The evening times., 1898-07-19
LOOKING THE FORTS OVER
Commodore SchIey Examines the
Harbor Defenses Of Santiago.
MoRRO | NOT DEMOLISHED
shoaIa 1t BE Necessary, Its Strength
Could with Comparative Ease Be
Re-e.ta blished-Tw Ships Can Be
Saved-Our Fleet Might Have
safely Entered the Harbor.

Santiago. July 1s-Morro Castle. from
the heights OF which the Spanish emblem
was lowered on Sunday morning to give
place to the Star Spangled Banner OF
America, is not very seriously damaged
by the bombardment It has received. and
can with comparatively little work oe
put In good fighting trim again for Amer
ican use IL necessary. Only one bast'"n
was knocked to pieces. while the queer
little sentry boxes. dating back to the
sixteenth century. escaped almost intact
Not a gun is mounted within or on
Morro's walls. All the batteries. masked
and open. dwindled in their terror-inspT-
ing qualities as the inspection grew
closer.
Crowning the~hill on the west side OF
+be entrance were the six-inch raDid-fire
guns from the Spanish cruiser Reina
Mercedes. Below. on brick foundations
on the western shore of the entrance
were some revolving guns. These were
the ones which poured such bitter nre
into the Merrimac. Directly east OF
Moro Castle. on the crest of the piateau-
like cliff. were six big guns. one or two OF
which were dismounted. The Estrella
Battery and a small neighbor further in
showed no guns.
On the inside of the slope and hill to
the westward some hastily constructed
casemates were seen, into which the
Spanish gunners retired when our ships
opened fire.
Al Punta Gorda there were two finch
guns. one above the other, and neither
protected by even sand or earth. These
commanded the harbor entrance pretty
well. but they could have been silenced
by one well-directed heavy shell.
Commodore Schley has expressed the
opinion that our fleet could have entered
the harbor of Santiago without much
difficulty. though ingress might have
been stopped by the explosion of the
mines sinking the leading ship. All OF
these mines have now been exHoded.
and Lieuts. Hobson and Palmer. who en-
tered the harbor after the surrender SUM-
day morning. going as far as the firing
station of the mines, felt convinced that
they were not SO formidable as had been
expected.
Just after the old cathedral bell in San
tiago tolled the hour of noon on Sunday
Commodore Schley. with Capt. Cook. of
the Brooklyn; Lieut.. J. H. Sears, the
flag lieutenant. and Lieut.. B. w. Wells,
the flag secretary. went into the harbor
on a steam launch to make close OBJ
& servation of the forts and batteries.
Commodore Schley's party first steam
ed around the wreck of the Reina Merce
des, which lies with her bow pointed to-
ward the city. She has a list to star
board, and rests on a reef near the foot
of Morro cliff. The cruiser is sunk to
the upper deck. on which one 6-inch gun
remained. One torpedo tube Is loaded.
and the auxiliary battery seems in place.
Evidently the crew of the Reina Merce-
des left her in a hurry. There are great
= gaps in her sides. showing where two u
and two 13-inch shells had struck her.
About 800 yards ahead of the Reina
Mercedes and almost in line with her is
the wreck of the Merrimac, lying in six
,fathomS of water and on the very edge
of the channel. Had not the current
swung the ship alongside instead of
athwart the channel, the latter would
have been well blocked. Assistant Naval
Constructor Hobson was hunting for
four-fathom spot, and only missed 1t by
a few hundred yards.
At the firing stations on the west side
which Commodore Schley inspected in per-
son, the American party met a Spanish
artillery captain, who was courteous, pGt
gloomy. Commodore Schley was his own
interpreter, and advised the officer, with
the few nien unja- his command. to go up
to the city and surrender as quickly as
possible.
When the Spanish captain was asked to
point out the route to the 6-inch battery
on the west hill, he said there was none,
and explained that the way to get there
was over steep. rocky and difficult ground.
This. 1t was learned later, was little
fiction of the Spaniard. whose Castilian
pride revolted at allowing the Americans
to obtain a full view of the damage they
had effected.
Naval officers believe that both the Cris-
tobal Colon and the Spanish flagship. the
Infanta Maria Teresa, can be saved. The
flagship certainly can, as she has f1oated
of the reef on which she was stranded.
Her armament is in fairly good condition.
So far as the Cristobal Colon is conc erned
much depends upon the weather. A heavy
storm might drive her so high on a coral
reef that she could never be floated again.