The sun., 1898-06-19
NAVAL HEROES

NAVAL HEROES
OF the Present War and the Daring
Deeds of the Intrepid Men.
The heroism displayed by the sailors
in the American navy during the present
war has amazed the world In the brief
period during which the war has pro-
gressed there have been performed acts
Of bravery which will go down in his
tory as the most daring and successful
ever attempted in warfare. These deeds,
too, have been performed in many cases
by mere boys, some of whom have not
as yet been graduated from the Naval
Academy. Sharing in these honors are
the ordinary seamen of the navy, who,
when called upon, have faced death
cheerfully for the honor of dying under
the glorious stars and stripes. No duty
has been too dangerous for these brave
men to undertake, their only thought
being the successful accomplishment of
the task imposed upon them, and forget
full of their own danger
The exploit OF Assistant Naval Con-
structor Hobson and his gallant little
band, including Daniel Montague, George
Charette, J. G. Murphy, Oscar Deignan,
John P. Phillips, John Kelly and H.
Clausen, is too fresh in the minds of the
people to review in detail. Hobson and
his brave men defiantly entered the
mouth of the harbor Of Santiago while
the strong light was streaking the eastern
horizon. This enabled the Spaniards to
discover them before the hazardous jour
ney was more than fairly begun and sub
jected the pucky crew to tremendous
shower of shot and shell. They accom-
plished their purpose and escaped injury,
although they were made prisoners by
the Spanish This act was so daring
that even tho Spaniards applauded, and
Admiral Cervera has assured Admiral
Sampson of kind treatment for the entire
band OF heroes
The first American flag planted in Cuba
is another act OF heroism that will go
down in history The flag was raised ON
May II by Ensign Willard of the Ma
chias, on top of Spanish signal station
at Diora, near Cardenas. The signal sta
ton was abandoned after a hot fight and
the Spanish flag hauled down. The
landing was accomplished by single
boatload of marines under merciess
fire from vastly superior force of Span
ish soldiers. As tn, boat grounded the
sailors and marines sprang ashose, a few
scattering shots passing over their heads,
but tnone took effect. The tower was
reached without single man being in
jured. The station itself was found de-
serted, with everywhere about the evil
dence that its occupants had left but
few moments before very hurriedly.
Quickly mounting the stairs to the top
of sthe tower, Ensign Willard was the
first to reach the top from which waved
the Spanish flag: To pull down the flag
and raise in it's place the stars and stripes
was but the work of an instant, and as
Old Glory foated majestically above the
palms of the surrounding forrest wild
cheer went up which was answered by a
ringing salute from the Machias. The
invading squadron failed to find any
trace OF the existence of harbor mines
and contented itself with destroying all
communication with the city. The Span
ish flag and the signal apparatus were re-
turned to the Machias as trophies Of war.
The intrepid bravery and GOODNESS of
the American sailors who cut the cables
recently at Cienfllegos are deserving of
high place in American history. The
work of graphing for the cables and
severing them, which alone required
considerable skill and patience, was ac-
complished by small party in open
boats while working directly under the
guns of the enemy's forts. The work,
besides. was carried out in broad day
light, and therefore without the protec-
ton which the darkness might have lent
to them, and while the Spaniards were
on their guard, with all their guns
manned. As a result of the utter fearless
ness of the American sailors, this i'm
portant work was accomplished in the
most orderly and scientific manner, with
the comparatively slight loss of one
killed and nine wounded.
The little expedition which braved the
enemy's fire unprotected consisted OF four
boats. The dimunitive fleet consisted of
two launches and two cutters. Lieuten-
ant Anderson of the Marblehead, COM
manded one cutler and one launch, and
Lieutenant Winslow of the Nashville,
directed the other launch and cutter
The work was so perilous that the crews
were asked for volunteers, since the cap
tains would not ask any man to go on
such an Grand
A mighty cheer rose from the ships as
the little boats drew away on this peril
GUS errand. Meanwhile the American
guns sent a shower of shell and shrapnel
over their heads at the forts. The Amer
cans were at a disadvantage, because the
Spaniards could not be located. They
used smokeless powder and poured in
constant fire from a dozen different
points where they lay in ambush. But
the men in the boats never for mo-
ment hesitated, but rowed rapidly on to
what appeared almost certain death.
Had it not 5een that the Spanish marks
manship was wretched it is probable
that few would have survived. The cut
ters proceeded to within 100 yards of the
shore and calmly began to grapple for
the cables.
The men showed remarkable nerve
under this terrible fire. They worked
steadily and carefully, and when a man
was disabled another man silently took
his place, and so the work went on.
Several Of the men after being severely
wounded kept brayely on until they