Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-07-15

COMMODORE Schley was sitting unOer
the awning ON the quarter deck. Going
to the bridge he said, Raise the signal
to the fleet" and turning 10 Captain
Cook. who stood near he said. Clear
the ship for action" Then he went for
ward and took his place on a little plat
form of wood running on the outside Of
the coming tower.
At lU.ll the Spanish ships had all con-
centrated their shots ON the Brooklyn
and she was i'm perfect rain Of shells.
most of which went over her. Standing
in this hail of shells, Commodore Schley
asked young man named Ellis. who
stood near him with a stedimeter,
What is the distance to the Nizcaya?"
The man took the observation.
Twenty-Five hundred yards. sir" ne
said. and there was whistle, followed
by a splash, as his head was literally
torn from his shoulders by an eight
inch shell Too bad, said Commodore
Schley as the body fell at his feet; and
then with his glasses to his eyes, he
added. The first ship is done for; she is
running ashore
The other vessels at this time were
miral SampsOn's flagship, the New York,
was not in sight. Atll:l5 the Brooklyn
slightly injured by the hail OF Spanish
shells, stopped firing and the chase be.
gan. The men came up on deck and be-
gan To cheer, never needing the whistle
Of the Spanish shells. They cheerrd foi
Schley and Cook and for the Oregon:
and the Orcgon's men returned the
cheer. Up to the masthead of the Ore
gon went a pennant. Remember the
Maine. read the signal officer. Tell
them We have said Schley. and there
was roar as the answer went up.
The chase was in fun force at 11:55,
the men out on the decks watching with
great interest and as happy as larks.
The Colon. at a distance of five miles,
| hugged the shore: but Schlry ordered
the Oregon To follow her and then. with
the Brooklyn, he made a straight course
for Cape Cruz, around which she would
have To steer on a long detour to get
away. All three ships were pumping
along at great speed. the smoke pouring
out of their tunnels In an hour the
, Brooklyn had gained appreciahly and 50
had the oregon, and Captain Clark of
The latter ship signalled over: "A
strange ship looking like an Italian in
the distance" He alluded to the fact
| that the Christobal Colon was bought
| from Italy. Schley, sitting on the edge
/ of The forward eght-inch turret. swing
/ ing his legs and happy, said: Tell the
| Oregon she can try one of those l3-inCh
/ railroad trains on her There was a
/ terrible roar as the big shell went bv
| the Brooklyn: moment Of suspense
! and watching, and then a hearty cheer
as the big thing struck the water close
astern Of the Colon four miles away.
! Another was tried. which reached the
! mark, and there were more cheers,
! Then the Brooklyn opened her forward
| and starboard eight-inch guns and one
| shell was seen to go through the Colon
at the top of her armored belt.
| At l:05 p. m. both the Brooklyn and
! the Oregon We're pounding away at the
! Colon and in another 10 minutes. after
! returning the fire in a desultOry sort of
! way and rapidly losing ground, she
! turned toward the shore. At lis she
/ hauled down her flag With yells of
/ delight the men poured out of the tur-
rets of the two ships. and. when a broom
went up at the mainmast of the Brook
| lyn, they began to cheer and did not stop
/ for 10 minutes.
At this time the only ships in sight
were the Vixen, about five miles away,
and the Texas about seven miles away.
The New York was not in sight. As
the big ships moved in on the quarry.
the smoke Of the New York could be
! seen coming over the horizon from the
east but she was fully - miles away.
A boat was lowered from the Brook
lyn, and Captain Cook went aboard to
receive the surrender. The rear admiral
in charge said with tears in his eyes:
| Il surrender uncu IitiOnally to Com
| fnoGore Schley. w were badly hurt
and could not get away" While Cap
tain Cooks boat was coming alongside
the Spanish captives shouted Bravo
Americana" While Captain Cook was
returning to the Brooklyn the New York
with Admiral Sampson came along, ran
in between the Brooklyn and the prize.
and ordered Captain Cook to send the
| prisoners on board the New York
Commodore Schley, seeing this, mega
phoned over, 81 request the honor of re-
ceiving the surrender of the officers of
the Chrstobal Colon
No answer was vouChsafed him from
the New York, and the ship that had
not fired a shot took the honOrs Com
modore Schley then raised the pennant,
"A glorious victory has been won; de-
tails later" The answer from the New
York was, Report your casualties
IF we could have gotten by the Brook
lyn. and l believed we could" said Ad-
miral Cervera to Commodore Schley and
Captain Evans in the cabin of the Iowa,
4 could have gotten away. My orders
| to cnnrpnfrnt o fire ON the Brook lun urnrn