Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1898-06-16
THEY SAW 1T ALL.
Four of the Men Who Were with Dewey
at Manila Tell of the Great Battle.

| Four OF the Men Who Were with Dewey
at Manila Tell of the Great Battle.
| San Francisco, Jun. s.-Among the
passengers who arrived here Tuesday
on the Belgic, from Hong Kong, were
four men who participated in the fight
at Manila bay on May /. They are
| PaymaSter G.. A. Loud. of the dispatch
| boat McCulloch; DR.. Charles Il. Kin
| dleberger, surgeon of the Olympia
Ralph Phelps, secretary to the captain
of the McCulloch, and j. c. Evans,
gunner of the Boston They left Ma
Mia on May 5. DR.. Kindlebrrger and
| Gunner Evans are going home on ac-
count of expiration of their sea time.
| Paymaster Loud and Mr.. Phelps are
here on business. and will return to
the McCulloch. They all speak of the
valor of their opponents in the battle
of Manila. They say that the Span
iards fought bravely, even after the
last vestige of hope had gone.
DR.. Kindleberger gives a graphic
account OF the terrific fight. He was
on the Olympia through it all. In the
first assault the flagship took the lead,
the other vessels following in her
wake at four ships lengths. At one
| time the smoke became so dense it
was necessary to draw aside to let
| the cloud lift. The vessels were eX-
amined and it was found that they
| had sustained no damage. Breakfast
| was served to the men and in a few
minutes they re-entered the fight.
| The second fight was even more
fierce than the first. 1t was then that
| the Baltimore was struck.
| During the first fight the Spanish
admiral's ship put bravely out of the
line to meet the Olympia. The entire
American fleet concentrated their fire
on her and she was so badly injured
that she turned around to put back.
| At this juncture the Olympia let fly
an S-inch shell which pierced through
almost her entire length, exploding
| finally in the engine room, wrecking
her machinery. This shell killed the
captain and 60 men and set the vessel
on fire.
| In the heat of the fight two tor
pedo boats moved out to attack the
feet. They were allowed to come
within 800 yards, when fusilade
from the Olympia sent one to the
bottom with all on board and riddled
the other. The second boat was later
found turned upon the beach, covered
| with blood.
In the second fight the Baltimore
was sent to silence the fort at Cavite
She plunged into a cloud of smoke and
opened all her batteries on the fortl-
fcation. In a few minutes shell
struck in the ammunition and the fort
blew up.
After the principal ships had been
destroyed the Concord, Raleigh and
Petrol. being of light draft, were sent
close to handle the remaining vessels
of the feet. They made quick worS
of that. In taking possession of the
land forts several hundred wounded
Spaniards fell into the hands of the
Americans and nearly 200 dead were
accounted for Oh the spot. The Span
ish loss footed up 400 killed. 6OC
wounded and a property loss of any
where from $6,O0O,000 TO $10,o00,OOo.
Experts have figured out that the
fighting volume of the guns of the
respective sides of the battle was
for the Americans against for the
Spanish. 1t is clear then that the
superiority was in the ships and mer
themselves, the men having the ex'
perience and nerve.
For two hol~s," said Mr.. Loud
1.-The steady thunder of cannon was
kept up. The roar was something
terrible. At one time | really thought
we would be beaten. This was after
the fire had been kept up an hour. II
looked like every gun on the Spanish
ships had turned loose on us alto
gether. and the shore line was veri
table blaze of fire from the batteries
The din was simply indeScrbable
Tons upon tons of shot fell over oul
ships. There was steel enough to have
sunk our entire fleet. Our salvation
was in the bad craftsmanship of the
Spaniards. They handled their pieces
like boys. Nearly all their shots went
wide of the mark.
eve left Manila on the 5th. At that
time Commodore Dewey was in pos
session of the shore forts and arsenal
Considerable ammunition and some
fair guns were captured. Manila on
the opposite side of the bay had not
been taken and it WAS not the inten-
ton of Dewey to do so at that time
The city and its suburbs were com
pletely at the mercy Of our guns and
we could have laid It in ruins in a
short time But the force on the war
ships is too small to land and take
| possession.
when the troops arrive from San
Francisco, Dewey will demand the i'm
mediate surrender of the city and the
troaos stationed there. If refusal
is given fire at once will be opened
from the warships and forcible pos
session will be taken at once"
|
The Monterey Starts for Manila.
San Francisco. June S.-The princi-