Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-05-21
zine out Of commission. Fortun

CINE out OF commission. Fortuh-
il was the aft boilers and engine whcih
were being used. The accuracy of the
Spanish gunners in this case is ac-
counted for ny the fact that buoys in
c%oncentric circles had been located in
the upper bay 10 give them an exact
range. When the guns were trained
on the Wilmington they either over
shot or their shells fell short.
Fragments Of. bursting shells, how.
ever, were time and again showered
upon the decks of the Hudson and Will
mington, but not a man was touched
aboard either ship nor q piece of rig
ging carried away. Two dents were
found in the Wilmington ne"r the port
bow after the action, but Captain Todd
thinks they were made by shells burst
ing in shore. lie says he fired over 100
shots before the guns were silenced.
The shore guns used smokeless DOW
der and their location could only he
judged by the flashes. AS the fire Of
the Wilmington was directed AZ them
and at the gunboats lying i'm the shell
ter Of the moles, many Of her shells
plowed their way through the lower
part OF the city, which was all ablaze
when the action ceased and the Hud-
son towcd out the crippled torpedo
boat.
The fire spread through the city and
for half the night the lurid glare of
burning buildings dyed the heavens "a
blood red. Considering the fact that
a perfect storm Of shot and shell vas
being poured in upon the Winslow, the
officers of the Wilmington consider
her escape from complete destruction
little short Of miraculous. Had any of
her torpcdocs cNlodcd or had the shot
which penetrated her forward boiler
passed through the one in use she
would have been blown TO atoms.
Killing OF Ensign BagIcy.
It. was practically the last shot that
killed Ensign Baglcy. The firing from
shore had almost ceased. lie had gone
up 10 the forward coming tower,
where his wounded commander lay
stiIi gallantly directing the action OF
his torn and riddlcd vessel and had
congratulated him.
i am glad we are wen out said he,
"but | am awfully sorry you were hit"
He then moved aft 10 the ]1-poundcr,
" ~ 81 SA'AlD VI 'IiNios F'llll'b anu
the negro mess attendant stood, and
was killed.
The engagement seems TO havc dem
onstrated the advantage Of the use OF
smokclcss powder in shore batteries in
the present state Of naval warfare,
which involves engagement at long
range, and the further fact that the
Spaniards, unless their harbors are
mined or the range actually deter
mined in advance, as was the case in
the firing at Santa Clara on the Nicks-
burg, seem absolutely incapable of ac-
curatc gunnory. At pot shooting they
have thus far dOuc as well as Il boy
would with a gun aG rest on Il rail
fence. TO hit a moving target, like
wing shooting for a small boy, il is
quite a different matter.
The ruins OF the signal station on Di-
anacay, which was destroyed by a force
of marines from the MaChias after an
engagement Wednesday afternoon
were visible from the Kate Spencer yes.
tcrday morning.
Captain Todd expected to destroy the
signal station Un Key BlancG yestcI'
day. The channel in the vicinity of
the sunkcn SlOOpS was examined for
evidences of mines, and a mass Of tan
glcd rope running of in both direc-
lions was found, evidently laid 60 look
like mine wire. When brought to the
surface it, proved TO be a mere bluff.
During the firing on Wednesday two
trains probably loaded with refugees
left Cardcnas.
Captain Todd thinks the guns ana
munitions Of war brought from Spain
by the MOutserTat. which managed to
get through the blockade into Cien-
fucgOs, have been distributed between
CardCnas, Matanzas and Havana, and
he has also reason b. believe that the
Alfonzo XIII. has been stripped of her
guns. The guns Of her main battery,
thinks, have been mounted in old
Queens battery on the bluff back Of
castle, and the guns of her sec.
ondarv batteries have been divided he
tween Mataulas and Cardenas. The
officers OF the Wilmington think the
loss Of life and the destruction OF prop
crty in CaTdcnas must have been heavy.
They venture no opinion as to whether
any of the Spanish gunboats were de-
stroycd, although the shells fell thick
about them. Some of the men claim to
have seen q shell explode aboard the
gunboat Of the three. Th"y
say that when it struck the smoke
stack il went up in the air and the
whole vessel was lifted and seemed To
have been completely shattered. They
believe she must have sunk at her
D,pprippC |