Hutchinson gazette., 1898-07-14
HOBSON REClTES HIS TALE.
Hero Of tho MerrlmAc Describes Their
Terrible Experience.

Terriblo Experiences
New York, July "a dispatch Il
the New York Herald from off Santi
ago says; Your correspondent saw Mr.
Ilobson after he had made his repor
10 Admiral Sampson, lIe spoke II
glowing terms Of the courage ant
bravery OF his crew,
ut was about o'clock In the morn
ing when the Merrimac entered the
narrow channel and steamed In under
the guns Of Moro castle. The still
ness OF death prevailed, II was &c
dark that we could scarcely see TIN
headland We had planned TO droT
our starboard anchor Mt certain point
TO the right OF the channel, reverse
our engines and then swing the Mer'
rimac around, sinking her directly
across the channel,
"This plan was adhered TO, but cir
cumstRnccs rendered It's execution Inn
possible, When the Merrimac polSed
her nose into the channel our troubles
commenced, The deadly silence was
broken by the wash Of u small boat ap-
proaching us from the shore. | pade
her out 10 be q picket boat,
"She ran close up under the stern OF
the Merrinac and fired several shots
from what seemed TO be 3-pound guns,
The McrrlmncB rudder was carried
away by this fire, That Is why the
collier was not sunk across the chan
mel.
1--WE did not discover the loss OF the
rudder until Murphy cast anchor, We
then found that the Mcrrimac would
not answer to the helm and were com
PEELED TO make the best OF the situa-
tion.
"rhc run up the channel was very
exciting, The picket boat had given
the alarm and In moment tho guns
OF the Vizcaya, the Almirante 0quen.
do and the shore batteries were turned
upon u.s.
Submarine mines and torpedoes
were also exploded all about us, adding
TO the excitement, The mines did no
damage, although we could hear rum
blings and could feel the ship tremble,
ave 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 tho rudder was gone, called the
men on deck, While they were launch
ing the catAmaran touched OFF the
explosives,
"At the same moment two torpedoes,
fred by the Relna Mercedes, struck
the Merrimac Nmidships, cannot
say whether our own explosives or the
Spanish torpedoes did the work, but
tho Merrimac was lifted out of the
wather and almost rent asundcr.
"As she settled down we scrambled
overheard and cut away the catamaran.
A great cheer went up from the forts
and war ships as the hull Of the col
lier foundered, the Spaniards thinking
the Mcrrimac was an American war
ship.
1--WE attempted to get out Of the
harbor on the catamaran, but strong
tide was running, and daylight found
us still struggling in the water, Then,
for the first time the Spaniards saw
us, and boat from the Rcina Mer-
cedes picked us up.
at was then shortly after o'clock
in the morning and we had been in the
water more than an hour, We wero
taken aboard the Reina Mercedes and
later were sent to MORO castle,
Four days afterward they were
transferred to the Reina Mercedes hos
pital, on the outskirts of Santiago,
where they were kept until exchanged.
OF Admiral Cervcra Hobson speaks In
the very highest,
IIobson was ovcrjoycd at getting
back, lie looked well, though some-
what worm On the whole, the Span
iards treated him better than might be
expected. Mr., Ramsden, the British
consul at Santiago was tireless in his
efforts to secure comfort for Hobson
and his men, The young hero knew
nothing of the destruction of Cervera's
deet until he reached the army lines.