Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-07-09
All the other Americans were enthu

Slastlc. General wheeler gave tne
boys a hearty welcome and Grimes's
battery could be restrained from firing
a salute only with the greatest Difficult
ty. Then Hobson was taken to Gen.
Skaters quarters and here he received
another warm greeting. When the
lieutenant got an opportunity, he made
the following statement to the cores
pondent of the Associated Press:
"During the first four days we were
prisoners of war we were confined in
Moro castle, and can assure you
those were extremely uncomfortable
and disagreeable days. The Spaniards
did not exactly ill-treat US but it took
them sometime to recover from the
shock caused by what most of them
considered our Yankee impudence in
trying to block their harbor.
"As rule the officers and men who
came into contact with us were grufl
in speech and sullen in manner. There
were many threatening glances shot in
our direction. For Admiral Cervera !
have nothing but the highest admira-
ton.
"His act in informing Admiral Samp.
son of our safety, / regard as that OF
kindhearted, and generous man and
chivalrous officer. expressed to him
my sincere thanks and the thanks of
my men for taking this means of re.
lieving the anxiety of our shipmates
and our friends at home. He repeat
edly spoke to me of his admiration OF
what he called one Of the most dar-
ing acts in naval history, though am
sure we were not entitled to the COM
mendation we received, for there were
hundreds of other men on our ships who
would have been glad to undertake to
do the same thing.
"While we were in Moro castle we
were naval prisoners of war; but, at
the end of four days, we were trans
ferred to the Jurisdiction of the army
and were removed to the Reina Mer-
cedes hospital on the outskirts of San
tiago, where we remained until today.
We knew but little of what was going
on in the city, though, of course, we
could always tell when our fleet was
bombarding the shore batteries, and
we could easily distinguish the terrific
explosions caused by the Vesuvius
throwing dynamite shells. Several
times at night we were also fully
aware that the land batteries were
fighting outside the city. Last Friday
and Saturday it would be difficult to
explain how anxious we were for
news of the success of our side during
the engagement. The little informa-
ton the Spaniards would give US could
not be relied upon.
Zone thing that I found out in the
hospital was that large number of
Spanish officers were wounded in last
Fridays fight, for many were brought
to the hospital to be treated. Num-
bers of badly-aimed bullets came into
the hospital windows on Friday but
1 do not believe anyone was injured
by them. Our quarters there were
very clean and comfortable and fairly
good. In fact, I have no reason to
complain of our treatment as prisoners
of war. The prejudice which the
Spaniards showed against us DUNG the
first few days soon wore away. We
conducted ourselver properly and sim
ply forced them to treat US well.
"We knew nothing about the de-
struction of Admiral Cervera's feet
until told by our own people today.
Of course our confinement became very
irksome, and cannot tell you how
great was the relief we felt to be free
again. cannot express my gratitude
to our soldiers who gave us such a
welcome when we came into the lines.
All of US are in excellent health and
glad to 60 back to our posts again and
see the war through to the end"