The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-05-21
Tue Stories Told by Americans lu,,
from that City.
HE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE inf lCrth
On the Fortiicntions varies Accora-
Ing to Different NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
i"rds Picking Up shells.

from san Juan, Porto Rico. saws that no
anu the ships steward were the only ones
Who went ashore during the steamers
'hlee hours' stay at the bombarded por,.
from what learned, twenty men wer.
Aiileu py American guns" said Captain
Lloyd "of these, six were moved down AT
the guns and others were laid out nv hurs,-
ms shells in the defenses No one wa, hurl
IN the town About sixty were injured all
in the forts.
Tie agent of the line, a naturalize1
american citizen, took me around the
town. shell from the American feat
struck the fourth story of the Hotel JnrIa
terra, Knocked off the whole roof and drove
the guests into the streets In their nigh,
clothes at 5;i5 a m. Flying over the forts.
good many shells had fallen into tn
iiatiahds, striking houses, some Of when
are now propped up to kesp them from
tumollng. saw a storehouse that bad hee,,
ilddled by an American shelf wh.ch ha
punctured the roof bored its wgy throueh
the lumber stored in the building peno-
"@'eu 'he Office and, emerging through a
rear door had knocked a hole in the hui,
OF Spanish merchant steamer, the Man
uella.
Spanish customs officer told me that
mis- father, soldier, had been killed while
aslaep in his bsd by one of the first sho.s
beloW the Notifications lie many she'll.
many of them still unexploded. The span
iards are picking them up and treasurlng
Them for mementos. See the presents the
Yankees sent US they tell their friends.
IF a man can speak only so much Eng
lish as yes or no his life is now in
peril in San Juan. Secretary Bett of the
English consulate told ne that hrs /,
much discussion among the consular cf;..
Gals at San Juan as to whsther the BON
parchment will stand the test of interna
tonal law. qs no notice wss given"
Among the passengers on the Arkaia
was a. V. Drake. for three years sscre-
tary to NJ. Vadri.ne. Uaited States con-
sular agent al Mayaguez; William Cantrell
an Englishman and Nlcolai NJ gwinoff, a
rative Of Russia but an American citizen.
Mr.. Drake was the last native born Amer
icar to leave the island of Porto Rice
Mr. Drake said. The agent from when
learned of the bombardment lived out
side the city, but awakened by the heavy
oannonading, he got up and watched tie
engagement from a safe distance, One YES
sci, which h said he believed was the
Iowa left the fleet and, accompanied by a
smaE boat. steamed fairly under the euis
of Moro. She stationed the small boat
and going slowly around it, let fly her
shells al every revolution This was &c
tually so close that the guns on the forth
hcatons could not be trained On the war
ship and vol.eys Of muskstry were show
cred on her. Soon the fleet was envelopel
in such bank of smoke that the Moro
guns must have been absolutely helpless,
Under cover of the smoke the daring vessel
joined the fleet
Another daring warships was, believed
TO be. the monitor Terror She, too came
within easy range of the shore guns and
every shot from her seemed to have taken
effect. Once. when the seas were breaking
over here deck, the gunners on MORO, I'M
used to her tyre, cried in slee: See. we
have sunk her.!
According to Spanish reports, there were
eleven Spanish soldiers killed and one gun
dismounted Conflicting stories OF the
number killed in San Juan were current.
1t was reported socn after the fleet had
left that six had met death. but later re-
ports put the number at nine. and these,
1t is said. were the men at the guns. Sew
eral shells struck the town. but ] have
not been able to learn that any persons
were killed by them. Another shell went
through large warehouse on dock, shat
tering a timber pile and lodging in the
side plates of the Spanish mail steamer,
Manuela 1t nearly sunk her
1T seemed strange to me that the Amer
lean fleet did not continue the lombard
ment until all the Notifications were de-
molished The pilots who boarded US on
Sandy Hook said that the fleet had gone
to San Juan to engage the Spanish heet
and his statements goes to explain the in
cidents of tho attack.
"a quantity of small shots were fred In
the harbor at first to draw out. as | now
understand any Spanish warships that
might have been there. Although there
were in San Juan at the time the cruisers
Isabel II and Alfonso XIII and the gun
boat Concho not one OF them look gu!
part in the engagement, and the American
vessels retired
After 1t was all over the Alfonso ALL
nut to sea 10 give up to the Americans, as
was learned afterwards She returned in
three hours alone. | saw the same liner
about fifty miles away off Fajardo. on FIJI
day morning She was cruising to the
southeast.
There was much surprise in San Juan
when the American feet retired. II the
warships had continued their attack two
hours longer. the town would have sur,
rendered. The authorities. both naval ana
military. were unable to say how much
damage had resulted to the American
ships, but it was not generally believed IN
San Juan that the fleet had been COM
PEELED to withdraw from the hre OF the
Notifications.
There was much disappointment, TOO
that ths Spanish feet had not arrived 10
protect the town. The warships had been
looked for every day for two weeks preced-
ing the bombardment and there were sew
eral British vessels unloading coal for the
feet when we were at San Juan. The guns
which ws saw OIL the Notifications In en-
tering the barber seemed to be OF ancient
Design and I am told that what modern
guns tbs Spaniares have left are not n
fighting order. Several Krurp guns, which
were landed at San Juan year ago, were
not removed from the wharf until coupe
Of weeks ago. Under Spanish sovereignty
the authorities 81 Porto Rico are anything
but hopeful There Is little money IN circu-
"a