The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1898-05-20

w lbll Aulllll dl lOdlupSOu ouudu-
ron, off San Juan, Porto Rico, via
St Thomas, Friday, May l3.-San
Juan is no longer a fortified base.
Part of Rear Admiral SIMPSONS
fleet poured, for three hours yester-
day morning, shot and she'll into
the Notifications, which, though
not silenced, were rendered in
effective.
The American sailors would like
to have continued shelling the San
Juan Notifications until they were
completely shattered, but Admiral
Sampson decided that sufficient
damage had been done to make the
port useless as fortified base.
In the bombardment two of our
men were killed and seven injured
How heavy the loss was among the
Spaniards is not known, but it is
believed to have been severe. The
two men killed were Frank Wide
mark, seaman of the cruiser NeW
York. William Ross, gunneNs
mate, of the monitor Amphitrite.
The enemy did some damage to
the battleship Iowa and the cruiser
New York, but neither Of these
ships came out of the conflict with
any serious scars. The other ships
were unscratched. Nearly all the
shots from the Spaniards went wide
of their mark. The enemy appeared
to be utterly deficient in the use of
the guns. This made our ships in
different to their reckless and in
effective cannonading, whose only
redeeming feature was its spirited
ness.
The American fleet approached
San Juan about 3 o'clock in the
morning. There were the New
York, Iowa, Indiana, Terror
Amphitrite, Montgomery and De
troit. The torpedo boat Porter and
the tug Wampatuck kept in the
rear.
Rear Amiral Sampson was on the
Iowa. He decided to move upon
the Notifications at 8 O'Clock
Shortly after that hour the signal
Clear for action!" was given, then
the order ITO general quarters"
The attack was directed on the
eastern arm of the harbor, where
there was good shore battery of 6
inch guns, as well as the less
effective Moro battery. The Iowa
began the fighting by throwing 8
shell from her l2-inch gun. She
quickly turned her broadside to the
shore battery and belched forth hel
tremendous missiles Of destruction.
Then the fight became general
The monitors poured frightfu
shower of shells into the fortifica'
tiOns.
At 7:45 a. m. Admiral Sampson
signaled: Cease firing Retire,
was sounded on the Iowa and sh,
headed from the shore. The
Terror was the last ship in the liht
and, failing to see the signal, banged
away alone for about half an hour
the concert of shore guns roaring al
her and the water flying high arOunC
her from the exploded shells. Blu
she possessed a charmed life anC
reluctantly retired at 8:l5.
AS at Matanzas, the unsatisfactory!
condition, the smoke and the dis
tance prevented any important con
clusiOns being drawn. The town o
San Juan must have suffered, al
though protected by the hills, as tn,
high shots must have reached it.
Sampson's Report.
WASHINGTON, May 13.-At 7:2
this morning the Navy Department
received the following dispatch from
Admiral Sampson. 1t is dated ST
Thomas, May II, and is as follows
"A portion of the squadron unde
my command reached San JuaI
this morning at daybreak. n
armed vessels were found in tn
port. AS soon as it was sufficient
light, 1 commenced attack upon tn
batteries defending the city. Thi
attack lasted about three hours, ant
resulted in much damage to the bat
teries, and incidentally to portion
of the city adjacent to the batteries
The batteries replied to our fire, bu
without material effect. One ma
was killed on board the New York
and seven slightly wounded in tn
: squadron. No serious damage t
any ships resulted.
"(Signed.) SAMPSON"