El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-04-26

car that day, Lieutenant Pedro
Garezon, took the place, and as he die
| so he called through an aperture, tell
| ing the quarterm aster to put the helm
to port: for he had determined to ram
one of the adversaries, and sink with
her if necessary. Over and over spun
the wheel, but the Huascar's head still
pointed between the Chileans.
sport! Port, l say" screamed the
commander.
s'She won't answer" came back the
sullen reply from the only one of four
quar- terme sters alive; the bodies OF the
others were lying upon the grating at
his feet
"a shot has carried away the star
board steering-gear, sir" reported an
ensie. and he dropped dead as the
words left his mouth.
The Huascar row lay drifting in a
| hell of shot and flame, but all the whi e
| the red, white, and red futtered from
the peak. One by one, in twOs and in
threes, the men in the turret dropped
at their pests; and at last the remain
ing great gun was silent, its tackle
literally choked with dead. The tur-
ret could not be turned for the same
reason. Corpses hung over the mill
tary top: corpses clogged the coming
tower.
With coats and waistc,a's off, the
surgeons had been laboring in the
ward-room upon the wounded, who,
shrieking in their agony, had been
tumb led down the companion like
so much but:hered beef: for there was
no time to use stretchers r to carry a
stricken comrade to a DOCTORS care.
Steam and smoke filtered through the
dOorways, and the apartment became
sitting. While they wer, saving, am
patatlng, and ban aging, shell tore
into the ward-room, burst, and frag-
meuts wounded the assistant surgeons,
the chief of the medical staff having
been killed earlier in the conflict.
Those unfortunanes who were stretch
ed upon the table awaiting their turn
under the knife, and those who lay up
on the floor. suffered DO more pain;
they were killed as they lay grooming.
This shell tore away ward-rOOm and
stern cabin. and hardly q trace was
left of the bulkhead. After that what
little surgery was done was performed
in the coal-bTnkers.
Huddled in a passageway near the
eugine-rOOm were score or more OF
stewards, pantrymen,
and stokers. They were in place
that was lighted only as flashes came
from the guns: it was filed with
powder-smoke, and clouds of steam
that drifted from below told that the
II ndu DSeu oIruCh LII d VlUdl SpO
her machinery. Suddenly they
heard crash, followed by the rending
of the deck. ard the little ironclsd
swayed SIS if she had struck a reef.
Some one passed the word that :he
mai opmast hsd been shot away. As
it came down it Brought living men to
be dashed to death, also corpses that
bad been hanging over the sides of the
militia. Y top.
There was cry of "Fire" and ell
hands rushed to statOns-perhaps two
gang.
o. the ire!'' shouted Lieutenant
Garezon. ''Repel boarders!"
They were metamorphosed by this
order from fire fighters into warriors
again, and formed line of bleeding
men, their cloth ng in rags, and,
ranged in company front, stokers ell
rifles in union with midshipmen,
awaited the coming of fleet Of the
enemy's boats which, crowded with |
were forcing their way
through the water toward the
staggering Huascar, that |
lay like log, motiouless.
But fire ragged between decks, and |
flames fared up the after-companion-
way: and when the boats had
attacking a whale that had been struck
10 the death, the few survivors were
to yield to the force of num-
oers, and the Chileans ,swarmed the |
deck. AS they mounted it
,he red, white, and red, tattered and |
,orn by bullets, still futtered its rags
It the peak.
To this day, at every general muster
If a Peruvian army division, at every
inspection on the ships COM
orising the fleet, the name of Grau is
The first to be heard in the roll call.
An officer steps forward, lifts his hat,
points upward, and answers: s'Absent
out accounted for. He is with the