Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1898-05-19
ATTACK ON SAN JUAN
Details Of SIMPSONS Bombardment
Of the Porto Rico Capital.
BATTERIES WERE NOT SILENCED.
The Town Said to Have Suffered Greatly
Two Americans Killed and Seven In
tured-Narrow Escape of Samp-
son and "E1ghting Bob"

ct. L uouoS, DbnlSu west 1nuleS. may
1.-THE forts Of San Juan dc Porto
Rico were bombarded by part of Rear
Admiral SIMPSONS feet yesterday
morning. The enemy's loss is be-
lieved to be heavy. The American
loss is two men killed and seven men
injured.
After three hours firing the admiral
withdrew the feet and headed for Key
West. He said:
"I am satisfied with the mornings
work. I could have taken San Juan,
but have no force to hold 1t. 1 only
wanted to administer punishment
This has been done. I came for the
Spanish feet, and not for San Juan"
The men killed were.
Seaman Frank Widemark, of the
New York.
Gunnersmate -, of the Amphi-
trite. The latter died from the ex-
treme heat.
Of the injured men three were on
board the Iowa and four on board the
| New York.
The names of those slightly injured
on the Iowa are:
Seaman Mitchell.
Private Marine Merkle.
Apprentice Hill.
The injured on the New York are:
Seaman Samuel Feltman, seriously.
Seaman Michael Murphy.
Two other enlisted men were slight
ly injured.
All the above-named We're injured
by the bursting of shell on the New
York.
This is complete list of the killed
| and wounded. The American ships
| were uninjured.
The engagement began at 5:15 a. m.
and ended at s:15 a. m. The enemy'a
| batteries were not silenced. The town
In the rear of the Notifications proba-
bly, suffered.
The ships taking part in the action
were the Iowa, Indiana, New York,
Terror, Amphitrite, Detroit, Montgom-
| cry, Wampatuck and Porter. The enc
| my's firing was heavy but wild, and
the Iowa and New York were probably
the only ships hit. They went right
up under the guns in column, deliver
ing broadsides and then returned.
The line passed thrice in front Of the
forts, pouring tons of steel on shore.
It Is impossible to Judge the amount
of damage done to the buildings and
forts. They appeared to be riddled
with shot; but the Spaniards were
pluoky.
The after turret of the Amphitrite
got out of order temporarily during
the engagement, but she banged away
with her forward guns. After the
first passage before the forts the De-
troit and Montgomery retired, their
guns being to small to do much dam
| age.
The Porter and Wampatuck also
stayed out of range. The smoke hung
over everything, spelling the aim Of
the gunners and making 1t impossible
to tell where our shots struck. The
officers and men of all the ships be-
haved with coolness and bravery. The
shots flew thick and fast over all our
ships. The men OF the Iowa who were
hurt during the action were injured by
splinters thrown by an s-inch shell
which came through boat into the
superstructure and scattered fragments
in all directions. The shots course
was finally ended on an iron plate an
inch thick Murkle [Murtel] was
struck in the arm and may lose it. ALI
were hurt by splinters, and a fire was
started in the boat, but was quickly
extinguished
| Morro battery, on the eastward arm
of the harbor, was the principal point
of attack. Rear Admiral Sampson and
Capt. Evans were on the lower bridge
of the Iowa and had a narrow escape
from flying sprinters, which injured
three men. The Iowa was hit eight
times, but the shells made no impres-
sion on her armof.
The weather was fine, but the heavy
swells made accurate aim difficult.
The echoes from the broadsides OF
the Iowa and Indiana rumbled In the
hills ashore for five minutes after they
were delivered. Clouds of dust showed
where the shells struck, but the smoke
hung over everything. The shells
screeching overhead and dropping
around showed that the Spaniards still
stuck to their guns.
At three o'clock In the morning al
hands were called on the Iowa, q few
final touches in clearing ship were
made, and at Ave general quarters
sounded. The men were eager for the
fight
The tug Wampatuck went ahead anc
anchored, her small boat to the west
ward showing ten fathoms, but thers
was not sign of life from the fort
which stood boldly against the sky or
the eastern hills, hiding the town
The Detroit steamed far to the east
ward, opposite Valtern. The lowe
headed straight TOR the shore. Sud
denly her helm few over, bringing
the starboard battery to bear on the
Notifications.