Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1898-07-06

Admiral Cervera made as gallant a
dash for liberty and for the preserva-
ton of his ships this morning as has
ever occurred in the history of naval
warfare. In the face of overwhelm-
ing odds, with nothing before him
but inevitable destruction or sur
render IL he remained any longer in
the trap in which the American fleet
held him, he made a bold dash put of
the harbor at the time the Americans
least expected him to do SO, and
fighting every inch of his way eve
when his ship was ablaze and sink
ing, he tried to escape the doom
which was written on the muzzle of
every gun trained upon his vessels.
The Americans saw him the moment
he left the harbor and commenced
their work of destruction Immediate
ly. For an hour or two they follow
ed the flying Spaniards to the west
ward, along the shore line. sending
shot after shot into their blazing
bulls, tearing great holes in their
olCSi SlhNb anu toNCIlhS thtli dCSho
with the blood of the killed and
wounded.
At no time did the Spaniards show
any indication that they intended to
do otherwise than fight to the last.
They showed no signals of surrender,
ever when their ships commenced to
sink and great clouds of smoke pour
ing from their sides showed they
were on fire. But they turned their
heads toward shore, less than a
mile away and ran them on beach
and rocks where their destruction
was soon completed. The officers
and men on board then escaped to
the shore as well as they could with
assistance of boats sent from Ameri-
can men of war and they threw
themselves on the mercy of their
'captors, who not only extended to
them the hand of American chivalry,
them from the murderous bands of
Cuban soldiers hiding in bushes on
the hillside, eager to rush down and
attack the unarmed, but valorous
foe.
One after another the Spanish
ships became victims of the awful
rain of shells which the American
battleships, cruisers and gunbOats
poured upon them, and two hours
after the first of the fleet had started
out of the Santiago harbOr the three
cruisers and two torpedo boat
destroyers were lying on shore 10 to
10 miles west of Moro Castle, pound
ing to pieces, smoke and flame pour
ing from every part of them, and
covering the entire coast line with a
mist which could be see for miles.
Heavy explosions of ammunition oc-
CURED every few minutes, sending
curls of.dense white smoke hundreds
of feet it the air, and causing a
showersof broken iron and steel to
fall in the:water On every side. The
bluffs on the coast line echoed with
the roar of every explosion and the
Spanish vessels sank deeper in the
sand, OF else the rocks ground their
hulIs to pieces as they rolled or
pitched forward or sideways with
every wav that washed upon them
upon the open sea.
Admiral Cervera escaped to the
shore in a boat sent by the Gloucest-
er to the assistance of the Infanta
Maria.Teresa, and as soon as he
touched the beach he surrendered
himselfiaa and command to Lieut..
Morton and asked to be taken on
board the Gloucester, which was the
only American vessel near al the
time, with several of his officers, in
GLIDING the captain of the flagship.
The Spanish admiral, who was
wounded in the arm, was taken to
the Gloucester and was received at
her gangway by her commander,
Lieut.. Commander Richard VAIN
wright, who grasped the hand of the
gray-beaTded admiral and said to
him: 81 congratulate you, sir, upon
having made as gallant a fight as
was ever witnessed on the seas"
Lieut.. Commander Wainwright
then placed his cabin at the disposal
of the Spanish officer. AT that time
the Spanish flagship and four other
Spanish vessels had been aground