The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-07
monsoN,s DRAVE ACT.
Capt. Miller of the Nerrimac Talks
of the Exploit.

Key West Fla. June Capt. Miller OF
the collier M,rrimac arrived here to-day,
He said: Lieut.. Hobson's act was the
bravest ever saw or heard Of The idea
was to block the narrow exit from The har-
Dor Whether Lieut.. HoDson proposed
sinking the Merrimac I DO not know, but
ne arranged the details between himself
and the commander.
Every officer and man In the fleet would
have volunteered 10 go, but Lieut.. Hobson
being a naval constructor, was The man
for the place
THE Merrimac was thoroughly stripped
of valuable articles, even the clock and
bell being taken off.
along one side torpedo
belt had been arranged about 10 feet be
low the wafer line, six torpedoes being
placed so as to break open the compart-
ments. These torpedoes had electrical
connection with "A battery on the bridge
ana were to be discharged by pressing a
button.
THE man at the key was undoubtedly
Lieut. Hobson. He would be unlikely TO
assign another man to The most dangerous
post. Beside he is the best swimmer in the
navy
THE plan was carried out perfectly The
only thing we had not counted on was the
Spanards keeping such a sharp watch.
They undoubtedly knew something was
afoot They permitted the Merrimac to
pass between the MORO and Estrel-
Ia forts without noticing her, but
when she was in range Of the other forts
every gun in the harbor was opened on
her, SO we could MOI count the shots, the
firing was SO furious The forts must
have fired 1000 times.
Il was on the New York watching, and
the hearts of all us faltered, for 1t seemed
as if no ship could live in that he'll of
fire. and that no one on board could es-
cape. The Merrimac anchored, the men
jumped overheard, and the forts then sub
sided, refusing to fire at the men slrug-
Cling i'm the water. The men reached the
raft, where they were captured and taken
to Moro fort.
after daylight Admiral Cervera's chief
of staff came aboard the New York. He
said the Merrimac's men were safe and
would be wen treated. officer of The New
York asked TO be allowed TO exchange
places with Lieut. HobsOn, but this was
not permissible
"Cerveras officer could not find strong
enough language to express his admiration
for the bravery of the Americans.
His courtesy and the action of the
forts in sparing the men struggling in the
water changed our opinion of the Span
iards ana made us think the stories of
their honor and chivalry not so far wrong
after daylight we could see the masts
and tunnels, exactly where we wanted
her. We saw in the harbor three cruisers
The Cristobal Colon and Infanta Maria
Teresa being among them, but 1 don't
know whether the others were torpedo
boats or cruisers. The black thing that
some of the officers Of the ships thought
they saw coming after them has not been
Identified yet, and We are not sure that
any of the destrOyers are at Santiago.
THE insurgents sent us word that the
men and guns from the cruisers had been
sent ashore, and it looks as though the
vessels would not try to get out, and the
Spanish officers had no hope OF escape or
victory, but were determined to make a
brave stubborn fight TO maintain their
honor The story printed in New York
that Lieut.. Hobson and Rear Admiral
Sampson quarreed just before The Merri-
mac went in, is a falsehood."