Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-05-25
STORY Of THE WINSL0W.
Graphic Account of the Fight In Carde
mas Bay.

Graphic Account of the Fight In Carde-
mas Bay.
For an hour before the passenger
steamer Key West left her 'lock for
Tampa, says an Associated Press dis
patch of last Friday, a man wearing
the uniform of IL naval seaman sal
wearily against Il great bale of cord
aye looking out past the albor and
the distant keys toward the guIf. He
was William OHearn, of Brooklyn,
and one of the survivors Of the tor
pedo boat Winslow, which passed
through the terrible storm of shot and
shell that poured in from the Spanish
batteries in the bay of Cardenas. He
was going home on furlough for rest.
Beside him in u bright tin cage was
the Winslow's parrot which made him
self famous on the day of the battle
by shrieking and chattering like de-
mon during the whole engagement.
By degrees and after much question
ing O'Hearn told the whole story of
the battle, and no doubt his account OF
the engagement is the most correct in
detail of any given yet.
"From the very beginning" he said,
"I think every man on the boat be-
lieved that we could not escape being
sunk, and that is what would have
happened had it not been for the
bravery of the boys on the Hudson
who worked for over an hour under
the most terrific.fre to get us out OF
range"
"Were you ordered to 90 in there ?"
he was asked.
eyes, just before we were fired upon
the order was given from the Whining
ton.
"Was it a signal order?"
"No, we were near enough to the
Wilmington so that they shouted it to
us from deck through the megaphone. "
"Do you remember the words of the
command and who gave them ?"
81 don't know who shouted the Or
der, but the words, as remember
them, were: "Mr. Bagley, 60 in there
and see what gunboats those are we
started at once toward the Cardenas
dock, and the firing began soon after"
"What was the first you saw of the
firing?"
"The first thing saw was shot
fired from a window or door in the
second story of the storehouse just
back of the dock where the Spanish
gunboats were lying. l saw the flash
and the smoke and the same instant a
shell went Kissing over our heads.
Then the firing began from the gun
boats and from the shore. | don't
think any man can forget the sound
and the effect of shell and heavy shot
the first time he is under fire. 1t is
something terrible. When d shell
passes close by you, you feel it, some
thing like the effect of lightning when
it strikes near by. You feel as though
it had taken your head off. First you
hear that awful buzzing-it is hard to
describe, and then something seems to
strike you in the face and head. l
noticed that day when the shells began
to fly about us, that the boys threw
their hands to their heads every time
a shell went over. But they soon came
50 fast and so close that it was a roar
ing shrieking, crashing hell. can de-
scribe it no other way"
"Where was your position ?"
~ am water TENDER" he said, "and
my place was below, but everybody
went on deck when the battle began.
John Varvares, the oiler, John Meek
the fireman, was on watch with me
and had they remained below they
would probably not have been killed.
After the firing began [ went below
again to attend to the boilers, and in
a few minutes later u solid shot came
crashing through the side of the boat
and into the boiler, where it exploded
and destroyed 70 of the boiler tubes.
At first it stunned me. When the
shell burst in the boiler, it threw both
the furnace doors open and the fuse
from the shell struck my feet. Two
pieces of the shell also came out of the
door, and l am taking them home
with me as souvenirs Of the war. 1t
was a terrible crash and report alto
gether, and the boiler room was filled
with dust and steam. For several
seconds l was partially stunned and
nv ears rang so could hear nothing.
went up on the deck to report to
Captain Bernadou."
"What did you say to him ?"
81 saw him near the forecastle gun
limping about with towel bound
about his left leg. He was shouting
and the noise of all the guns was like
continuous thunder. Captain, | shout
ed, the forward boiler is disabled. A
shell has gone through her."
"'Get out the hose he said, and
turned to the gun again. l went back
into the boiler room and in u few min
utes 1 went up on the deck again, and
the fighting had grown hotter than