The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1898-05-18
THE OREGON.


in various quarters concerning the
safety of the United States warshlp
Oregon, which is making the Journey
from San Francisco to Key West
around South America. The Span
ish war vessels, it is claimed, have
been on the lookout for her at nearly
every port at which it was alleged
she would stop on her way from the
Pacific ocean, and this gave rise to
grave fears for her safety, and as the
days passed by these fears we've
increased and intensified.
The last time she was heard from
was at Rio de Janeiro, from which
place, to the point where the steam
ship line from the Cape de Verde
intus cts the route is 1850 miles;
from the same point of intersection
to the Cape de Verde islands, is only
1900. Therefore, it was perfectly
possible for the Spanish fleet to cut
off the Oregon and engage her, and
this was rendered easier by The fact
that the Spanish ships were far
superior in speed, aHd would have
time to get in the Oregon's path and
send out small boats to look for her.
But should the Spanish feet run
across her they will find that they
have run into hornets nest. She is
accompanied by two other vessels
which makes a formidable fleet
which the following will show:
In the meantime the Oregon and
the Marietta had been joined by the
powerful dynamite cruiser Nictheroy,
(aow called the Buffalo,, which the
United States had purchased from
Brazil. The Nictberoy is IS knot
cruiser: her displacement is 1866
tons, length $50 feet, beam 4S feet,
and she carries a powerful anna
ment, as follows:
Zone Is inch dynamite gun Claim
ed to be the most powerful agent Of
destruction on any vessel afoat).
"One 4, 7 inch rapid fire gun, two
3 9-ipch 1-pounders, and four Howell
torpedo tubes.
The Nictberoy is unique and can
not be classified. She adds an ele-
ment of power to the destructive
agencies of the Oregon the exact
force of which is hard to calculate.
The Oregon herself is not
matched, naval experts claim, by any
battleship outside the British navy.
Her awful armament of four huge
13-inch guns, eight inch and four
G-inch breechloading rifles, together
with 20 Founders and six l pound
ers, both rapid-Gring, make her the
embodiment of death riding the
waves. Besides she carries no less
than six torpedo tubes of the most
modern design. A single proiectile
from one Of her 13-inch guns, planted
squarely in the body of Spanish
warship, would settle that ships fate.
The vessel hit would quiver like an
oak riven by thunderbolt, careep
violently from the blow for a brief
space, and then rapidly settle to the
bottom. 1t is hardly necessary to
remark that the craftsmanship Of
her gunners is Of that deadly accu-
racy for which American gunners are
famous the world over. The armor
of the Oregon, moreover, is 1Sinches
thick on the sides, and renders her
almost, if not quite, impenetrable by
any gun in the Spanish fleet.
$50 with all this, and the MIC
tberoy spouting her dynamite like a
volcano in action, it is by no means
settled that the entire Spanish fleet
could get the better of the Oregon,
but rather it is to be expected that
in any event the Spanish fleet would
come out of the encounter so much
crippled that it would be at Samp-
sons mercy. 1t seems to be the
settled policy of that slippery fleet to
avoid an encounter for the present:
and one must conclude from it's
action that it desires to get under
the guns of Moro castle and Santa
Clara before hazardiDg an engage
ment.
500 Reward 500,