The times., 1898-07-09

had been treated while they were pris-
oners.
"Mr. Ramsden, the British consul. was
very kind to me on several occasions,
said Hobson. ''and so was the Spanish
commander. Nevertheless. you may be
sure am glad that all of our men came
through safely"
The exchange of Hobson and his men
was effected in return for three Spanish
officers and eight privates, who had been
taken as prisoners by the American
forces.
| saw Mr. Hohson, later in the even
ing, after he had made his report TO Adj
miral Sampson. and he consented to give
fuller interview about his experiences.
Being very modest, he does not fully real
ize the great sensation his exploit caused,
but he spoke in glowing terms of the
courage and bravery of his crew.
1--WE have been thirty-three days in a
Spanish prison." said Mr.. Hobson, land
the more / think about it the more mar
velous it seems that we are alive
at was about o'clock in the morning
when the Merrimac entered the narrow
channel and steamed in under the guns
of Moro Castle The stiffness of death
prevailed 1t was so dark that we could
scarcely see the headland. We had plan
ned to drop our starboard anchor at
certain point to the right of the channel,
reverse our engines, and then swing the
Merrimac around, sinking her directly
across the channel.
This plan was adhered to. but circum-
stances rendered its execution impossible.
When the Merrimac polzed her nose into
the channel our troubles commenced. The
deadly silence was broken by the wash of
a small boat approaching US from the
shore. | made her out to be picket
boat
''She ran close up under the stern of
the Merrimac and fired several shots from
what seemed to be 3-pounder guns. The
| Merrimac's rudder was carried away by
| this fire. That is why the collier was not
sunk across the channel.
eve did not discover the loss of the
rudder until Murphy cast anchor. We
! then found that the Merrimac would not
| answer to the helm. and were compelled
| to make the best of the situation
THE run up the channel was very ex-
! citing The picket boat had given the
! alarm, and in a moment the guns of the
! Vizcaya, the Almirante Oquendo and OF
| the shore batteries were turned upon US.
Submarine mines and torpedoes also
were exploded all about us adding TO
the excitement. The mines did no dam
| age although we could hear rumbling
| and could feel the ship tremble.
I'VE were running without lights and
only the darkness saved US from utter
| destruction When the ship was in the
| desired position and we found that the
rudder was gone | called the men on
deck. While they were launching the
catamaran l touched off the explosives.
: "At the same moment two torpedoSs,
fired by the Reina Mercedes. struck the
Merrimac amdships. l cannot Sc;
whether our own explosives or the Span
ish torpedoes did the work. but the Mer-
rlmac was lifted out Of the water and
almost rent asunder.
LAS she settled down we scra mbled
overheard and cut away the catamaran.
4 great cheer went up from the forts
and warshiEs as the hold OF the collier
foundered the Spaniards thinking tha,
the Merrimac was an American warship.
we attempted TO get out OF the harboI
in the catamaran. but strong tide was
running. and daylight found us still strug-
Cling in the water. Then for the first
time the Spanlards saw us. and boat
from the Reina Mercedes picked us up Il
then was shortly after O'Clock in the
morning, and we had been in the water
more than an hour. We were taker
aboard the Reina Mercedes and later were
sent To MORO Castle
In Morro we were confined in cells II
the inner side of the fortress and wer,
there the first day the feet bombardeC
Moro. | could only hear the whistling o
they struck, but I judged from the con
versation OF the guards that tAa shells
did considerable damage.
After this bombardment Mr., Ramsden
the British consul. protested, and W
We're removed to the hospital. There
was separated from the other men in ou
crew. and could see them only by spe
cial permission. Montague and Kelly fel
i'll two weeks ago, suffering from malaria
, and / was permitted TO visit them twice
Mr.. Ramsden was very kind to us
and demanded that Montague and Kell
be removed to better quarters in the hos
pital. This was done
"As for myself, there is little to say
The Spanish We're not disposed to do muc
for the comfort of any of the prisoner
> al first but after our army had take
8 some of their men as prisoners, on
; treatment was better. Food is scarce
the city, and was told that we fared bet
ter than the Spanish officers.