the re
suit of the great fight in Manila bays
Eleven Spanish ships destroyed.
Eight Spanish ships captured.
-Four shore batteries at Cavite demol
ished.
Three forts at Corregidor island ro
duced.
-Four hundred Spanlards killed.
Six hundred Spaniards wounded.
Spanish supplies lost and captured &c
the amount of S5,OOO,OOO.
American loss;
Eight men slightly wounded.
One thousand dollars damage.
Those are the figures of victory. The
story of the battle will live forever. The
names of its heroes can never die.
The fighting began at o o'clock in the
morning.
the afternoon.
HoNGKONG, May 9.-Among naval
men, military men and civilians, Eu
ropeans and natives here there is only
one subject of discussion, the brilliant
dashing, annihilating victory of the
American feet under Commodore
Dewey over the Spanish fleet com,
manded by Admiral Montejo in Manila
bay on Sunday last.
Owing to the fact that the cable be,
tween this port and the Philippine
islands was not in working order, hav,
ing been cut, there has been delay in
obtaining a detailed account of the bat,
tie and facts in the case were only avail.
able when the United States gunboat
Hugh McCulloch arrived here on Sat.
urday and even then the tremendous
pressure Of business, suddenly thrown
upon the cable company, necessarily
made the earlier accounts of the en-.
gagements somewhat brief.
Commodore Dewey's orders were to
capture or destroy the Spanish fleet and
never were instructions executed in SC
complete a fashion. At the end of
seven hours there was absolutely moth.
ing left Of the Spanish fleet but few
relics.
At the end of the action Commodore
Dewey anchored his fleet in the bay be.
fore Manila and sent a message to Gov.
ernor General August announcing the
Inauguration of the blockade, and add.
ing that if a shot was fired against his
ships he would destroy every battery
about Manila.
The position occupied by the Span.
iards, the support which their ships re-
ceived from the land batteries and the
big guns they had ashore gave them an
enormous advantage. Therefore, when
it is considered that the Spaniards lost
over 600 men in killed and wounded,
that all their ships, amounting to about
IA, were destroyed and that their ma
val arsenal at Cayite was also destroyed,
with its defenses, it will become appar.
ent that the victory of the American
commodore is one of the most complete
and wonderful achievements in the his
tory of naval warfare.
Not man on board the American
feet was killed, not ship was damaged
to any extent and only six men were in.
jured slightly ON board the Baltimore.
The American feet entered Manila
bay on Saturday night with the great
est of ease. In fact the American ships
would probably have passed inside the
bay without any challenge had il not
been that some sparks flew up from the
McCulloch's funnel. Thereupon few
shots were exchanged with the batse.
ries on Corregidor island, but the fleet
did not slow down and soon took up a
position near Cavite, awaiting dawn in
n,Iar IN 1nY,,p,anra bnuti1itiau
The early hours of the morning re.
vealed the opposing ships to each other
and the Spanish flagship opened fire.
larger Spanish warships, and then the
Cavite forts opened up and the smaller
Spanish vessels brought their guns into
play.
The American squadron, which had
been led into the bay and through the
channel by the flagship Olympia, did
not reply, though the shells of the
Spaniards began to strike ths water
around them, but moved majestically
onward. When nearing Baker bay q
sudden upheaval of water short dis
tance ahead Of the Olympia showed that
the Spaniards had exploded mine or a
torpedo. This was followed by second
and similar explosion. They were both
utterly unsuccessful.
The American feet was then drawing
nearer and nearer to the Spaniards,
whose gunnery was very poor. The
American feet entered the bay in the
following order; The flagship Olympia,
the Baltimore. the Raleigh Concord
Boston, Petrol and McCulloch, with the
two store ships, the Nanshan and Ia
fro, bringing up the rear.
Though the Spaniards had opened fire
at 1000 yards the Americans reserved
their fire until within 1000 yards of the
enemy, when the real battle began
The Reina Christina, Castillo, Don
Antonio de Ulioa, lsla de Cuba, Lila dc
Luzon and the Mindanao were IN linz
Of battle outside OF Cayite at that time
with four gunboats and the torpedoboati
inside the harbor,
The American ships then passed back
ward aud forward six times across th'
front OF the Spanish yards pouring upoi
the latter a perfect hail Of shot ant
shell, Eyey American shot seemed q