Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1898-06-09
SANK A COLLIER.
Spaniards D Demolish One of Schley's s
Vessels.
Second Attack Santiago de Cuba Is Re-
ported to Have Resulted in the Loss of
the Steamer Merrimac-Eight of
Her Crew are Sail to Have Been
Captured by the Enemy.

Cape Hattie Haiti, June 4.-The
American fleet, acc ling to advices
received by cable from 7"ntiago de
Cuba, the cable being under Spanish
CO. .fol, opened fire again at 3 o'clock
rriday morning on the Notifications
and warships. The cannonade was
well sustained until 4 a. IN. One of
| the United States auxiliary cruisers,
well armed, attempted to force the
passage into the harbor. The Span
| iards allowed the cruiser to cross the
| first line of torpedoes, but before she
arrived at the second line they dis
| charged at her a torpedo, which broke
| great hole in her side and caused her
| to sink almost instantly, bow first.
| One officer one engineer and six sail
| ors were made prisoners by the Span
| iards.
A dispatch from Santiago says the
| vessel sunk is understood to be the
Merrimac. Only the eXtremities of her
| funnel and two masts are visib above
| the water. The Santiago advices in
| referring to the sunlen vessel as an
| auxiliary cruiser, probably mistake
| her character The Merrimac is col
| lier.
Port au Prince, Haiti, June 4.-Fri-
| day morning at o'clock the American
squadron again began a bombardment
| of the Notifications of Santiago de
| Cuba and lively cannonade ensued
| for two hours which silenced the Span
| ish batteries.
| An American vessel, the Merrimac,
| described in advices from Santiago de
| Cuba as an auxiliary cruiser, in max
| ing a dash to force the entrance, sue
| ceeded in passing the first line of de
| fenseS. but was tOrpedoed about SOC
| feet up the channel. She went down
''perpendicularly. An officer, an en-
| gineer and six seamen were taken
| prisoners. The number of victims Is
| unknown. Only the funnel and r.sst-
| heads of the sunlIen vessel can be sen.
There is great excitement il the
| city. A part of the population assisted
| in the fighting on the heights. Every
| body is astounded at the audacity of
| the American vessel. The American
squadron was cruising all the while in
| the otfing.
1t will be noted that there IS an i'm
portant discrepancy as to the time at
| which the bonn bardment is said to have
begun, between the dispatches from
| Cape Haitien and Port au Prince, the
former saying o'clock and the latter s..
Baltimore, June 4.-The Merrimac
| was purchased by the government
| from the Lone Star Steamship Co. The
| transfer was made in this city early in
| April. She was formerly the Norwe-
| gian steamer Solveig and was nearly
destroyed by fire at Newport News in
| 1896. She was $50 long, A feet beam
and had net register of 2,l93 tons.
| The Merrimac left Norfolk, where she
| about a month ago.
Off Santiago, Cuba, June 3, by the
dispatch boat Wanda, via Kingston,
| Jamaica. Rear Admiral Sampson with
| the cruiser New York his flagship ac-
companied by the battleship Oregon,
| the cruiser Maytiower and the torpedo
| boat Porter, joined Commodore Schley's
squadron off Santiago Wednesday
| morning and their combined commands
| nave the Spanish fleet securely locked
| in the harbor
Admiral Sampson left the heavy
| monitors and light gunboats off Car
denas on Monday morning. Under
| command of Commodore Watson, the
monitors and gun boats returned to re-
| inforce the blocka ade on the north coast
| of Cuba Admiral Sampson did not as
sumo command or amalgamate the
| squadronS on his arrival Each squad
| ron retains its separate entity.