The Press., 1898-07-28
THE BROOKLYN AT THE SAN
 TIAGo NAVAL BATTLE.

Sh o1heAaAV SuhAt aNly Aos loeos
 My Dear Sister Your kind letter re- oeived to-day, and glad I was indeed to hear from you all. You cannot know what pleasure 1t Is to us to hear from the outside world and home. l wish more people from there would write to me. would be only too glad to answer. It is not so hard in time of peace, for we can go ashore then, but now 1t Is impos- slble. If the war lasted two years or longer we would have to stay just the same. There are fellows aboard here now who say they haven't been ashore for nine months. haven't been in the service only three months to-day, and find 1t pretty hard and long for war to be over. have been ashore here once for a couple of hours. It was when they were landing the troops at SIboney, a small village not far from Santiago. There were so many men detailed from each ship to take command of their boats and help to land the troops. was in the party detailed. We worked day and night for a week and landed, should judge, about 19,00O. The Brooklyn's boats were the first ones that landed troops.
 Some Cuban general, did not find out his name, promised to the officer who landed the first troops an elegant silk Cuban flag, and the midshipman who had charge of our boats received 1t. There was a race between ours and the New York's to get 1t. The New York Is flag ship now, you know. We are under Ad- miral Sampson's command, who had the nerve to come here after Commodore Schley had run Cervera's fleet into Santi- ago harbor and take command. There was a great deal of hard feeling among the crew over 1t, but Schley, like the gen. tleman that he Is, obeyed Sampson's or ders without a murmur. There isn't a man in this whole ship but what would give his life for Schley if necessary. He treats hls men as If they were somebody |; not a man in here has a word to say against him. But I was about to tell you of thls Cuban general. As our boats neared the beach, with the New York's right behind us, both the "middies" who had charge of each boat jumped over- board and made for the beach. Mir. Hal. ligan of this ship reached him first, and grasplng him with one hand, the flag with the other, turned waving 1t, with the cry, Three cheers for the Brooklyn" They were given with a will by our boats crew and the troops. There was one thing rather noticeable about this Cuban, for he wore neither pants or shoes. A coat and ragged pair of underdrawers was all he possessed. When I went ashore had on shoes, stockings, underclothing and everything when returned to the ship had nothing but pants and blouse, which could not very we'll give away. There wasn't half the Cubans who had a parti. cle of clothing. think I would like tC live here In Cuba. There Is fruit of ev cry kind. Cocoanuts, bananas and man goes were something elegant. Every body was gathering curios. got onC thing value rather highly. It is a ma chete, a sword or knife the Cubans carry It Is about two feet long and one and one half inches wide with one edge, with bone handle about three inches long, ant also a scabbard and belt, the most mur derous looking thing imaginable. VII send 1t home as soon as arrive in Nev York City, which think will be yer. soon now.
 As you probably know before now, VI have destroyed Cervera's fleet, and expec Santiago to surrender any minute, a Shafter Is fighting now. I am sitting here on deck writing and can hear tn firing on shore, while our ships occasion ally send an ei2ht-inch shell into tn city. Our admiral knows just how th battle Is going on, as the army has sigma boys, or men, stationed on the beach signaling to the ships. News he gets b. telegraph right from the field. There l nothing slow about the Americans, a they have telegraph stations and pos offices open around Santiago already
 Well, I will tell you about the last figh we had, and you can judge for yoursel whether Schley or Sampson ought to b made admiral. Sunday morning, Jul Sd, while we were at quarters, at 9.4t after going through our regular duties and were about to be dismissed, the ma In the look -out at the masthead sang ou that he saw smoke at the mouth of tn harber. Our navigator, Mir. Griffin, wh
 was officer-of-the-deck that morning, wa feeling rather cranky about something aud told the lookout, "He didn't kno' what he was talking about" The fello'
 in the lookout, who, by the way, was a
 Irishman, answered, "Sure there Is, fc
 there Is a ship coming out of the harbor. Instantly the officer -of-the deck sang ou ' "Clear ship for action" In less tim , than 1t takes to tell 1t every man was (
 his station, cheering for all he was wortl
 for we all knew that Admiral Cervera fleet was at last coming out, just whs :, we had been waiting for since the 2Sth (
 of May. First, the flagship, Maria Ter,
 ga, and heading due west, went rigl
 straight for us, we being just a little
 westward of the harbor. Santiago ha
 bor Is only wide enough for one vessel {
 come out at a time. The nearest ship
 us at the time was the Oregon. TT Iowa (battleshlp) being on the east vii '' and nearest to the mouth of the harbo 1. opened fire first. She was quickly fc
 lowed by the Brooklyn and Oregon's
 inch guns. Next, the Oquendo, then il {, Vizcaya and Cristobal Colon, all folio :. ing the flagship, and straight towards U
 Then came two torpedo boat destroyer !, the Furor and Fulton, which headed O I to sea, but they did not get very far s fore they were blown to atoms by sh
 from the battleship Massachusetts.
 While this was going on the four cru c- CTS, all our superiors in guns and ever | thing, were all headed west at full spec ,a firing at us alone as rapidly as possib