The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-06-04
ST. PAUL AT NEW YORK.
Captain Sigsbee Tells of His Experience in
Cuban Waters.

Cuban waters.
New York, June 4.-The United
States auxiliary cruiser st. Paul, Cap
tain Sigsbee commanding, came into
port early in the morning. Captain
Sigsbee went ashore and thence pro-
ceeded to the navy yard, Captain Sigs-
bee refused to be interviewed regarding
the recent service of his ship in the vi
cinity Of Santiago de Cuba, at which
port, it has been said, Captain Sigsbee
ran the st. Paul we'll into the mouth OF
the. harbor and obtained the first def
mite information of the presence there
Of the Spanish Admiral Cervera'
squadron.
After visiting Commodore Bunce at
the navy yard. Captain Sigsbee relaxed
from his reserve sufficiently to say to
a reporter:
II had target practice right along
from the first day arrived at Santiago,
on May %, and while none Of my men
have been in the service long, / am well
satisfied with their work at the guns.
We have not been in any fight so far,
but my men will give a good account of
themselves. 1t was on the 25th. when
we captured the Restormel. / knew
that the Spaniards needed the coal very
badly and l made every effort to see
that they did not get it.
"While off Santiago with Schley 1 saw
two more Spanish cruisers and Schley
saw two more torpedo boats. There is
no question that they are bottled up as
tight as can be in Santiago harbor.
went in so close that / made sketches
Of their Notifications, which l am send
ing to Washington. Their guns could
easily have reached me, but the bat
teries made no attempt to fire, for what
reason do not know. 1t may be the
Spaniards did not want to reveal the
strength and location of their guns. L
am going to Washington with dispatch
es from the fleet and as soon as we have
coaled and provisioned we shall put to
sea again. This probably will not be
for three or four days.
"As soon as 1 arrived outside the har-
Dor of Santiago there were indications
Of the presence of Cervera's fleet on the
inside beyond the hills. 1 hugged the
of the harbor so closely that it
would have been impossible for any,
thing anoat to sneak out without our
seeing them.
1T was either the third or fourth day
after our arrival that / saw two Span
ish vessels which / was sure were the
Vizcaya and the Cristobal Colon They
crept cautiously into the stream and
got to the middle OF the channel. As
soon as they caught sight of me they
back as rapidly as they could
steam. AS soon as we arrived off the
harbor I announced my presence by
the courtesy of a salute, taking as
Target one of the Spanish forts. The
fort evidently did not intend to accord
me the courtesy due in return. for Its
guns remained silent. When i was sat
sfied with the practice my men had
had. steamed the st. Paul out OF range
and resumed scout duty outside the
mouth OF the harbor.
"It was directly under the guns OF a
'ort and within easy range that I took
the Restormel with 2,400 tons OF coal
aboard. This coal was evidently In
ended for the Spanish fleet and for the
to run our blockade and en-
er Santiago harbor would Of itself have
oeen good evidence that the Spanish
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