St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-07-13
LETTER FROM SANTIAGO.
Graphic Story Of the BOmbardment,

fight between the fleets was the CORE
spondent OF the Associated Press, who
saw the engagement from position al
most at the elbow of Commodore Schley
on the cruiser Brooklyn. The line,
which at all times was supposed to be
a half circle, inclosing the harbor en-
trance as a central point, was more than
ordinarily broken up this hot morning.
The big battleships had drifted to the
east considerably, and the Massachu-
setts the New York, the New Orleans
and the Newark were not in sight, the |
New York having taken Admiral Samp- |
son down to Altares, eight miles west |
from the blockade, to make visit to |
the camp of the American army, while |
the other missing vessels were at Guam
tanamo, 40 miles to the east. The YES
sells on the blockade were the Iowa,
Indiana and Oregon, battleships; the
flagship of Commodore Schley, the
Brooklyn, and the small yachts, Glou-
cester and Vixen. The Iowa was swing
ing a mile further out than the rest of
the squadron trying to fix her forward
Pinch turret, which was out of repair,
while the Indiana was doing the same
thing to her forward 13-inch turret.
The absolutely available ships in the
squadron therefore were only the Ore
gon, Texas and Brooklyn, although later
both Captain Evans and Captain Taylor
fought their ships.
On the bridge Navigator Hodgson of
the Brooklyn said sharply to the look
out: Isn't that smoke moving?" The
lookout, after minutes inspection with
the long glass, dropped it excitedly and
fairly yelled, There's big ship COM
ing out of the harbor, SIR" Hodgson,
who is particularly cool man, looked
once himself and then, grasping the
megaphone, shouted, After bridge
there. Tell the commodore the enemy's
fleet is coming out"
Commodore Schley was sitting under
the awning on the quarter deck Going
to the bridge he said, Raise the signal
to the fleet" and, turning to Captain
Cook, who stood near, he said Clear
the ship for action" Then he went for
ward and took his place on little plat
form of wood running on the outside of
the coming tower.
At 1O:11 the Spanish ships had all con-
centrated their shots on the Brooklyn
and she was In a perfect rain of Shells
most of which went over her. Standing
in this hail of shells, Commodore Schley
asked young man named Ellis, who
stood near him with a stedimeter.
What is the distance to the Vizcaya?"
The man took the observation.
TWENTY-FIVE hundred yards, sir" he
said and there was a whistle, followed
by splash, as his head was literally
torn from his shoulders by an eight
inch shell. TOO bad" said Commodore
Schley as the body fell at his feet; and
then with his glasses to his eyes, he
added, "rhe first ship is done for; she is
running ashore
The other vessels at this time were
from six to eight miles behind and Ad
mlral SIMPSONS flagship, the New York.
was not in sight. At II: 15 the BROOKLYN.
slightly injured by the hail of Spanish
shells, stopped firing and the chase be-
gan. The men came up on deck and be-
gan to cheer, never needing the whistle
of the Spanish shells. They cheered for
Schley and Cook and for the Oregon
and the Oregon's men returned the
cheer. Up to the masthead of the Ore
gon went pennant Remember the
Maine" read the signal officer. "Tell
them we have" said Schley and there
was a roar as the answer went I'D.
The chase was in full force at 11:55.
| the ont nr1th a al.
great interest and as happy as larks.
The Colon, at distance of five miles.
Rugged the shore; but Schley ordered
the Oregon to follow her and then, with
the Brooklyn, he made straight course
for Cape Cruz, around which she would
have to steer on long detour to get
away. All three ships were pumping
along at great speed, the smoke pouring
out of their tunnels. In an hour the
Brooklyn had gained appreciably and so
had the Oregon, and Captain Clark of
the latter ship signalled over: "a
strange ship looking like an Italian in
the distance" He alluded to the fact
that the Chrlstobal Colon was bought
from Italy. Schley, sitting on the edge
of the forward eight-inch turret, swing
ing his legs and happy, said: "Tell the
Oregon she can try one Of those 1S-inch
railroad trains on her. There was a
terrible roar as the big shell went BIZ
the Brooklyn; moment of suspense
and watching, and then a hearty cheer
as the big thing struck the water close
astern of the Colon four miles away.
Another was tried, which reached the
mark, and there were more cheers.
Then the Brooklyn opened her forward
and starbOard eight-inch guns, and one
shell was seen to go through the Colon
at the top of her armored belt.
At LOS p. m. both the Brooklyn and
the Oregon were pounding away at the
Colon and, in another 10 minutes, after
returning the fire in desultory sort of
way and rapidly losing ground she
turned toward the shore. At lis she
hauled down her flag. With yells of
delight the men poured out of the tur-
rets of the two ships, and, when broom
went up at the mainmast of the Brook
Ign, they began to cheer and did not stop
for 10 minutes.
At this time the only ships in sight
were the Vixen, about five miles away,
and the Texas, about seven miles away.
The New York was not in sight. AS
the big ships moved in on the quarry,
the smoke of the New York could be
seen coming over the horizon from the
east, but she was fully IL miles away.
A boat was lowered from the Brook