The San Francisco call., 1898-04-28

o'clock in the afternoon. The first shot was fired from the New York's eight inch gun amidships, on the port side. It is under Cadet Boone. The barbo,. or Matanzas is protected from sea bv long low strip of land covered with managua-
 on this point a battery has been placed, and for the last few days the officers of the Puritan and Cincinnati have observed mef working on the ramparts and placing guns in posi- tlon This fact was reported to the admiral, and the bombardment of to- day was to clear the point of this fort. When the call came to general quarters the flagship was 4OOO yards off shore. The Puritan was about 1000 yards side and the Cincinnati lay still an- other thousand yards out, moving slowly to the starboard of the ship.
 Admiral Sampson and Captain Chad wick were on the forward bridge throughout the bombardment The bullseye at which the first gun was trained was a long rampant of yellow earth about 200 yards long. With a glass it was quite possible to see groups of men moving about upon it The first shot fell about a hundred yards to, the right of this bank, and the managua bushes were thrown ur into the air in cloud of yellow sand The second shot came from one of the S-inch guns in the forward turret which is under command of Lieutenanr fall edge of the point 200 yards to the lief of the fort, but its sister gun followed it like a reverberation of the first anC struck the fort fair in the center witl projectile twenty-five inches long weighing 25O pounds.
 The earthworks rose in the air like 2 geyser of muddy water and the work O. many men for three days was demol ished as completely and as suddenly as though an earthquake had swal- lowed it up. How many of those men were demolished with the earthworks or what guns were dismantled it was impossible to see. Simultaneously with this third shot battery in a fort or the further side of the harbor opened on the warships, and guns from al parts of the ship returned the fire. Ii was impossible to keep count of them
 The smoke as it drifted back over the ships superstructure and between decks made it almost difficult to tell which of the shots had reached the shore.
 Not more than five or six shots from the forts came near the flagship. One shot fell about hundred yards to the stern, another fell short by a hundred yards and a shrapnel shell broke almost overhead. There were no casualties among the seamen. Of course the fact that the ship was prepared for this and stripped for action, and that every un- necessary piece of iron work and wood work had been removed accounted for the little damage done by the concus- sion of her great guns.
 This was the first one of our greatest warships which has gone into action, and it was interesting to note the per fectness of discipline that obtained. Officers gave their orders in voices hardly raised above that of every day, The men laughed when the shots struck home, but there was no cheering nor greater show of excitement than at practice. At the same time the deck ot the superstructure heaved, and where your correspondent stood on the for ward bridge back of the turret the con- cussion of her guns made the ear drums jingle, and the smoke filled the mouth and nostrils of the officers and dimmeC their eyes so that it was for a second at time impossible to see or speak.
 KEY WEST, Fla, April 27.-The re- suit of the engagement created the greatest enthusiasm among officers and men, and increased-if that Is possible the desire to take a crack at Morrc Castle. Within ten minutes after the engagement had ended the special dis patch boat was alongside the New York and congratulations were extended tc Admiral Sampson, who returned his compliments. He requested the Smitf to carry the official dispatches report ing the battle to Key West So il was the Herald and Call that brought the news to President Mckinley, as we'll as to millions of readers.
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 SnaniSh Croft CaiIc Cuddoy1-