Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-05-31
GOT CERvERA'S COAL !. |! {
St. Paul Captures a Collier
Off Santiago.
HAD FOLLOWED THE FLEET
Steamer Goes From Port to Port. Bue@
fa's t" Connect With the
I'D span'ards. The sk,ppe1'x
Story OF sa,e Trip. ~.
lBN relagranhA

tBy Telegraph.) 5Ssa
kEY WEST, FLA. MAY 3D-Thoa5
British steamer Restormel was broupIIfS.
IN mere this morning. under her own
steam by prize crew. She was CAP
t u by the auxiliary cruiser st. PAU. n
Captain Sigsbee, while trying mrs
into Santiago de Cuba with cargo ar r% g
coal. The steamer was bound from
Safdiff TO Porto Rico. As the Restore
mel came in the British flag was flying
nan way down her main mast. She
was leaking badly. Newspaper 4 men
We're not permitted to approach within
a hundred yards or her. S{5:
Ihe Restormci was captured under
the very guns of MORO Castle, at SANS;
tiago de Cuba at A. NJ. on May 25.
She carried 2.400 tons OF best welsh "a
coal from Cardiff. presumably for ADJ
miral Cerveras fleet i55tSSsss55
The st. Paul had been lying Off SAM
tfago de Cuba for six days. and early
last Wednesday morning the big COLI
ller was sighted. making at full speed 4
for Santiago harbor The st. Paul fired {
a blang shot and the Restormel came y
to four miles from the Santiago forts. =
The forts did not fire on the cruiser.
A prize crew. under command Of Lieu
tenant j. a. Patterson. was put en-
board and dispossessed the British Of
fcers. who made no protest.
Not line was found among the
ships papers relative to the destination i
or conslgnee OF the cargo. The Restor-5;
mel was headed at once for Key Vest
she was leaking badly when captured s.
and is still in 4 serious condition.
The Reatorlnel now lies in the harbor ,Fa
near wharf. The British flag Is fly
Ing at her stern. Marines patrol the
prize and will allow no one aboard the
the steamer. The members of the crew
are not even allowed to take the news
papers offered them from launches that,
come alongside
When the Restormel left Santiago de-
Cuba it was believed by those on the.
St. Paul and the other United States
vessels that the Spanish fleet was In
side. 3sa35. T7sS
In addition to the ST. Paul there were.
five other fast naval scouts outside Sam
tiaEO de Cuba, establishing deflnite|
blockade in thessense thatsno sulerchant9%I
vessels are allowed to- en- ter. The de-
parture OF Admiral Cervera' 81 fleet
would have instantly been reported.
Lieutenant Patterson. the prize COM
plicit statement to a representative of B
the Associated Press this morning.
saying the steamer hove to after the
first shot. He added that the Spanish
forts did not appear to notice the cap
tnre. The lieutenant also said the
made the same statement to the Fed -
eral officials here.
KEY WEST May, 3O.-7 p. Mac
cording to Lieutenant ]. "A. Patterson, I
who is In command of the prize crew
that brought in the Restorlnel, says her
capture was a very commonplace af-F
fair Lieutenant Patterson says:
About o'clock Wednesday morning
the st. Paul, scouting Off Santiago har- i
Dor, sighted the Restormel twelve miles
away, apparently heading for the port.
She was going In open and honestly 4
and was not skulking along the shore.
The St Paul took u course to cut her
off. and when within hailing distance,
fired blank shot. The pursued steam
err paid no attention, but she hove to s:
Immediately when solid shot was
fired across her BOWS.
"A bout o'clock / went out with a
prize crew and took possession WITH
out protest. The captain talked frank
ly. saying that he was bound for San
tlago. though he had sailed from Carr
diff on April 21st for San Juan This
was before the declaration of war. At
san Juan he was ordered to proceed to
Curacao and from the latter place to-.
Santiago de Cuba.
There never was any possibility OF
her escaping from the st. Paul. as her 4
best speed was only eight knots. She
was leaking badly and her BOILERS L : wfs ,sa7
captains account she had been leaking
for twenty days because of a sprung
plate and the leakage was increasing
The capture was made less than
four miles from MORO Castle. but the;
forts were silent and perhaps asleep
like the San Juan Qualifications when
Admiral Sampson began his attack
The only exciting part Of the adven-s
turc came after we left Santiago for
Key West. The prize leaked constant
ly and all hands manned the three
pumps night and day-crew. marines
and officers. 5s
II have not taken off my shoes or
been in bed since we started, five days
ago. At times we were about to give
from sinking. Afterward we thought
of saving ourselves IL she went down.
We were all very glad when Key West
was sighted. The story that there were
Spanish officers on the ship is false.
but there Is no resisting the conclusion
that the Restormel's coal was intended
for the Spanish fleet. for the captain
told a perfectly straight forward story
about his voyage" s
When the Restormel arrived here it
was believed 1t would be necessary to
beach her to take out her coal on light
ers. then repair the leak and raise her,
but later it was practically decided to
tow her to the government dock anu
unload her cargo there.
Interesting light is thrown on Adini-
raj Cervera's plans by the log or the
Reatormel. She sailed from San Juan
de Porto Rico. where the Spaniards
expected to coal. San Juan being DEEM
ed unsafe Curacao was selected, DuI
the collier failed to connect with the
fleet there and was ordered to santiago
Owing to her leak she did not reacn
Santiago the Spaniards renamed IN
port short of coal and We're 80 caught.
SPANISH FLEET TIED Up.
II Have Got Them and Will Never Get