The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-06-07
THE new ORLEANS
ENGAGED THE FORTS
MORE HOT FIGHrING--FIRsT I'm
GAGRMENT WITH CERVERA's
SHIPS.

terry on the Hills Above M~orro--Tt
Flew Straight into the Fort and Nust
Have Done Great gDamage--The At
tack Was Made for the Purpose of
Locating the Batteries ard Spanish
Forts-The American Fleet Sustained
no Damage and Lost Not q Man.
On BOARD THE ASSOCIATED PRRss DIS
PATCH Boar DANDY, PoRT ANTONIO,
JUNE 2-For an hour yesterday after
noon, the Massachusetts, lowe, New
Orleans and Vixen, of Commodore
Schley's squadron, exchanged shots
with the Spanish feet under Admiral
Cervera. and with the land batteries
guarding the harbor of Santiago de
Cuba, behind which the Spanish fleet
is hiding. The engagement was the
first which has occurred between the
two naval forces, and was but a pre-
lude to serious work in the latter part
of the week.
No attempt was made by the Amer
lean commander to bring on a general
engagement, it being his desire to To-
cate the batteries on the hills above the
harbor, and to determine the position
of the Spanish forts.
Shortly before 10 o'clock Commo-
dore Schley left the Brooklyn for the
Massachusetts,, on board of which bat
tleship he remained during the fight
ing.
at 1 o'clock the signal to form col
umn was hoisted on the Massachusetts.
She then steamed slowly away until
about five miles west Of the harbor en-.
trance, where she turned in toward the
shore and, when about 5000 yards off,
turned east againand bore down on the
entrance, the New Orleans being close
up and the Iowa half a mile behind.
The flagship gradually increased her
speed, and was soon running through
the water at the rate Of 10 knots an
hour. She drew closer and closer to
the batteries, and to the anxious watch.
ers on the ships it seemed that she
would never open fre.
When, however, she had passed the
harbor entrance by five hundred yards
a great cloud of white and yellow
smoke burst from the two 10 inch
guns in her aft turret and two shells
rosa over the hill, one of them striking
the Spanish fagahip Christobal Colon
full and fair, as she lay at her anchor
age. and the other falling close along
side.
The two guns in the forward turret
were then fired, and their shells in ex
ploding threw up great jets of spray
close to the Colon.
ALI the shore batteries took up the
challenge and began a rapid fire on
the Massachusetts,, but she was soon
beyond their range and the batteries
thereupon turned their attention on
the New Orleans. This cruiser had
been directed to pay attention to the
batteries and to draw their fire as much
as possible, and she obeyed her in,
structions to the letter. Her first shot
located a large battery on the hill
above MORO. It few straight into
the Portland must have caused much
damage, as q great cloud of dust and
debris rose as the shell bursted. A
couple more shots sent part of the
walls of MORO flying into the air and
then the New Orleans confined herself
to the batteries, her fire being rapid
and extremely accurate. Every shot
she fired made trouble for Spain.
The Iowa came next, and, like the
Massachusetts, devoted her attention
to the ships lying within the harbor.
Her 10 inch shells made the water fly
all around that part of the harbor in
which the Christobal Colon lay. The
latter, however, was not seriously
damaged and kept up her fire until
long after the American ships steamed
out of range.
After the Iowa came the little Vixen,
which apparently had no business ID
q Aght where battleships were engar
ged. But she scudded along after the
Iowa, like a fox terrier following g
mastif.
After the Vixen had passed the forts,
the Massachusetts turned again TO the
westward, followed by the other ships
in the same order with the exception
Of the Vixen, formerly the yacht
Josephine, which was ordered to keer
out or EfOGSshh1Ia
The iron clads bore downOn U hk7
Dor once more. The flagship kept on
until less than 1000 yards from the
shore, and then her shell began to fall
on the waters of Santiago harbor. This
time the shore batteries were better
served, and the Spanirds replied to the
warships fire in energetic fashion. But