El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-08-13

ors in surrender. but up they 90 again
at the mast, and twas only a aagstaf fl
shot away, then ! saw thing I'll new
| er forget. one which [ would not have
missed for "all the wealth of Ormus or
OF Inde," and one which fully repaid
me for all endured below.
The enemy has been running down
| along the coast, making q running
( fig t with US, as 1 said before, when in
| some manner. by what manner it
was done L know not, but we were sud-
denly in position quartering about
| three points abaft her beam, and the
starboard Pinch gun belches out with
! q roar that deafens me;watch the shell.
/ see it leaving the gun, describes a
graceful curve through the air like the
flight of a big black bird, and lands
fair and square right on the side
OF the enemy, just above, or rather,
right on the water line-a most magni-
hcent shot-blowing hole in her side
which apparently was large enough to
drive cart through. The shell evil
IDENTIFY exploded inside, for almost i'm
mediately column of fire and smoke
burst through her decks amidships,
spouting fully thirty feet in the air.
Immediately the ship throws helm
heading directly for the beach.
Before she reaches the beach
another explosion occurs. Again
that high thrown spouting columns of
ire and smoke are shot upward, this
time acc 0mpanied by what at the dis
lance appears to be several bodies. No
time - stop and see, but leaving that
duty for one of the following smaller
converted yachts we turn all attention
to the remaining ship. now flying to
the westward. She had apparently
abandoned all attempt at fighting now
since the loss of her comrade, and is
concentrating every energy in the at
tempt 70 escape. She has managed to
get fair lead of us and is rushing
through the water at a greRtrate. pur-
sued by the Oregon, Texas and Brook
lyn.
go below and find things in hustle
sure enough. The engines are turning
about ninety-eight revolutions per min
ute and getting faster. with q regular
chug. chug, chug, chug, for every rev.
olutlon as the cranks strike the water
in the bottom of the crank pits. These
pits are filing up with water which is
being run on the bearings to keep them
cool, and pretty soon every revolution
OF the engine brings q shower of water
over the men in the engine rooms as it
is caught up on the cranks and thrown
out: but who minds little thing like
that the chase is on and the Texas
must be in it at the death with the
Oregon and Brooklyn, who have
passed us while we were putting
the finishing touches on the
LIST ship beached. So the
coal passers and firemen in the boiler
rooms labor like demons, while the ma
chinists watch every bearing of the en-
gines and Auxiliary machinery with
an intentness that is gradually coaxing
n. b,,rf
dial shows we are making 12O revolu-
lions, more speed than has ever before
been developed by the ship, and while
we rush on at this tremendous rate
the whistle at the speaking tube
shrieks. [ answer. It's from the con-
ming tower and says: do you know
that your steam is blowing OFF," Think
volutlons, with steam on the hydraulic
system working the turrets, and all
machinery going full blast,
still steam blowing off. If the men in
We kept up this fearful rate until
nearly 1.15 when signal came from
the bridge t. slow down. 1t seemed
pity to disturb those engines. They
seemed live living things to know
what mad been required of them and
had worked with such a will and thor
oughness that, as one of our machin-
lists said, '.It near broke my heart to
ST )p 'em." With the order to slow
down came the news that the last re-
naming ship had headed for the beach
aud hauled down her colors, seeing that
she could not escape. We had been
closing in on her by degrees, though
she made beautiful run for it, and at
last had cornered her just off point
of land jutting out into the sea about
ffty-five miles west Of where the chase
began. Seeing that she could not
round that point she gave up, hauled
down her colors and headed direct for
the beach to run ship upon it.
AS it might possibly be Interesting to
you to know something of the firing
done by our ships, give you herewith
a statement taken from the official re-
cords, showing the number of shots
fired by the Texas during the engage
ment. This may be taken as q fair es-
innate for the squadron. though the
Iowa probably exceeded our rate, hav-
ing more guns. Eight twelve-inch
shells, weight about $50 pounds each;
81 six-inch shells, weight about 100
pou nds each: 400 siX-poupder rapid fire
shells, six pounds each; 15O one-pound-
ers, and $50 thirty-seven milimeter
shells of one pound leach, making q to-
tai of nearly 10000 pounds of metal
The actual fighting time, exclusive of
the chase, was about thirty-five min
ltes, after which the Spanish ships
we're either on the beach or making
Ior it. "four bells.'