The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-04-29
EXT zEA.
THE REAL THING.
.s.loA.Ml NJ.

ItnNppoaEh W. uptte OF Oulcthl Dpunta
histanzas was shsiisd, aud the Earth.
works Destroyed. Z -,
Copyright. 1sss, by tho Associated Press,l
ON THE FLAGSHIP OFF; HAVANA,
April 2s, 10 a. m, via Key West, April
ca-Tho bombardment OF the MatanxasI
batteries Is now q matter OF history
The flagship has returned to her station
Off El Moro. (, fisss 4
! Already briefly stated in these dls-
patches. tho bombardment accomplished
It's purpose. and that without any loss Of
life on the American side. It ID, be.
lleved the Spaniards must have sustain.
ed some loss OF life In addition to having
their nearly completed ,earthworls and
fortifcations torn up by the explosion
OF tshells. The capture OF the city was
not at all contemplated, the object be-
Ing TO stop the erection Of tho bnttcries.
This engagement. the first In which
the United States has participated for !
about thirty years, occurred quite unex-
pectedly. Tho New York was lying,
about twenty miles east OF Havana yes !
terday morning when Rear Admiral
Sampson decided to steam to Matanzas,s 4
At the entrance to the harbor the mon
itor Puritan and the cruiser Cincinnati
met the flagship. +, Y Il & u !,
| "A stiff wind was blowing and thef
waves poured over the low bow and )
stern OF the monitor. al slow speed the,
flagship proceeded toward the harbor,
the Puritan following half mile asternt
and the Cincinnati about two miles 10
the westward. Rear Admiral SampsonS
and Captain Chadwick stood on the !
high bridge, carefully surveying the
forts which had had the temerity to Are
on the United States topedo boat Foote.s
When about three miles from Punta
Gordo the extreme point OF the EASTERN
arm OF the harbor, q long yellow streak
was seen on shore. 1t looked like o!
newly erected earthworks. Closer in-
! spectlon revealed number Of men clus-;
tered around the shore. Still the New,
York steamed slowly ahead until II was
ascertained without any doubt that the
Spanish troops were busy in erecting
what seemed TO be a sand battery and
had already gotten several guns into po-
stion. 5li;.;ss
Rear Admiral Sampson decided that
this was detrimental to pacific block
ade. General quarters" was sounded
The men rushed 10 their guns. When
the New York was about 1000 yards
from Punta Gordo her helm was put to
starboard and commence firing" the
bugler blew. Naval Cadet Boone, In !
charge Of "waist.". the S-inch gun amid
ships on the port side, had the honor OF
firing the first shot. The flagship shook
from stem to stern as the first prc cjactile (
aimed by the United States at the shore
of, Cuba flew from the muzzle OF the big I
gun. This was at 1856 p. m.
Fifty pairs Of glasses were leyeled J
from the flagship at the shot. It SEEM
ed minutes before the yellow smoke \
cleared away. but in reality 1t was less
than five seconds. Then little cloud OF !
dust was seen to rise at the right Of the
earthworks. For the first attempt al
1000 yards 1T was BY no means a bod T
shot. Without the aid of glasses the OBJ
jecttve point could be clearly defined.
With deafening roar the S-inch gun In
the forward turret let ny It's iron mis- Z
sile. 1t landed high. The after turres
came next with the same sized projec-,
tile. A shout Of delight went UP from
the flagship as a dense cloud rose slowly
from the very center Of the earthworkn,
showing how true had been the aim.
1 Then from the entire port side q fear.s
full tusllade was poured on the shore, tho i
four turret guns firing almost simulta-
neously and the 4-in1h guns adding !,
their smaller hail. When the smoke
blew away Punta Gordo was dotted with
dust clouds that looked like miniature
geysers sprlnging suddenly from the Z
earth. Each showed where a shot had Z
struck. Ei iis ~.
AT this stage the guns In the Quintas
do Recreo battery were observed to beE
firing on the flagship. This fort Is on
the eastward arm OF the harbor, 1000
yards from where the flagship was ly-s
Ing. II was provided with four S-inch
guns. The flagship fire was at once d.
rected upon 1t. Up to this period tho /
New York had been In the firing alone.
Captain Harrington on the Puritan and 4
Captain Chester on the Cincinnati. had I
drawn up and were vigorously signals
ling for permission TO fire. When this s
was reported 10 Rear Admiral Sampson
he said: "All right; tell them to 60
| ahead" HE3 D tgff
So while the New York was commence
Ing fire on Quintas da Recreo, the Purt-!
tan took position to the eastward and (
opened on the same point The CInc!n-
natl went to the westward and pounded
q rapid fire broadslde into the earth
works on Punta Gordo. Occasionally
shots from Quintas da Recreo could be $
seen coming In the direction OF the New
York. All fell very short and at no
time threatened the ship. Only about
ter. shots are believed 10 have been fired
from this battery. 1t Is possible that It's \
guns may have been disabled, as two 81
inch shells were distinctly seen TO land &
squarely In the fort. It's distance from j
| the ship was so great and the smoke 4
which the wind took In Its direction 30
thick that II was hard to Judge the ef- s
feet OF tho fire and still harder to get
good aim. For about five minutes Z
Quintas da Recreo got the full benefit
of the port broadsides Of the New York
and Puritan. What its ultimate fatc
would have been Is hard to tell had NOT I
attention been diverted from It by a !
shell from Punta Gordo that whizzeo
over, the New York and fell O little short
OF the Cincinnati. q
Leaving oulntas da Recreo to the ten.i
der mercies OF the Puritan, which was \
still merrily banging away. Captain
Chadwick put his helm to starboarff un. Il
III the port battery once more bore on {.
the Punta Gordo earthworks Another
shell came from shore, wh!zzlng along 4
over. the flagship. TOO high, but bet 3
ter shot than thought they could Y
make" said m officer. Then the Cin-i s
cinnnti and the New York poured shot n
into the yellow carthworks and the sur-9S
rounding land until the smoke hid
everything from view. What became Of
the soldiers seen on Punta Gordo} ia not I,
known. Some declared they saw then, b
running TO the brow of the; hill, wheru 4
the field battery was thought to be sta. q
toned. But this, as well rs the estimate Il