Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-05-20

| ing DelOW the ucCkS anu III tiic guns
the gunners were streaming sweat as
no man ever swcats even in the hot
room of Turkish bath. One man,
4 gunner's mate, on the Amphitrite,
was overcome and died in few hours
But the battle went on. The fleet
was now stcaming across the fortified
front of the island for the third time.
The firing from the ships was unabated
but many of the Spanish guns were
silenced and while the shower of shells
seemed as thick as ever, the thinner
cloud of smoke, the leaping flames
from burning houses close to the shore
but behind the Notifications, made the
Americans know their work was not
as vain as the frenzied firing of the
Spaniards.
In the old part of the town of San
Juan, adjoining the Notifications
whole blocks were blazing. The swell
ing sea made it tditlicult for the Ameri-
cans to confine their fire to the
batteries. Many of the shells flew
over and burst among the ancient
buildings, from which the population
had flown at dawn.
So fierce was the American fire that
had the intention been to lombard the
residence part of San Juan the damage
could hardly have been greater. The
lighthouse was demolished soon after
the firing began. Later on the houses
in Ballaj Square, in St. Christopher
Street, in San Jose Street and in San
Sebastian Street were in flames. The
St. Catherine Institute, an ancient
palace, the orphans asylum, and the
old churches were burned or almost
demolished.
The Americans officers through their
glasses could see the Spaniards at work
in many places where the Notifications
had been broken down. The Spaniards
seemed drunk with fury. They loaded
and fired like madmen, without aim
ing, without any appearance of dis
cipline or direction. At times their
crazed condition led them to many alb
surd acts, such as waving swords, shak-
ing fists and discharging pistols at the
American line, which was barely with
in reach of their biggest guns of
longest range.
Towards o'clock the heat became
unbearable on the American ships
1t became evident that the Spanish
forts could not be silenced short of
another hours work. Men on the
American ships were dropping on all
sides, not from Spanish shots but
from the accurate and terrific bonn
bardment of the tropical sun.
After consultation Admiral Samp-
son signalled cease firing" and turned
away westward. The other ships
followed, all except the monitor
Terror. She did not or would not see
the signal of the Admiral. She re-
mained in her position in range of all
the unsilenced guns of the Spaniards.
For half an hour she kept roaring
away at the forts and embankments
with an almost incessant fire from her
1O-inch guns. The Spaniards con-
centrated upon her. But her audacity
seemed to infuriate them be-
yond even attempts at markham
ship. Many of the shells struck the
sea mile and half from her. Only a
few came anywhere in her neighbor-
hood. Still fewer struck her low-lying
deck and these glanced away as harm
lessly as a pea shooters slug from the
shell of a turtle.
| The Terror's guns are noisy but
their roars were drowned in the
tempestuous booming of the Spanish
batteries. Before she steamed re.
luctantly away she had the satisfac.
ton of knowing that she had made
many deep wound in the Spanish
line and silenced many guns that
might have made trouble later on.
The fleet steamed to the westward
about twenty miles and then stopped
to remove the CRIME of battle and to
rest and refresh the weary but happy
sailors.
The spaniards evidently got the
idea that the departure was retreat
and that the Americans had been
driven off. So they sent out dis.
patches about great Spanish victory,
just as they did at Manila when Dewey
steamed away to rest and get break
fast.
While the fleet was at anchor
twenty miles from San Juan, a Ger.
man steamer, the BOLIVIA, came by
She was on her way to st. Thomas
Admiral Sampson decided that it
would be best to find out more about
her and sent the Montgomery in
pursuit. She was presently overhauled
and while she steamed along, Lieuten-
ont Eiald uoDt ohOa ri exominad her
papers and looked over her passengers
to make sure that she was not going
to call at San Juan on her way.
As the Montgomery started back, and
had gone nearly to San Juan, she
espied the Spanish cruiser Isabella Ill
an almost useless old warship, crawling
out of San Juan harbor and crawling