The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1898-05-21
he Was FULLY UNDERSTOOD
His Ships Are Damaged While the
American Boats Are Unin-
jured.
THEY AVOID SANTA cLARhs GUNS
big Guns Are Fired and Mucl,
Needed Ammunition Wasted,
but the Nnsc Didn't
Work.

via Key West, Fla, May 1s.--Captain
General Blanco, two hours before III
down Sunday night, attempted to Xe-
cute n ruse, which, il successful, would
have cleared the front of Havana of six
ships on that blockading station. I'M
able to come out to do battle he adopt
ed the tactics of the spider and cun
ningly planned to draw the prey into
his net, but though a clever and pretty
scheme us an original proposition. it
was practically a repetition of the
trick by which the gunbOat N~icksburg
and the little converted revenue cutter
Morrill, were last week decoyed by u
fishing smack under the big Krupp
guns of Santa Clara batteries. Thanks
to bad gunnery, both ships on that oc-
casion managed to get out of range
without being sunk, though some of
the shells burts close aboard and the
Vicksburg's Jacobs ladder was cut
adrift. The wary are never caught
twice in the same trap.
Sent Out ns Bait.
Late Sunday afternoon the ships
on the Havana station We're dunn
founded to see two ships steam out of
Havana harbor and head east. Dense
smoke was treaming like black rib
bons from their stacks and a glance
showed that they were under II full
head of steam.
BY the aid of GLASSES Commander
Lilly of the Mayfiower, which was fly
ing the pennant, made out the larger
vessel of the two, which was about 200
feet long and about 1900 tons displace-
ment. to be the cruiser Alphonso MI,
and the smaller one to be the gunboat
I4egazpi, both of which were known to
be bottled up in Havann harbor. At
first he supposed they were taking adj
vantage of the absence of the heavy
fighting ships and were making a bona
tide run for the open sea. As superior
officer, he Immediately .signaled the
other ships on the station, the Vicks-
burg, Annapolis, Wasp, Tecumseh and
Osceola, which were moving in, to
form n column and en- echlon, with
gunboats on the right flank. The little
squadron moved in obliquely toward
the fleeing Spaniards, keeping up Il
running fire as they went. The Al
phonso and her consort circled inshore
about five miles below Havana, and
after running in for half a mile head
ed back for MORO castle. Our gun
boats and their skinned vessels of the
mosquito fleet did nos follow them in.
Commander Lilly saw that the willy
Spanish ruse was to draw them in un-
der the guns of the heavy batteries,
where the Spanish artillery officers
could plot out the exact range with
their telameters and pot them. So the
return was made in line ahead parallel
with the shore.
Lilly Was Not Mistaken.
Commander Lilly had not been mis-
taken. AS his ships came abreast Of
the Santa Clara battery the big guns
opened and fired thirteen shells at n
distance of about five miles. The Ing
was badly Judged, as more than half
the shells overshot the mark, and 9TH
ers fell short, some as much as a mile.
The Associated Press dispatch boat
Kate Spencer witnessed the action,
which lasted Owe an hour. AS a spec
tacle, the greatest master of stagecraft
could not have evolved a finer setting.
The low sur in a bank of camillion
dyed the Cuban hills a royal purple,
against which Havana's white walls
CLEANED like alabaster. Morro's gray
sides and yellow tower stood out
against the blue waters of the gulf,
while directly behind sprung a broad
band of the rainbow woven in and
through dense gray clouds until lost
in the zenith.
The big Alphonso and her convoy
steamed swiftly from the dark shadow
OF the harbor's mouth, and, turning
sharply east, ran along the coast as
though to slip through the Gordon of
blockade. 1t was a bold trick and not
Mt first transparent, although the folly
of it created a suspicion, as there was
no hope of ultimate escape and no oh
ject in escaping the Maytlower, which,
standing well out like a cat with a
mouse, gave a slight start, then, swing
ing her engines and tiny squadron into
line, dashed in to cut them off. The
Spanish boats crowded on steam and
stood along the coast as long as they
dared to give zest to the chase.
Spanish, Boat. lombic Back.
The Mayflower signaled her consorts
"close in and charge" Word was flung
on from ship to ship as they steamed
In column en- echelon.
Seeing the bait had apparently taken
The Spaniards veered about and, hring-
ing their stern chasers to bear on the
Americans, doubled back for Moro.
It was a beautiful running fire viewed
from where the Kate Spencer lay, sew
ell miles off Moro castle. Little puffs OF
white smoke burst from the sides OF
the gnnboats and occasionally an ex-
plosion of a shell in the air, like a spark
of fire, could be discerned with the aid
OF glasses. The flashes of the Span
iards' guns were plainly visible, but
h reports were dull and indistinct.
Two of the shells from the vicksburg
burst iii the rigging of the Alphonso,
and some OF it came down, but it was.
OF course, impossible to know whether
any fatalities occurred. The American
fire was much more accurate than the
Gncn,l.cr in Ci,nr.c.
s-- NVo ,1s,r p NC,., 1cE q -.- E