Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-05-19

disabled that they retired slowly n
took no further part in the fight.
Again the guns at Cavite roared out
a steady bass chorus to the water hight,
and he gunners appeared to have Sc
cured better range upon the American
feet. for Dewey ordered a general
change of base and the fighting was
forced In the direction Of Manila. Mon
tejo had by this time recovered his
presence of mind and reassembled his
shattered line, presenting a bold but
battered front to the enemy. He en-
deavored to put heart into his men,
but the fight had been taken out or the
Spaniards and they seemed to feel that
there was not the slightest chance or
their winning. Montejo's officers ana
most of his men behaved splendidly for
the first hour and stood by their guns
with desperate bravery, but 1t was clear
to the foreign w%arships In Manila har-
Dor that they were outclassed as gun
ners as their commanders were as sea-
men. The last half hour OF lighting
had no heart in it so far as the Span
iards were concerned, and the Luzon,
Velasco and Cuba were the only ships
which really made any show Of stand
ing up to the Americans. At IL O'Clock
the work OF the American feet was
shown to be more effective than was at
first supposed, for In the bay toward
Manila three other supken Spanish
ships were seen. The names could not
be ascertained. The Spanish govern
ment officials claimed that these ves-
sells were sunk by Admiral Montejo to
keep them from falling into the enc
my's hands, but the Americans deny
this and say that they were sunk by
shots from Dewey's fleet. The Cebu, q
Spanish transport loaded with coal and
ammunition, was set on fire by Ameri-
can shells and sank of Caylte. The
Cavite batteries continued the fight for
some time after the fire of the Spanish
ships slackened, but they, too, became
silent about 9:30. A Spanish lieuten-
ant, who was badly wounded on the
Reina Mercedes and was landed near
Cavite with a load of other victims,
many OF them dead or dying. said:
THE greatest naval battle of the world
occurred today. We we're defeated, but
no wonder when one considers the
heavy armament Of the Yankee ships.
The Spanish navy was ignorant of the
power OF the feet against which II was
pitted. Our boats, many as they were,
were no match for the enemy, but the
honor of Spain is intact"
When Commodore Dewey found he
had his adversary at such a disad-
vantage he detached the Baltimore.
Concord and Boston to a point nearly
opposite Cavite point with orders to
shell the batteries there. Knowing
the danger OF risking his boats even
at this advanced stage Of victory too
near the stationary guns Of the land
battery, he instructed them to use the
greatest caution In the undertaking.
for they had not only to face the Cavits
guns, but those Of Mount Manila, Par
anque and Las Pinas, on the inland
shore Of Bakor bay, which overlooked
that body Of water as well as the Ca
wife peninsula, and commanded a wide
sweep OF Manila bay itself. He did
not know the strength of those batter
les. hut he had the seaman's caution of
risking a fight with a land fertilization.
He had at the same time to beware OF
the still stronger Notifications farther
up the shore, the particular defenses of
Manila. The Baltimore and Concord
stood down the bay for a mile or two
and began a heavy cannonading upon
the Cavite batteries. lasting twenty
seven minutes.
Their work was effective from the
start and the Spanish reply was short
and ineffective. The cruisers ran I'm
quite close to the shore and the work
OF their gunners dismounted several
Spanish cannon and killed a large num-
Der OF men. The position OF the Amer
lean ships prevented the forts on the
hills behind Bakor bay from keeping
up anything but a desultory FIRE. and
even some OF this was SO badly man
aged that 1t dropped into the Cayite
battery. From the very first shot Of
the battle Manila was in a panic.
The stream OF people who began to
leave last week turned into a river and
thai river into e food, and when the
foreign ONCE here last heard all was
confusion In the city and Its suburbs.
Also there was word that the insur-
gents had moved up to within fifteen