The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-25

to chase some vessel. The object of
her pursuit was soon made out, stand
ing well in toward the coast. The flag
ship, the cruiser Marblehead and the
gunboat Wilmington Immediately turn
Ell out of course to head the warship
off. The remainder Of the squadron
proceeded to the westward. Smoke
poured from our ships. The flagship
was making eighteen knots, the whole
vessel throbbing with the vibrations OF
her twin screws. The little Whining
ton steamed up in splendid style and
the fast cruiser Marblehead kept near
ly abreast. The formidable trio bore
down upon the warship. Then shout
went up:
''she Is Spaniard."
For the next ten minutes the ex-
element was terrific. The distance
which separated the vessels rendered it
impossible to make out the warship's
identity. She was thought to be the
Vizcaya or the Almirante Oouendn
heading hard for Havana.
The men at the guns shouted with
glee. The stokers off duty below
cheered vociferously and begged to be
allowed to go on deck to help shoot
at the first armed enemy met. The
officers crowded on the quarter deck,
as elated as the men. though under
better control The bugler blew gen
eral quarters" All hands flew to their
posts. Down came the shrouds with
rattle. The life lines vanished from
the deck. Rear Admiral Sampson.
standing on the bridge, said deliberate
ly to Capt. Chadwick, Yes, the
Oquendo or the Vizcaya," and then
added: II should like to bag them
BOTH
Then it was seen that the chase was
Axy;ro toI; DIT -;
proof that behind her still invisible
guns Spaniards were not concealed,
ready to shoot under advantage of
subterfuge. All the guns on the New
York'S port side and in the forward
and after turrets were trained on the
stranger. A few minutes later, when
about 1900 yards separated the New
York from her target, the American
flag was run up by the warship. and
then it was known she was not a Span
lard.
First Salute.
A puff of smoke issued from her
sides, and the boom of a gun sounded
across the waters. It was only sa-
lutte. but at first many on board
thought Rear Admiral Sampson had
been deceived.
But the warship fired fifteen guns
as salute, WHICH was returned by the
flagship, which also flew an Italian
flag. The stranger was then made out
to be the Giovanni Bausan, a powerful
cruiser. Without further formalities.
she pursued her course and entered
Havana harbor.
Thus an exciting incident ended in
disappointment, but it served to show
how anxious all hands are for a real
fight, and how splendid the discipline
is when contingency seems imminent
The salute of the Giovanni Bausan
had scarcely been returned before
schooner was seen on the coast The
torpedo boat Porter, which had been
following close to the flagship was dis
patched to capture her. The Porter
fairly flew through the water, and,
after few shots fired from her one
FOUNDER, the schooner Mathilde hove
to. Capt. Fremont did his work we'll
and quickly. When he towed the Ma
thilde back to the flagship, it was
found she was from Sierra Morena
east of Cardenas, and bound for Ea-
vana, laden with sugar and manned
by Spanish naval reserve men, thus
proving quite a good prize. The cap
tain> of the schooner was brought on
board, and the Mathilde was towed
back to Key West by the Dauntless.
The New York, later in the afternoon.
rejoined the squadron, and a vigilant
patrol was kept up at distance of
from six to ten miles from Ell MORO
The castle and the surrounding forti-
fications could be plainly seen, without