The age-herald., 1898-05-11
NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDING.


 The "Grand-daddy" fleet from the sea- coast town sailed up the Warrior canal and entered "coalchute harbor' in the gray hours of the dawn. The sun soon shone resplendent over West End fort.
 The '1Grand- -daddies" cruised about all day long. taking refreshments here and there and firing at intervanls sally, which, when interpreted, meant that the fleet of the coal barons was rapidly nearing a fin- ish, In the middle of the afternoon the sentinel at West eaEnd fortress fell asleep and the fGrand-daddies' foated through the channel,
 It was exactly s:9O o'clock when they lined up with their nine ships to do battle. They were painted dull lead color and the decks were cleared for action. In the twinkllng of an eye nine spanking new war vessels hove in sight. Friskily their sails were spread to the breezes, and they were painted dark green with just enough red trimming to make them look smart An Age-Herald dispatch boat took up po- sition on the right out of the range of the guns to give the correspondent chance to keep 8. record of the most thrilling bat 
 tie of modern times.
 Admiral Switzer to the Center Admiral Switzer maneuvred his flagship to the center of the harbor with his vessels planted just in the rear. The charge was a daring one, but brave Switzer's sagacity in leading the company was only too appar- ent when the smoke of battle had cleared away.
 Strange to say, the opposing fleet faced the great flagship one by one, and the plan of battle was as fair for one as for the other. The first sGrapd-daddy' faced the flagship. The first volley was like a whirl- wind, carrying three of the fleet down in a jiffy.s The first encounter showed Admiral Switzers superior zgiIhnership.
 The fiet maneuvred, and the "grand-dad- dies took up the position just held by the coal barons. The first two cruisers were easy to put to rout. Captain Haller then with the initial battleship faced Admiral Herbert and the "Granddy daddy flagship. But one shot was fired. It tore through the entire line of the enemy and before they could recover Haller had made a man. euvre which scored first blood for the coal barons. The next cruiser was soon forced
  to retire.
 The fleets again changed sides It was a stand-off. neither one scoring a point. In the third encounter the fleet from the seaport town was more fortunate, and SCOT ed one point
 In the fourth attack the battleship La Porte fired fearful fusilade into the ene- my, and scored a point with the aid of the battleship Veitch.
 Ina had axuJ hat or,d in the next attack their battery was In better condition, and two points were SCOT ed. This was done by a well-directed bom- bardment from Herbert and Piper, and an error of the swift coal baron cruiser, 'Reddy.''
 Awful Bombardment in the Sibth The most terrific bombardment of the en- tire engagement took place in the sixth en- counter. The enemy had their ships mess | ed with the flag ship leading The La Parte | led with an opening which struck terror to the opposing fleet. The hail of projectiles went in every direction. and the fight was taken up by the battleships Veth, Hous- man and cruiser Montgomery Admiral Switzer, in charge of the flagship came next, and sent ball straight through the line. The White cruiser kept the fusilade going. The Knox sent a hot one through the '.grand daddies," and the La Porte again came into action. When the awful bombardment was over the signal corps in the balloon gradually descended, and on board the Age-Herald's dispatch boat il was figured that six points had been landed by the coal barons. The enemy had by this time lost courage and were never able to strike telling blow while the. fleet of the coal barons made an other point.
 The dispatch boat then signaled that the | first battle off West End fortress had beer won by the coal barons, the telling points | heinz to in their favor. It is thought that under the cover ol darkness the enemy will rally and make | another attack this afternoon