Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-05-05


gan to tell upon his ships and men.
The Sqaniards seemed paralyzec
with excitement and fear, their projec
tiles fell wide of the mark, there wa
confusion on board, orders were mis-
understood and at every point ther'
was half-hearted work.
Against them was an enemy sght
ing for their very lives. The neutra!
ity decree of Great Britain had driver
Commander Dewey and his seven yes
sells out of Hong Kong; he had SAILED
over 800 miles from that point to Man
ila; Japan had in the meantime closed
her ports to the feet by neutrality de
cree; homeless and friendless, without &
port or shelter to the right or left, with
only the sky above and the water be
meath. Commander Dewey had the al
tentative of wasting his coal and sup
plies, and drifting, drifting, perhaps tc
become prey of the Spaniards, or OF
seizin z the enemys stronghold and us
ing it as a base of supplies and for fu
ture operations. And over and above
it all was the watchword, Remember
the Maine"
Dewey chose the latter alternative
His was the spirit to do or die. And
this was the spirit of every man in his
feet
When the American vessels sighted
Manila the command was given, STRIP
for action" No excitement, no con
fusion. Cody and carefully the final
preparations were made, and though
there was evident prospect of action, nc
demonstration was made, no unneces
sary word was spoken. There was in.
tense but subdued excitement
AS the ports of Manila and Cavite
hove into sight the guns of the two ad
vance cruisers were trained on the bat
terry Of Manila and fired an eight-inch
projectile each. The first two shots
fell short of the mark. Not so, how
ever, the next two The American
gunners' aim sent them with unerrine
accuracy against the works, and there
was crumbling of old stones and NOR
tor and a great cloud of dust.
The short batteries returned fire, but
their aim was inaccurate, and theii
projectiles simply whizzed through the
rigging.
In the meantime the rear vessels OF
the squadron were made the target OF
the guns of the Spanish squadron
which, hitherto ir hiding, had sailed in
to sight around the upper end of the
bay.
Commander Dewey, standing on the
bridge of his flagship, the Olympia, di
rected his first efforts to the Spanish
flagship, the Reina Marie Christina
carrying the Spanish Admiral Montejo
He opened a witherering fire upon
her. His six-inch and eight inch gum
did most awful work. His rapid fire
guns, describing semi-circle, crashed
through the Christmas rigging and
swept the Spaniards completely off
their feet. Finally a great shell wa
hurled against the ironclad which
landed squarely on the deck, scatter
ing death on every hand. The Span
iards' fire grew weaker and weaker, ant
their shot became more and more scat
tered Suddenly a great tongue o.
fame burst out of the Christians vitals
her commander, Captain Codaiso, al
ready lay stretched upon the deck ;
corpse Admiral Montejo, seeing al
hope gone, and desiring to escape tb'
captains 1ate, hurriedly gave orders t.
quit the ship, and boarding his launcl
he transferred his flag to the Isle of Gu
ba, while the Christia was left to he1
fate.
The Spanish squadron now with
drew, Commander Dewey, though not
suffering damage to his ships, had q
number Of wounded men whom he de
sired to land ON the west side of the
bay. While he was trying to effect
landing the Spanish feet which haC
apparently withdrawn, again moved NJ
and opened fire Catching Commando
Dewey unawares, their first shoti
caused loss of life and some injury t.
the American.
But Dewey recovery was instant
a broadside was now poured into Mon
tejo's feet, the rapid-fire guns fairly
sweeping everything within range
Another shell and the Don Juan d.
Austria's commander fell mortally
wounded, while with thunderous roal
his vessel was blown into the air.
Meantime the batteries at Cavit,
were not silent They poured a steady
storm of shot and shell into the attack
ing fleet. Some fell wide, some struck
The battle now became n desperate
one Commander Dewey had not only
the Spanish squadron's fire to contend
with, but that of the forts of Manila
and Cavite. 1t was fire, fire. fire
And there was fire. The spanish yes
sells Mindanao and Ullote received f;
broadside, and were so badly damaged
they withnrew.
Flames burst out of the Spanisl
cruiser Castillo, and the other ship
withdrew from the battle, but not un
till number of the smaller ones wer
sunk rather than TO fall into the en-
emys hands.
On Monday Commodore Dewey dc
manded the surrender of Manila Gen
eral Auguste refused to comply wit
the demand, so Dewey opened fire upol
Manila and Cavite, razing the latter b
the ground, and setting fire to the form
err
Later, the Spanish government, i
, was stated, has cabled General August