The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-07-06
.CERVERA
CAUGHT
Spain'S Late Flying Squadron
in Ashes or at the Bot
tom of the Sea.
The Spanish Admiral Took the
One Chance Left Him
But Failed.

NEW YORK, July 5.-A special to the
| New York Herald from off Santiago de
! Cuba by the Herald's dispatch boat Golden
Rod, to Kingston, Jamaica, dated Monday
| says that Cervera's famed squadron is a
mere matter of history now. Three of the
crack cruisers that were bottled up in San
| tiago and two destroyers after being
pounded INTO helpless hulks by the guns of
SIMPSONS fleet, in a vain attempt to escape
| from the harbor and blazing fore and aft,
| were beached by their commanders in
last effort to save the lives Of some of the
crews.
Ever since it has been known that the
Merrimac did not effectually block the har-
DOR 1t has been feared that Cervera would
! try to run through the American fleet and
| ceaseless watch has been kept to prevent
| 1t. SO little We're the Americans expecting
the dash when 1t came that the flagship
New York had gone cruising up the coast
to the east, and only returned in time to
see the nnlsh OF the fight, and fire a shot
| or two at the shattered destroyers that
| were then headed for the beach,
| Cervera himself headed his fleets in the
| plunge to annihilation. 1t was half past 8
when his flagship was seen steamng rapidly
out through the narrow channel at the har-
bors mouth. The signal ran from ship to
| snip of the American fleet, and the Iowa
| and Indiana, the record breaking Oregon,
| the Massachusetts and Texas, the cruiser
| Brooklyn and the saucy little improvised
destroyer Corsair were soon scurrying into
| position to block the Spaniards exit.
| The American vessels did not open fire at
once. Cerveras ships were allowed to come
out of the harbor and get we'll out of the
| range of Morro's guns before the big battle
| ships began to close in. Cervera headed to
| the west keeping close to the shore and
! firing from every gun that he could bring
to bear
! A HURRICANE OF SHOT.
At the heels of the Colon came the Viz
| caya and Oquendo, and back of them the
| battleships opened up, and the rest of the
| Spanish way was literally through a hurri-
| cane of shot and shell.
But still the Colon kept on firing bravely,
| reeling under the terrific impact of the tons
| of metal that were poured upon her, till,
| when about 10 miles out westward of Moro
| castle. with his ships trailing like
| wounded duck" and hammered with flame,
| Cervera turned the vessels nose toward the
! shore and made last desperate effort to
| keep her out of the enemy's hands.
| She sinking then, and blazing in
| score of places, but still her guns kept at
| work, and the white flag showed above her
| last of all. At the first the fearful fire Of
| the battleshp~ had naturally been poured
| on the flagship, but the others were not
! forgotten.
| In the terrible din and uproar made by
| the heavy guns and continuous crash and
| rattle of the rapid-fire batteries. little save
! results could be noted The smoke, too,
| wrapped the scene in sitting obscurity. But
| from time to time as the wind tore the
| smoke curtains aside, the spectators caught
momentary glimpses of the swift tragedy.
| QUICKLY DESTROYED.
| Close upon the heels of the Colon'S de-
/! sruction, simultaneously almost came the
| doom of the Oquendo and Vizcaya. While
| all had apparently been pounding away at
| the Colon, the Vizcaya and Oquendo had to
| face the Iowa, Texas and Indiana. Under
! the fire of this ponderous trio the grim
| cruisers that had raised many hopes and
| not few tears, went down to defeat with
| fearful swiftness.
| The flagship fought her way 10 miles up
! the coast before her nose was turned shore
| ward. The ViZcaya and OQuendO had not
| made half of that distance under the ter
| rible hammering of the hurricane battle
| ships before their case was hopeless, and
| they, too, were turned shoreWard. And they
| had not been idle. Their crews fought with
desperate bravery. But courage was
| match for courage plus gunnery.
| 1t was the old story of Spanish shells
| that went wild for the most part, while
| The American fire was marked by merci-
| less precision.
! When the battered Oquendo and Vizcaya
| faced the inevitable and swung around for
| the shore both were attire, the ViZcaya
from fore to amidshps. The two cruisers
| were beached not more than quarter of
1
| A DRAMATIC INCIDENT.
I Meanwhile, the most dramatic feature Of
| the battle was in progress. The two de-
| stroyers with Cervera had come out in
the wake of the big Vizcaya. AS they
| swept through the smoke and uproar the
| little Corsair, the patrician yacht that all
| New Workers have seen laZily drifting
| about the harbOr, very perfumed ex-
| uuisite among pleasure craft, swung out
| to block the way of the craft that even
,r1xy VUo fn
| AS the Corsair came up she opened on
| the two destroyers with her little six
| FOUNDERS They fired back they came,
| but were bent on a more desperate bus-
ness. and ran by their plucky little foe as
! a hawk leaves a kingbird. But they had
| still the big battleships to deal WITH and
| in the face of the terrific fire that the big
| ships poured upon them the destroyers both
| turned back, only to find the little Cor
| sair there again, pegging away at them
| with her baby sx-pounders.
| Then the destroyers turned upon the little
| Corsair like wounded wolves in one des-
| perate effort to strike somewhere. But
| Wainwright who was with the Maine was
| on the Corsairs bridge, and there was a
| battle royal on before the desperate de-
| stroyers were aware what they had
| tackled.
| The Corsair was struck time and again
| she is the only American vessel reported
| damaged-but both of the destroyers were
| soon on fire and had to be beached. AS
they struck the beach one exploded with
| a terrific crash and great plume Of smoke
shot up to mark where she had been. Her
| crew, those that were able had thrown
themselves into the surf and were strug-
Cling ashore when the crash came.
/ It was just before this that the New
York came up from her jaunt down the
coast and managed to open upon them
for a few rounds before the white flag
showed on them.
By this time, too, the white flags were
Haunting over the burning OQuendo and
vizcaya, though farther down the shore