The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1898-06-07

Key West, Fla. June G-Captain Miller,
OF the collier Mcrrimac arrived here to-
day lie says Lieut. Hobson's act was
the bravest I ever saw or heard Of. Every
officer and man In the fleet would have
volunteered TO go, but IIobson, being "a
naval constructor. was the man for the
place. The details were arranged and the
crew was oa board Thursday morning.
and the vessel had started, but day COM
menccd to break and the Admiral sig
nailed for her return. hobson begged to
be permitted TO proceed saying he would
Doe successful However, the admiral In
sisted on his return. The men were given
good nap and early the next morning
the Merrlmac started again She had been
thoroughly stripped OF valuable articles,
even the clock and bell being taken off.
"lt was arranged that the Merrmac
was 90 bc swung across the channel TN
one eIdground. The man that let go the
the starboard anchor was TO let the life
raft fam ana then jump overboPrl Last
of an the man that pressed the key would
De unlikely TO assign another man to the
mos dangerous post Besides, he Is the
best swimmer ln the navy
The plan was carried ou; perfectly.
The only thing we had hot counted on was
the Spaniards keeping suca "a close watch,
| They permitted the Merlma2 % pass be-
tween the Moro and Es- 'eua forts with
out notifying her. when sho was ~
range Of the other forts, uhe harbor was
| opened on her, We could not count shots,
! the firing was $50 furious. Tnc forts must
have fred n thousand shots
81 was on the New YORK watching. and
the hearts Of an Of us Ldtorcd. for II
seemed as if no ship cou'i live m that he'll
of FIRE. and that no one on board could cs-
cape The Morrimac anchored. The men
| jumped overheard and the forts then sub
sided. refusing to fire at the men struggl-
| Ing In the water. The men reached the
! raft. whore they were captured and taken
60 Moro fort
when Admiral Cervera's chief Of staff
came on board the Now York. several u.
ncers asked TO be allowed to change place
with IIobson, but this was not permissible
Cervera's officer could not nnd strong
enough language 10 express his alnlr,.
ton for the bravery of the Americans
| His courtesy and tho action Of the for,s
I'm sparlng the men struggling In the wat.
er changed our opinion OF the spani1rd'
and made us think the stories of thelI
|
After daylight we could see the maats and
funnel of the Merrmac sticking out Ol
the water. She sunk exactly where W,
wanted her. We saw ia the harbor three
crusiers me Cratobel and lnfanta NJ aria
Teresca being among them. but I dom
know whittier the other cruisers or the
torpedo boat destroyers are there. Tn,
black thing that some of the officers o
The ships thought they saw coming aftcl
them has not been idemiHed yet, and W
are not sure that any Of destroyer
are al Santiago.
"rhe insurgents sent us word that th'
mon and guns from the cruisers had beer
sent ashore, and it looks as though th'
vessels would not try 90 get out and th'
Spanish officers had no hope of eseapnl
or ylr,0ry. bur were determined 20 mak'
"a brave. stubborn fight 20 maintain Spain,
hoa0r The story printed in the New Yorl
papers that Lieut.. Hobson and Rear Al
miral Sampson quarrelled just before th'
Mcrrimac went down IL an entire false
| hood.