The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-04-26

The New York >teams Down Vu,,
Wan OF War Supposed to be Spa rat. n
All Hands Eager fo- Ri:ht-Pra,.~
To be Italian.

Copyright by Associated PressI
On board the flagship New Yo-k. Ur
Havana, April 23.-p. m. GileVf Ner
West, midnight April 23)-The puf5--
tan, Nashville, Mar'bleheai AMI hSA>-
son arrived from Key West
this morning. The Ericsson ny
most Immediately returned To- ks-S
West With dispatches. At 10 O'Clock
this morning the monitor Puritan. ttsa
cruiser Cincinnati, rhe gunhoat,
MachiaS, Nashville, Castine and Neg
port and the torpedo boats Foote ana
Wlnslow left the squadron 10 hlu, kExsss.
MaranZas, Mariel and Cardcnas 1Tss
formed separate divisions. and arver
they had passed out Of sight the r.
mainder of the fleet took up regular
formation having drifte-i some fHrss--
miles from Morro castle. The general
advance was made at half speed. Gag
tain Evans, not quite certain Of Te.e
position he was entitled 10 take wis1
the Iowa, caught UP abreast Of ths.
flagship and shouted through the ureE-
aphone: How near may | GO" ReAr
Admiral Sampson, who was standing.
on the after bridge, replied: LAS ncxr-
as You can without drawing the FIRE
OF the batteries" "All right" Captain
Evans shouted back in tones that vx-
pressed the keenest dissapoint nlSrE--
The Iowa then went ahead.
About half an hour after the aquad-
ron was well under way the crsris-a
Cincinnati was seen on the eastern
horizon, the smoke pouring from ss.T
tunnels. She had been headed Tor Ma
tanZas and evidently had turned Aa@kS
10 chase some vessel. The object at
her pursuit was soon made out stand
ing well in toward the coast. The ffas~
ship, the cruiser Marble head and Lfs@
gunboat Wilmington Immediately tIru-
ed out of the course to head the war
ship off. The remainder OF the squad
ron proceeded TO the westward. Smoke
poured from the ships. The fla gslrip
was making eighteen knots. the wtrsf
vessel thrObbing with the vfbraii0uss
of her twin screws. The little WI
mington steamed up i'm splendid styse-
and the fast cruiser Marblehead EsIs
nearly abreast. The formidable trio
bore down upon the warshp. Then a
shout went up, She Is a SpaniarT1t-
For he next ten minutes tine exCTse-
ment was terrific. The distance which
separated the vessels rendered IT ina
possible to make out the warshp.s
identity. She was thought t. he ahe
Nizcaya or the Almirante OqueTsder
heading hard for Havana.
The men at TIE guns shouted with
glee. The Ft-okers off duty R-.ie1
cheered vociferously and begged to k~s
allowed TO go ON deck to help shoot At
the first armed enemy net Tfpe Off
GERS crowded on the quarterback 49,
e4ated the men, though under b~<-
ter control. The bugler blew General
Quarters" All hands fled 70 the4r
posts. Down came the shrouds with "A
rattle. The life lines vanished from
the deck. Rear Admiral Samp<<sc-
standing on the bridge, said defiherxtse
ly to Captain Chadwick, Yes, t.se
Oquendo or the Vizsaya," and tt41z
added: Il should like to bag tlseus
both" Then 1t was seen that t."-
chase was flying an italian flag, n1HE
this was no proof that behind her - =
invisible guns Spaniards we're not osz1-
cealed, ready TO shoot under advantage
Of subterfuge All the guns of tn.
New York's port side and in the rfg-
ward and after turrets were trained sszs
the stranger. A few minutes las@r.
when about fifteen hundred yards. ssg,-
arated the New York, from her tare.---
the American flag was run up by tss=
warshsp, and then IL was known SHE
was not Spaniard.
puff OF smoke issued from her sidss<-
and the boom Of a gun sounded acruss
the waters. II was only a salute, Essf
at first many on board thought Ksz~r
Admiral Sampson had been deceixe2-
| but the waTshIp fired fifteen guns ss
| a salute, which was returned by tS~
| flagship which also flew a national flag
| The stranger was then made OUT 20
| be the Giovanni Bausan, a poweszasl
| cruiser. Without further forusanrs=zS
| she pursued her course and eTrter-E
Havana harbor. Thus an exc ting ia
| cident endedsin disappointment. 'buf n
| served TO SD lw how anxious AL hanes
are for a r4-i fight and how splezssss
| the dicfpline is when a contingency
seems imminent.