The evening times., 1898-07-08

Being very modest. he does not fully real
ize the great sensation his exploit caused.
but he spoke in glowing terms of the
courage and bravery of his crew.
I'VE have been thirty-three days in a
Spanish prison.. said Mr.. Hobson, "and
the more / think about 1t the more mar
velous 1t seems that we are alive.
at was about o'clock in the morning
when the Merrimac entered the narrow
t.. channel and steamed in under the guns
of MORO Castle. The stiffness of death
prevailed. 1t was so dark that we could
scarcely see the headland. We had plan
ned to drop our starboard anchor at a
certain point to the right of the channel.
reverse our engines. and then swing the
Merrimac around. sinking her directly
across the channel.
This plan was adhered to, but circum-
stances rendered its execution impossible.
When the Merrimac poked her nose into
the channel our troubles commenced. The
deadly silence was broken by the wash of
small boat approaching US from the
shore. i made her out to be a picket
boat.
she ran close up under the stern of
the Merrimac and fired several shots from
what seemed to be 3-pounder guns. The
Merrimac's rudder was carried away by
this fire That is why the collier was not
sunk across the channel.
1--WE did not discover the loss of the
rudder until Murphy cast anchor. We
then found that the Merrimac would not
answer to the hem. and were compelled
to make the best of the situation.
THE run IN the channe! was very ex-
citing. The picket boat had given the
alarm. and in moment the guns of the
Nizcaya. the ,Almirante Oquepdo and of
the shore batteries were turned upon us.
Submarine mines and torpedoes also
were exploded AL about US. adding to
the excitement i'The mines did no dam
age. although we could hear rumbling
and could feel the ship trembie.
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 wasi gone / called the men an
deck. White they were launching the
catamaran ! touched Off the explosives.
AT the same moment TWO torpedo $.
fired by the Ro!na Mercedes. struck the
M@-rinlac amdships. 1 cannot say
whether ourTowsu explosives or the Span
ish torpedoes dI the work but the Mer-
rimac was lifted ou: of the water and
almost rent asppder.
''As she settled down we scrambled
overheard and, cut away the catamaran.
a great cheer went up from the forts
and warships as tbe hold of the collier
foundered, the Snaniaris thinking that
the Merrimac WAS an American warship.
We attempted to get out of the harbor
in the catamaran. but a strong tide was
running. and daylight found us still strug-
Cling in the water. Then for the first
time the SpaniardS saw us. and a boat
from the Reina Mercedes picked US up. II
then was shortly after ) o'clock in the
morning. and we had been in the water
more than an hour. We were taken
aboard the Reina Mercedes and later were
sent to Moro Castle.
In MORO we We're confined in cells in
the inner side of the fortress. and were
there the first day the fleet bombarded
Moro. l could only hear the whistling of
the shells and the noise they made when
they struck. but ! judged from the con-
versat'on of the guards that the shells
did considerable damage.
After this bombardment Mr. Ramsden.
the British consul, protested, and We
Were removed 10 the hospital There /
was separated from the other men in our
crew. and could see them only by spe-
cial permission. Montague and Kelly fell
iii two weeks ago. suffering from malaria.
and | was permitted to visit them twice.
MIR. Ramsden was very kind to U.S.
and demanded that Montague and Kelly
be removed to better quarters in the hos
pital. This was done.
.'As for myself. there is little to say.
The Spanish were not disposed to do much
for the comfort of any of the prisoners
at first. but after our army had taken
some of their men as prisoners our
treatment was better. Food is scarce in
the city and was told that we Jared bet
ter than the Spanish officers