Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1898-06-09
THE CORK IN THE BOTTLE.
Officials at the Navy Department
Satisfied That Sampson Purpose
ly Sacrificed the Merrimac.
THE SPARlARBS CLEAR The CHANNEL.
Blown Up with Dynamite by Admiral
Cervera, So to Permit Him to Escape
Should Admiral Camara Arrive in Cuban
Waters Relieve Blockaded ships.

WASHINGTON, June 5.-.The cork is
driven in the BOTTLE" was the COM
ment of the naval Off GERS at the navy
department this morning upon the
news of the sinking Of the collier Mer-
rimac in the channel at the entrance
Of Santiago harbor. They are abso-
lutely satisfied that the ship was sent
in by design of Sampson to close the
channel and prevent the escape of the
Spanish squadron and that the under
taking was successful. If so this will
rank one of the boldest achieve
ments in naval history. 1t will out
rank even Cushing's famous attack
upon the Albemarle with his little
torpedo boat That is the opinion at
the navy department at least. The
officers say that Cushing had a fight
ing chance to escape after making his
attack and he did indeed escape.
There was no such chance for
the men who took the Merrimac into
Santiago harbor under the guns which
Schley'S report described as of great
power and over nests of submarine
mines, anyone of which was sufficient
to crush in the bottom of the ship. 1t
is not possible now to learn who made
up this crew that is destined to be
famous in American history, for the
opinion at the navy department. is that
Admiral Sampson decided that no man
be ordered into such dangerous duty,
but that volunteers be called for.
There is no doubt, how ever, that at
least two of the o Ulcers were aboard,
namely Commander j. M. Miller, of
Missouri, and Assistant Engineer R.
&. Crank, of Texas. The captain
could be relied upon, it is
said, to stick to his ship to
the last and from what is known of
Crank's character, he would not be
likely to leave the ship, being the only
comm issioned officer on board. There
is only one opinion at the department
OF the courage of the man who coolly
stood at the engine levers down in the
hole and directly above the bot tom of
the ship momentarily expected to
come flying upward on the blast of a
mined torpedo.
One of the reasons that form the
basis of the conviction that the Merri-
mac was purpose1y sunk in the chan
mel is the fact that the ship was of
little value as a naval vessel She had
broken down in her machinery and
was kept at work only with difficulty.
Some of Crank's letters are at once
laughable and pathetic in their recital
of the trials and tribulations the
young officer suffered Che is about %
years old in his efforts to make the
machinery work at all This is just
the kind of craft that would be select
ed to block up the channel She is of
iron and therefore not likely to be
easily removed by the Spaniards
Then she was empty and so of no i'm
mediate value to the fleet
Another reason for believing that
the Merrimac was purposely sunk is
the small number of the crew aboard,
according to the reports There seems
to have been just enough men on her
to steer the ship and keep the engines
moving. The normal crew of the col
lier was about 40 men, so that the 9TH
ers must have been taken off in adj
vance. 1t is said at the navy depart
ment that there is no posi- bility that
| the American sailors captured by the
| Spaniards will suffer. They are not
spies in any sense. but prisoners of
war and so far there has been no dis
position shown by the Spaniards tc
mistreat such prisoners
AS to the change wrought in the
situation by this bold exploit, it is
| said that it will now be possible tc
draw off the larger part of the Ameri-
can fleet for service elsewhere than at
| Santiago. perhaps at San Juan de Porto
Rico or Havana for instance. a small
| force of say two monitors and a cruiser
| would.suffice to keep guard at Santiago.
| for all that is necessary now is to be
| able to bring enough guns to bear up
| on the channel to prevent the Span
| iards from attempting to clear away
| the wreck by the use of torpedoes and
to prevent the escape of the small tor
pedo boats that might be able to pass
over the Merrimac
| The spaniards Clear the Channel
| PORT AU PRINCE, June 5.-Further
| news received here from Santiago de
| Cuba confirms the reports that the
bonn bardment of that place began at
| three o'clock Friday morning. After
| the action the SpaDiards blew up with
| dynamite the sunken American collier
| Merrimac and have since been at work
| clearing the channel SO as to, in all
| probability, permit Admiral Cervera's
fleet to put to sea should
the Cadiz squadron, under AID
| miral Camara, arrive in Cuban
waters to relieve the blockaded
ships. In the meanwhile the dis
| patches from Santiago de Cuba say
| the Spaniards pay tribute to the au
| dacity of the americans in so cleverly
] attempting to block the channel Ac
cording to the Spaniards it would be
| foolishness upon the part of the Amer
| leans to attempt to force the harboI
| entrance, which is described as being
| long and narrow and thoroughly
/ mined, seemingly forming an insur.
| mountable barrier. There are great
| number OF insurgents in the vicinity