The Irish standard., 1898-06-11
spaniards Reply Vigorously for a
Time, But Are Forced to Re-
treat to the Town.
Believed to Have Abandoned That Position
Later-More About the San
tiago Battle.
of Their Cruiser Reinn Mercedes,
with Heavy Loss of Life.

Cape Haytien, Hayti, June o.-It is re-
ported here that great battle has
taken place at Caimanera, in the bay Of
Guantanamo. At half past five Tues
day morning five ships of the American
Squadron opened heavy bombardment
OF the Notifications of the town. There
was a perfect hail of bombs IN the bay,
striking and demolis'hlng many houses
beyond the Notifications.
On the Spanish side the artillery re-
piled vigorously, maintaining for some
time stout resistance. The fire from
the warships, however, never slackened
for an instant. twas regular and care
fully directed and great majority Of
the shots proved effective.
Spaniarls Driven Back.
The Spaniards We're forced to aban-
don their position on the shore and re-
treat to the town of Caimanera proper
Ut is supposed that later they fled from
this position also, with the habitants.
Information has reached here that the
Spanish at Santiago and Caimanera are
preparing for final desperate struggle
and are determined to resist the as
ia u1lS VI Tile americans 10 the last eX.
tremity.
Ordered to Burn the Town.
The commander of the district issued
orders Tuesday to burn Caimanera be-
fore yielding it into the hands of the
Americans. The latter forced the en-
trance of the bay of Guantanamo and
according to the latest advices from
'Caimanera, it was feared that the
Americans would make an effort 10 land
forces there Wednesday afternoon.
Measures to prevent this were taken by
the Spaniards. The American fleet was
still maintaining its position.
Cable communication with Cuba,
which has been interrupted for many
hours, was partially restored Wednes-
day afternoon, but it is still difficult and
precarious. The report of the bonn
jbardmcnt at Caimanera came by cable.
The bombardGnent destroyed little
house which sheltered the shore connec-
tlon of the French cable at Caimanera,
though whether by the explosion Of
bombs from the water or by explosives
used by party sent for that purpose,
IS not known. The cables uniting the
main cable with the office at Caimunera
and the town of Caimanera with Santa
go were cut, thus accounting for the
prolonged absence of intelligence here
As to operations in that vicinity. It is
also believed that the cable at Santiago
is cut, as no direct news from Santiago
has yet been received at Cape Haytien
ance Monday at midnight.
Operators Forced +o Flee
Even before the cables in Guantana-
mo bay had been injured so that they
could not be worked, the operators at
the Caimanera station were forced to
flee by the fire from the American war
ships. Up to this hour there has been
70 direct cable communication from
Santiago since Monday at midnight.
Land Attack Expected.
New York, June "a special from
Cape Haytien says the Americans and
insurgents have formed junction near
Santiago and that land attack on the
city is momentarily expected. The
Spaniards claim to have $4,000 seasoned
troops in Santiago. The special fur
ther says that Col. Thenuz, renowned
Austrian artl]erist in the Spanish serv.
ice, was killed in Mondays lombard
ment on the forts of Santiago harbor.
Reina Mercedes Sunk.
Madrid, June .. - 1t is officially ad-
mitted that the Spanish cruiser Reina
Mercedes was sunk by the fire of the
American fleet at Santiago de Cuba
on Monday. Five sailors and 20 ma
rines on board Of her were killed.
THE Reina Mercedes was a steel cruiser
built at Carthagena in 1887. She was over
1000 tons displacement. 27S feet 10 inches
long. AZ feet inches broad and drew 16
feet 8 inches of water. She had $500 in
qicated horsepower when completed was
qriven by one propeller and carried crew
OF about $40 men, Her engines. recently
bad been useless owing to her boilers Civ
4ng out. With the Alfonso XII and the
Reina Christina, the Reina Mercedes Of
late years has been used as a transport.
The three vessels were almost alike The
armament of the sunken cruiser consisted
Of six 62-inch Hontoria breech-loading
guns. two 27-nch Hontoria breech loading
guns. three siX-pounder quick firing guns.
two four-pounder quick-firing guns six
eight-poundcr rapid-frers, two machine
guns. and five torpedo tubes. She was
bark rugged and had one slnokestack Her
coal capacity was about 500 to COO tons
The Reina Mercedes was supposed to have
q speed Of about Ii knots. She had no pro
tective deckl
Vizcaya Reported Damaged,
J New York, June "a special from
Kingston, Jamaica, reports that the
Spanish cruiser Vizcaya and the torpedo
boat destroyer Furor were badly dam
aged during the bombardmen. of Santi-
ago's defenses on Monday. A she'll from
the Brooklyn is said 10 have burst under
the Nizcnva's r,rt t,.,,".,- a.. r,rtin,,