The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-04-29
IAN IMPORTANT Capture.
Valuable Prize Secured
Off Cuban Coast.
A BIG STEAMER SEIZED.

| piles supposed for the ~ Army
shots Aeros. Her Bow Have No IF
fees-A Threat To SINK Her stops the
Chase.
Key West. Fla, April 26-il;15 a.
| m.-The big Spanish steamship Psna-
| ma, of the Ceballos Line, which left
New York on April. 10Th for Havana
with a number of Spanish refugees ON
board and very valuable cargo, in
Guiding, it is understood, stores fog
the Spanish army. was captured. last
evening, about twenty miles from Ha~
vana by the little lighthouse tender
Mangrove. now belonging TO the mos
quito fleet. The Mangrove u
two 6~-pounders and four 3S-revolvers.
| She is in command of Lieutenant Conn.,
| mander w H. Everett, and has a crew
of thirteen men. The Panama is of
about $500 tons and a very valuable.
prize. The Panama is commanded by
Capt. Queyedo. She sailed from New
York lastWednesday heavily laden with
manifest showing her cargo to consist
of gacon, hams, Lard, beans, peas, corn,
bran, flour, hay, milling machines, etc.
She was cleared for Havana, Progreso
and Vera Cruz, by J. NJ. Ceballos g.
Co., the New York agents of the Trans
Atlantic Company of Barcelona, the
owners of the steamer.
When the Mangrove sighted the
Spaniard she ran up to her and fired
a gun across her bows. The liner did
| not take the hint and a second shot
,,@- G.~l l. r.
slowed down a little. A third shot was
fired across the bows of the a
at 100 yards, and the deck officer of the
Spanish vessel was hailed and notified
that if he did not heave-to a shot would
be sent through his vessel. This noti-
| fication caused the Panama to be
brought to.
| Ensign Dayton then boarded the
Spanish steamer and tool possession Of
her. The battleship Indiana steamed
up and Commander Everett notified
Captain Taylor, of the Indiana, that
he had captured the Panama and bor-
rowed a prize crew from the battleship.
consisting of Cadet Falconer and ff-
teen marines. The Mangrove was then
ordered to report To the flagship and.
Rear admiral Sampson told Command
er Everett to take his prize into Key
West.
The Panama is understood to have
thirty-nine passengers on board. AS
she ~rounded-to after the little Man
grove captured her, the latter, know
ing the Panama was an auxiliary
cruiser, expected to be fired upon. 1t
is not yet known whether the Panama
had guns on board.
The United States gunboat Newport,
Captain B.. F.. Tillay, has brought in
the Spanish sloop Paquete and the
Spanish schooner Pireneo, Cuban
coasting vessels, which she captured
off Havana this morning.
Captain Quevedo VAS grief stricken
and greatly Inundated because of the
apture The passengers declare that
they knew nothing of the blockade and
that when they saw the search light of
the Mangrove they thought it was the
light of a Spanish man-of-war. The
first hot changed their joy to appre-
hension; the second and third created
a panic. The women began screaming
for shelter from the enemy'S guns and
the captain locked himself suddenly in
his cabin.
Fortress Monroe, Va, April 26.-On
board the flagship Brooklyn, off For
tress Monroe, April 26.-The transport
Panther, with 500 marines, sailed today
for Key West, by the cruiser
Montgomery. The marines on the
transport crowded the decks in long
lines and, waving their hats, gave
vent to mighty cheers, while the sail
ors, marines, ever firemen on the big
Warships, crowded to the f~orecastles
and raised them with a will. The men
on the Montgomery Joined in the Choir
us and the cheers from ship
to ship, continuing until transport and
convoy were out OF hail.
Hardly had the pair gone han a
booming afar off announced another
approach, and the gunboat Nicksburg
came along on her way out, firing a
salute to the c~oxnmodore's flag. The
flagship doomed a seven gun answer
and then the men on the Vicksburg
swrarmed into the rigging and almost
lost their ats in their enthusiasm
Each ship. of the squadron returned
the cheer with a will n men went
back to their duties with a desire TO
follow he ships out.
The orders for the closing up Of the
harbor after sunset and until sunrise
went into effect fully tonight.
The morning on board the big ships
was spent i'm lively wor6 At a signal
from the flagship all of the vessels
cleared for action and engaged in sub-
calibre. practice In the afternoon sub
calfbre practice was continued aay the
flagship. The remarkable marksman-
ship of the men at the guns 10 a matter
Of much comment by the officers Eight
10-inch targets at 1000 yards bobbing
up and down on a ROLLING sea rere de-
moIished by ~sub-calibre shots in no
time, a pretty good indication OF the.
fate OF anything larger lat nay corae
this way. .r -
The gunboat Alliance. with its crew
Of 200 apprentice boys. went TO sea this
afternoon by permission of Commodore
Schley. Her destination was not gwen
but it is supposed that size has merely
gons to sea fog practice The guard
boats OF b squadron worked in a
heavy sea tonight, and in nasty
weather. The bloclcade was enforced
Tigfdfy by the combined forces OF the
boats of the army engineers at FortA
ress Monroe and the SQUADRON
launches. All went out well armed
n no vessel of any lind was allowed
to proceed. being ordered to lay anchor
until sunrise. A tramp speamer tried
to come in this afternoon, but after be-
- A