Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-06-09
GRAPHIC ACCOUNTS.
The Battle of Manila Bay De-
scribed by Eyewitnesses.
THE SPANIARDS FOUGHT BRAVELY.
h Secret of Success to Our Arms Lay
In the Superior Quality of Oar
Ships and I'm the Nerve Of
Our l.uuners.

SAN Francisco, June a-Among the
passengers who arrived Oh the Delgic
yesterday from Hong Kong were -four
men who participated in the fight OF
Manila bay on May /. They are Pay
muster G. A. Loud, Of the dispatch
boat McCulloch; DIR. Charles p. Kindk~
berger, surgeon of the Olympia; Ralph
Phelps, secretary to the captain of the
McCulloch, and / c. Evans, gunner OF
the Boston. They left Manila on May
8. DIR. Klndleberger and Gunner Evans
are coming home on account of ex-
piration of their sea time. Paymaster
Loud and Mr.. Phelps are here on bust
ness and will return to the McCulloch.
They all speak OF the valor and deter
mination Of their opponents In the
battle Of Manila. They say that the
S~paniards fought bravely even after
the last vestige of hope had gone and
stayed by their guns as long as they
could be used.
DIR. Kindleberger gives a graphic sc
count of the terrific fight. He was on
the Olympia through it all In the
first assault the flagship took the lead,
the other vessels following IN her wake
at four ships lengths The Spanish
feet was approached by laps, eoch
turn bringing the contestants nearer
together. BY this plan the American
vessels frequently poured broadsides
into the enemy, but were themselves
more exposed to fire.
At one time the smoke became 50
dense that it was necessary 10 draw
aside, allowing the cloud to lift. The
vessels were examined, and IL was
found that they had sustained N dam
age. Breakfast was served TO the e
and In u few minutes they re-entered
the fight with tho greatest enthusiasm
The second fight was ere more fierce
than the first. IL was in hat the Bal
timore was struck.
During the first fight the Spanish ad-
miral's ship put bravely out OF the line
TO meet the Olympia. The entire Amer
lean fleet concentrated fire on her and
she was so badly injured that she
turned around to put back. AT this
juncture the Olympia let fly an eight
inch shell, which struck her stern and
pierced through almost her entire
length, exploding finally In the engine
room, wrecking her machinery. This
shell killed the captain and is men,
and set the vessel on fire
In the heat Of the fight two torpedo
boats moved out to attack the fleet
They were allowed to come within 500
yards, when q fusilade from the Oaym-
pia sent ono to the bottom with all on
board and riddled the other. The sec
ond boat was later found turned up on
the beach, co vered with blood.
In the second fight the Baltimore
was sent to silence the fort at Cavite.
She plunged into o cloud of smoke and
opened all her batteries on the forth
fications. In q very few minutes q
shell struck in the ammunition and
the fort blew up with @ deafening
roar.
The work of the Baltimore was giori-
Gus. After the principal ships had
been destroyed, the Concord, Raleigh
and Petrol. being of light draft, were
sent close In 70 handle the remaining
vessels Of the fleet They made quick
work Of them In taking possession of
the land forts, several hundred wounded
Spaniards fell into the hands of the
Americans, and nearly 200 dead were
accounted for on the spot. Holes In
| which numbers had been hastily buried
| were found. The dead were returned
| to relatives so far as this could be
done, and the wounded were cared for
in the best name by the American
surgeons.
The Spanish loss footed up 400 killed,
600 wounded and q property loss Of
anywhere from 81, 0 900 to $4,000
900.
The day of the fight was clear and
hot. Not u breath of air was stirring.
After the first battle the Americans
were greatly tagged by the heat, and
the rest and breakfast allowed them
by the commodore was of inestimable
benefit. When the men were ut break
fast q conference of all the officers was
held on board the Olympia, when the
| plan of the second battle was made
known by the commodore.
Several shots struck the Olympia and
she WAS pierced q number of times.
| One shell struck the side of the ship
against the hospital ward. Tho chap
lain and nurses were watching the
fight through a port a few inches away
and were stunned by the conclusion.
Experts have figured out that the
fighting volume of the guns of the re-
spective sides Of the battle was three
for the Americans against seven for
the Spaniards- 1t Is clear, then, that
| the advantage was In the ships and
men themselves, the Americans having
| the experience and nerve
Gunner Evans, Of the Boston, was
| one of the men who sent the Spanish
| ships down. He directed the fire of
one of the big guns. As such officer he
was at times greatly exposed, but did
not receive q shot. Not n man on the
| Boston received o scratch.
Paymaster Loud, who was on the
McCulloch during the battle, was a
witness Of events on both sides From
his position he could see every move
ment Of the American ships, and could
also @ the battle plans Of the Span
iards-
For two hours" says Mr.. Loud,
'the steady thunder Of cannon was
kept up The roar was something ter
rible. At one time I really thought
we would be beaten. This was after
the fire had been kept up for an hour.
1t looked like every gun OF the Span
ish ships had turned hose on US all