The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-05-09
NDR G)nEERY Ill
THAT SAVED THEN.


Continued from page I.
1Ae9t Craig. who was in charge q the
bow four-snch rap.d-flre guns of the Nor
TIL. asked for and obtained permission
TO return the fire. At the first shot the
Sicksburg. which was in the wake Of the
MorriI. slightly inshore. sheered of and
passed to windward under the Morri,rs
stern In the meantime Can't. Smith also
PUT his helm to port and was none too
soon. for as the Morrill, stood OF solid
eignt-inch shot grazed her starboard quar-
Ter end kicked mp tons of water as IL
struck wave 100 yards beyond. Cant.
smith said afterward thar this was I'M
douofediy an eight-inch armor piercing
projecti,e. and that it would have passed
through the Mcrrilrs boilers had he not
changed her course.
All the guns at the water battery were
now at work. One OF them cut the
Jacobs ladder of the yicksburS aarift and
ahotner carried away portion OF the rig
slng. As the Morrill, and the vicksburg
steamed away their aft guns were used.
but only few shots were fired. The Nor
riifs six-inch gun was elevated for 100
yards and struck the ear.hworks reneat
edly. The vickshurg fired repeated shots
from her six-pounder. The Spaniards con-
tinued to fire shot and shell for twenty
minutes. but the shots were ineffective.
Some OF them were so wild that they
aroused the American Jackies to jeers.
The Spaniards only ceased firing when
the Morrill, and vicksburg were completely
out OF range II all the Spanish gunners
had been suffering from strabismus their
practice could not have been worse.
But the officers OF both the Morrill, and
Vicksburs frankly admit their own reck-
lessness and the narrow escape of their
vessels from destruction. They are firm
ly convinced that the pursuit of the
schooner was neatly planned trick which
almost proved successful. If any one OF
the shots had struck the thin skin of either
vessel 1t would have offered no more re-
sisiance than a piece Of paper to a rifle
ball.
The accurate range Of the first shots
is accounted for by the facs that the Span
ish officers had ample time to make oh
seryations. The bearings of the two YES
sells were probably taken with a range
finder at the Santa Clara battery, and as
the battery is probably connected by wire
with Moro. they were enabled to take
bearings from both points and by laborious
calculations they fixed the positions Of the
vessels pretty accurately. With such OPP
portunity for observation it would have
been no great trick for an American gun
ner to drop a shell down the smokestack
OF vessel.
AS soon as the ships sheered of, after
the first fire, the Spanish gunners lost the
range and their practice became ladicrous.
II they had waited five minutes longer be-
fore opening fire Capt. Smith says 1t
would have been well nigh impossible to
have missed the target
Later in the day the Morrill, captured the
Spanish schooner Espana, bound for Ha-
vana. and lowed the prize TO Key West.
On Friday the French school ship Du-
boirdeau. carrying thirty gans in all. en-
tered the harbor OF Havana She was
stopped by the Morrill, and two salutes
were fired by the Annapolis before she
showed her flag.