Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-05-14
AMERICAN VESSELS TRAPPED.
L4rea Eafo Havana Hxsaor aa9 FI-~S CPoz
b. Spanish Barrerfes-Bsf Karin
maaship sased Them

-Ar cotton LLeT zALtr4 L - 14l
Wo1.6 1ai-A trap / snail schooner
was sen ont from Havana h4rboi
shortly before daylight TO draw
suD Of ile A1-a1s into the
s1hEsssas- TIE Fuse worked Tx.
a charm TIE Fstsburx and the
Merrill IA .-e heat II tas
chase and IN sas-r s9a;eng. f1- span
a1 GUNNER walked straight into .as
trap that had been 80: for them.
Had The s~Pa4A.Is possessed their
n patience bg; I'VE minutes
.g1ger- a0s even the bad gun practice
would have saved ozr ships and tbi.
morning tvo 19r= Of oar vzsse-s would
lie - the bottom within two lengths
q tae wr4ez u the l..s.4rr-l Maine.
Friday eTeGing the NiezsourE add
the morrill, cruising 10 TIRE west o.
MORO castle were fred upon BIZ the
Big guns Of the Coinar batteries
Two shots were fired az the Ficxsburr
and ore at The Morrill, B1ch fell short
and botL vessels without returning .hs
tire steamed out u ralze. !. would
have been folly 10 have done otherwise
Bat yesterday n0rl.l. the Slzn.ar1s
had better luck Iae sca5ole. ths7
had sent ont before daylight ran of 10
the eastward. huZgiag the shore with
the wind on her st4rbca-d quarter.
AbyE, three mixes cas-. Of the IN.
trance q the har6or she came over On
tie Po-t ,zcs. 4 light haze tri1reI
the lgclz5n, and she wa, ug, t.s-1v.
cred ul.l three miles OH s1o-s, when
the Nayd9we- made her ol. and sig.
nailed the Morrill, AMI Vicss5ar-
Capt Smith o.. the MJ--l.s.azd Com.
maEle- Lilly Of the Vie.sourg i'm
H~edate.y slapped On a.. steam and
started In pursuit.
The Morrill, aud Vicss5u-g were
about SIX miles from the schooner when
tile chase began They steamed after
her at full speed, the Morrill, leading
until within q mile aud q hall OF ta-
santa Clara batteries Commando
saith. oi the Flc1s5lr2. was the ars.
~ realize the danger into which the
reckless pursuit had led them tie
concluded it was time 10 haul OFF. and
seat o slo. across the bow Of the
seI.
Iae spanish skipper instantly
brought his vessel about. but while
SIZE was still. rolling in the trough Of
the sea with her sails Tapping. an :
men sArapnel she'll came hurting
through the air from the water bat
teFg- = mile and = half aryav. 4.
passed over the Morrill, between the
ply.HJuae and the smoE4,tack and
exploded les, than 30 feet a the DJr:
quarter. The small shot ratified
against her side. Il was a close call.
Two more shots followed In quick
succession. both snrapneL One 5ur.,
close under the starboard quarter. fill
lng the engine room with the smoke Of
the explosion Of the shell. and the
other. ike the first, passed over and
exploded just beyond The Spanish
ganners had the range and their time
fuses were acc .rateiy set. The crews
u both ships were at their guns.
Lieut.. Craig, who vas in charge OF the
bow i-inch rapid-are gun Of the Nor.
rIlI- asked for and obtained permission
70 return the fire. At the first shot the
E~cGsDGrg which was in tine wake Of
the Morrill,, slightly in shore. sheercd
of and passed to windward under the
MorrIlls stern.
In the meantime Capt. Smith al.o
put his helm to port, and was none too
soon. for as tAc Morrill, stood off, a
solid SINGH shot grazed her starboard
quarter and kicked up tons OF water as
1t struck a wave 100 yards beyond.
Capt. smith said afterward that this
was u%ndoubted 3 an 3.inch armor pierc.
ing projectile, and hat it would have
passed through the Morrills boilers
had he not changed her course in the
nick OF time.
All the guns Of the water battery
were now at work. One Of them cut
the Jacobs ladder Of the Vick,bur,
adriit n another carried away a por.
ton OF the rigging. As the Morrill,
and the N~icksburg steamed away their
AT guns were used, but only a few
shots were fired. The Morril's 5-incb
gun was elevated for 1000 Yards. and
struck the earthworks repeatedly.
The Spaniarjs continued TO fire shot
and shell for 20 minutes, but the shots
were Ineffective. some of them were
50 wild that they aroused the Anert
$500 % &c.
can "Jackies' to jeers. The Spaniard.
only ceased firing when the Morrill,
and Nicksburg were completely o OF
range.
If all the Spanish gunners had beer
suffering from strabismus their prac.
tice could not have been worse. But
the officers Of both the Morrill, AND
S~icksburg frankly admit their own
recklessness and the narrow escape Of,
their vessels from destruction. Tho
are firmly convinced that the pursuit
OF the schooner was 4 neatly planned
trick which almost proved successful
The accurate range Of the first few
shots IS accounted for by the fact tina,
the Spanish officers had ample time to
make observations. The bearings of
the two vessels were probably taken
with a range finder at the Santa CIa "a
battery, and as this battery is probably
connected by wire with MORO thay
were enabled to take bearings from
10Th points, and BY laborious calcuIa
tons they fixed the positions of the
vessels pretty accurately. With sucb
opportunity Tor observation it would
nave beer no great trick for an Ameri.
can gunner TO drop a shell down tho
snokestack Of a vessel within snch
close range.
AS soon as the ships sheered of.
after the first fire, the Spanish gun.
ners lost the range and their practice
became ludicrous. IL they had waited
hFe minutes longer before opening ft.
Capt. Smith says it would have bean
we'll nigh impossible to have missed
the target.
Later IN the day the Morrill, captured
the Spanish schooner Espana. bound
for Havana, and lowed the prize tn
Key West.
On Friday the French school shin
frigatte Dobourdieu, carrying 30 puns
In all, entered the harbor of Havana
saluting as she headed in.
Lett Manila to the Mercy of the Ameri-
vi mn AIa.,C