The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-06-13

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lightened and a good breeze " c oo ehe SIZES
AT 6.22 tho order TO move int nA'ie along.
given, Forming in two coi, lAha w
distance of six miles, the esdbIiu .1l at a
the entrance of the harbor, 1 M g towards
leading one column and the .0 N 4ofooKlyn
the other slowly they steamed % n,3 LIZ '3nA
they turned, the BROOKLYN l To Is When
the Marhlehead and Texas " a,, tne west
chusetts led to the east following tba aS S Sd
Orleans, Yankee, Iowa and Oreoor,' Mo NO"
When the ships had all turned III
new formation, they moved in BATH ATTY i ,nis
to within 5000 yards of the batteri. a'i no
the positions originally detailed i'V Tb ~
Vixen ana ouWanee went on the left
and the Dolphin and the tornadn p1lus,
Porter did similar duty on the r 2oi,t
flank. n0
The forts remained silent, but Mt ,,ro-
oisely TAI O'Clock l2-inch gun from t treo
Iowa shattered the silence and from ono
end of the line to the other there w Uns
an instant response of whitening lire "'''
Through clouds of smoke the I9.inob
shell of the Iowa could be seen stritimo
Some OF the batteries on the hill onened
at once, but their good aim of the 10 at
week seemed destroyed by the shower Of
shells from the fleet, for the Spanish va
turn flew far from the mark.
The 13-inch shells from the Massachu-
setts and Oregon struck into the hills
near the batteries and threw up monn9
tains of earth. The Spaniards deserted
battery after battery. WA
The Texas, with her two 12-inch puns,
and the Iowa, with her four big guns
raked the entire hillside, while the Brook,
| lyn and New York poured in a heavy
| fire from their destructive and 5-inch
guns.
The Brooklyn headed in further and her
| squadron of fighters when the smoke
too dense and in obtaining new range
the ships poured in deadly rain of
8-inch and 5-inch shells
In the meantime the shells from little
Spanish fort on the water front two miles
west of MORO Castle, opened on The
Suwanee under the command of Lieut
Commander De1hanty, and the Vixen
in command of Lieut.. Sharp, and thew
moved in and with hot fire from their
small guns soon silenced them.
At s % after three quarters Of an hours
of firing. Commodore Schley ordered
'cease firing and the ships on the
west moved further in until they had q
good 1900 yards range of the earthworks
Eight minutes later the command to
open fire was given and the guns began
to crash away and the whistle of the g.
1uCu SHELLS lrOlN UuS 6TOOklYn3S after
turret in charge of Lieut.. Rush, there
was a burst of ire from blockade house
near this battery. q great cheer from the
men. Zen seconds later the Massachu-
setts landed TWO S-inch shells in the same
spot and lignaled that the battery was
silenced.
Big guns could be seen on the hill, but
there were no gunners around them,
In the meantime shells from what few
batteries OF the enemy which were keep
ing up desultory firing were falling
either very short or just over the ships.
One burst over the Brooklyn, but only
a few skylights were injured.
In the meantime the four big battle
ships were pounding away at the Esurella
battery and the inside harbor defences
and the frightful explosion of the great
steam shells could be seen causing terri.
BILE havoc.
Down at the eastern end of the line,
the New York and New SOrleans put the
Cave battery out of action in 10 minutes.
The Estrella and Catalina batteries
were set on fire and the blockhouses Oh
the eastern end were burning.
At 9.19 the ships turned so as to bring
their unused port batteries into play and
opened still more disastrous fire.
By $50 the ftful fire from one or two
guns on the Notifications showed that the
Spaniards had practically deserted their
batteries and would not return the fire.
q Tho flagship signaled at 937 that. The
batteries were evidently silenced but,
it was not until 10. 05 that the Iiring was
stopped. AT that time it was not known
that single shot of the enemy had taken
effect on our ships.