The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1898-07-12

Sampson and he consented to give tuller
interview about his experiences. Deliis
very modest, he does not fuily reaiiAo
the great sensation his exploit caused
but he spoke in glowing terms OF the
courage and bravery of his crew.
Eve have been thirtythree days IN
Spanish prison." said Mr.. Hobson' and
the more 1 think about it. the more mar
yelous it seems that we are alive 1t
was about 8 o'clock in the morning when
the Merrimac entered the narrow chan
mel and steamed in under the guns OF
MORO castle The stiffness OF death pre-
vailed. 1t was so dark that we could
scarcely see the headland. we mad
planned to drop our starboard anchor at
certain point to the right of the chan
nel 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 a small boat approaching US
from the shore. l made her out to be
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 rudder was carried
away by this fire. That is why the col
lier 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 helm and was compelled
to make the best of the situation. The
run up the channel was very exciting.
The picket boat had given the alarm, and
in moment the guns of the Vlzcaya,
the Almirante Oquendo and Of the shore
batteries were turned upon u.s.
Submarine mines and torpedoes were
exploded all about US, adding to the ex-
citement. The mines did no damage al
though we could hear rumbling and could
feel the ship tremble.
1--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 was gone, 1 called the men on
deck While they were launching the
catamaran, l
Touched OF the Explosion.
cat the same moment, two torpedoes
fred by the Reina Mercedes struck the
Merrimac amidships. L cannot say
whether our own explosives or the Span
ish torpedoes did the work, but the Mer-
rimac was lifted out of the water and
almost rent aSunder
GAS she settled down, we scrambled
overheard and cut away the catamaran.
A great cheer went up from the forts
and warships as the hold of the collier
foundered, the Spaniards thinking that
the Merrimac was an American warship
1--WE attempted to get out of the har-
Dor in the catamaran, but strong toe
was running and daylight found us still
struggling in the water. Then, for the
first time, the Spaniards saw us, and a
boat from the Reina Mercedes picked us
up. 1t was then 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 were confined in cells in
the inner side of the fortress, and were
there the first day the fleet bombarded
Moro. 1 could only hear the whistling
OF the shells and the noise they made
when they struck but l judged from the
conversation of the guards that the shells
did considerable damage.
after this bombardment Mr.. Ramsden
the British consul, protested and we were
removed to the hospital. There 1 was
separated from the other men in our
crew and could see them only by special
permission. Montague and Kelly fell i'll
two weeks ago, suffering from malaria,
and I was permitted to visit them twice
Mr.. Ramsden was very kind to US and
demanded that Montague and Kelly be
removed to better quarters in the hos
pital. This was done
GAS for myself, there is little to say
The Spanish were not disposed to do
much for the comfort of any of the pris-
oners 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 1 was told that we Jared
better than the Spanish officers