The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-07-11
CERVERA'S SHIPS
Once Formidable Squadron
Litters Cuban Coast.
HORRIBLE SIGHTS ARE SEEN
Inside These Steel Collins Are Hun
dreds of Charred Bodies of
the Spanish Sailors.

Bazzards Are Feeding on the Dead and
Others Hover over the Wrecks Cristo-
bal Colon Got Forty-two Miles Away
British Press, Both City and Provincial.
Loud in Its Praise of the Efficiency of
the American Navy.
Port Antonio, July 11.-[Copyright,
1898, by the Associated Press 1.-The
vessels which compose Admiral Ger
veras squadron converted into wrecked
charnel houses, are littering the Cuban
coast and the scenes of desolation.
ruin, horror and death battle descrip-
ton. At the entrance of the harbor
Of Santiago de Cuba lies the Reina
Mercedes sunk at midnight on July 3.
Westward five miles from the harbor,
is torpedo boat destroyer, stuck fast
in the rocks, close inshore and battered
by the surf. Rocks jutting out of the
water in front of where she lies hide
her hull from view. Her davits and the
top Of her coming tower alone mark
her resting place.
Destruction Is Complete.
The Infanta Maria Teresa and the AL
mirante Oquendo stand upright, stuck
fast on the rocky shoals. All that is
left Of them is their outer bulls, the
heavy armor defying total humiliation.
Inside Of them the work of destruction
is complete. Their boilers, engines,
bunkers and magazines have been
blown into unrecognizable masses OF
twisted, melted iron. Exploded shells,
burned rifles and revolvers, pieces Of
yellow brasswork and gold and silver
coin, melted by the intense heat, are
strewn all over the remains Of the once
proud armored cruisers, whose protec-
tive decks only stand in places But
the most CHASTITY. horrible sights in
those steel collins are the mangled,
Scared and charred bodies of hundreds
OF brave sailors. sacrificed for their
country. Buzzards are feeding off the
dead and others are lowering over the
wrecks
Vultures Devour the Dead.
On the beach other fiocks of vultures
sit in silence waiting for the sea to
give up its dead. Every tide adds to
the tale Of horror, washing up such OBJ
jects as for instance, a sleeve en-
closing a wasted arm, other portions Of
human bodies gnawed by hungry
sharks and countless relics of the bat
tie. Visible from the sea. a few miles
further, in an inlet embraced by two
mighty arms Of black rocks that ex-
tend half a mile into the sea, are the
remains of the twin cruisers Infanta
Maria Teresa and Almirante Oquendo,
formerly the pride Of the Spanish navy
On beyond lies the Vizcaya, mass Of
ruins. and forty-two miles away from
Santiago de cuba the Cristoba1 Colon
lies helpless on her sides. with her
smokestacks under water.
Burying in the Dead.
Attention has been given to the burial
OF the dead Of the enemy, and over 100
bodies taken from the ships or washed
ashore have been inferred upon the
beach by Rear Admiral SIMPSONS or
ders. Those which now remain are
either almost totally consumed by fire
charred beyond belief or lie in the
depths Of the sea. These form the food
Of the buzzards who keep constant vigil
about the wrecks The buried remains
lie in a confused mass. unnumbered and
unnamed In a huge pit dug in the
sandy beach. where the vessels went
ashore. A rude wooden cross from the
wreckage alone marks the grave. a
grave over which Spain may well
mourn.