Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1898-07-15

Moro castle The stiffness OF DEAN pre-
vailed. II was so dark that We could
scarcely STE the headland. We hat
planned lo drop our starboard anchor at IA
certain point To the right Of the channel.
reverse our engi IT'S aud then swiug The
Merrimac ar und. sinking her directly
across the channel.
This plan was adhered 10, but crcum-
ST ,nces rendered its execution impossible.
When the Meirimac poked her nose into
the channel out troubles commenced.
The deadly silence was broken 10y the
wash of small boat approaching rs from
shore. made her out 10 hc picket
boat she ran close uu under the stern OF
lhe Merrimac and hred several shot from
what seemed to be thrcc-p FOUNDER guns.
The Mcrrimac's rudder was carried away
by this fire That is why the collier Was
not sunk acre IS tnc'channd.
We did not discover the loss of the
ruddcr until Murphy Ces. mcuor We
then found that the Merlimac would not
answer TO the helm and weie compelled TO
make she best Of the situation The run
up the channel was very exciting, The
picket boat had given the alarm in a
mCmtn. and The guns Of the NHcaya, the
Almirante Oquend6 and Of the shore bat
terles were turned upon us Submarine
mines and torpedo,s were exploded all
about MS. adding to The excitement.
The mines did no damage, although
we could hear rumbling and could feel The
ship lrem5le. We were running without
lights and only the darkness saved Us from
utter destruction. When the ship was in
the desired position and we found that the
rudder WIS gone | called the men on deck
and while they were launching the cata-
maran | touched off the explosives |
cannot say whether our own explosive or
he Spanish torpedoes did the work, but
the Merrimac WAS lifted out Of the water
and almost rent asunder. As she settled
down we scrambled overheard and cut
away the catamaran.
"A great cheer welt up from the forts
and warships as the collier foundered the
SpaniaIds thinking that the Merrimac was
IN American warship. We attempted to
ret out of the harb'r in the catamaran,
but strong tide Was running and day
light found us sill struggling in the
water Then for the first time the Span
lalds saw us and n boat from the Reina
Mercedes picned us up. II was then
shortly after ) o'clock in the morning and
we had been in the water more han an
hour. We were taken aboard the Rcna
Mercedes and later we sent to Moro
castle"
With regards to his eXpc fence as a
prisoner of war i'm Santiago liobson said
NO FUN IN ZORRO
During the first tour DAYS we were
prisoners Of war we were confined in
Moro castle and can assure you those
were extremely uncomfortable and dis
sreeable days. The Sp4niards did not ey-
actly ill-trtat us, but it took them some
time To recover from The snocH caused by
what most of them cUusidercd our Yankee
mpudence in trying to block the harbor
As ii result the officers ana men came in
to contact with us were gruff in speech
amt sulen in manner,
For Admiral Cervera | have nothing
but the highest admiration. HIS ac in
luiorm n Admiral sampson Of ,ur safety
II gard as that OF kindhearled, gener-
GUS man and chlvalrOus officer He re-
peatedb spoke to ne Of his admiration of
what he called one of the most daring acts
in naval history.
While we were in MORO castle we
were naval prisoners, but at the end of
Tour days We were transferred TO the
jurisdiction of the army and were remov,d
To the Relna Mercedes hospital on the
outskirts of Santiago, where we remained
until today. We knew but little of what
was going on in the city, though of course
we could always tel when our fleet was
bombarding the shore batteries, and we
could easily distinguish the terrific ex.
plosion caused by the Nesuyius throwing
dynamite shells. Several times at night
we were also fully aware that the land
batteries were fighting outside the city.
'One thing that L found out in the
hospital was that large number of Span
ISL officers were wounded in Fridays
fight, Tor many were brough to the hospi-
tai TO be treated Numbers of b. dly
aimed bullets came into the hospital win.
dows Friday, but do not believe anyone
was injured by them. Oar quarters there
were very tan and comfOl able and tie
food was fairly good.
HOBSUN a IIORSEMAN
In flct have no reason to complain
OF our treatment rs prisoners OF war. The
prejudice which the Spsnards showed
against us during the first few days
sool wore away. We conducted ourselves
properly and simply forced them to treat
us well. We kn.w nothing about the de.