The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-07-08

joined In the gtneIdl tHtHuoi""i'' anu
cheer after cheer arose as Hobson ana
his companions forced their way through
the lines OF white and colored soldiers
Hobson. 80 far as possible. grasped each
hand extended toward him. and neither
he nor his mc.s made any protest against
the most uncomfortable crowding ana
jostling which they had to undergo.
HE GREETED ALL ALIKE.
The Young officer saw that they wore
the uniform of the United states Army,
and ne cared not for the color OF It's
wearers. graspng the hands Of the ebony
hued troopers OF the Ninth and Tenth
Cavalry. and expressing his thanks lot
patriotic welcome with as much hedru-
ness as he displayed toward men OF his
| own race. He and all OF his men were
| overcome by the reception accorded them'
and tears rolled down their cheeks as the
! soldiers crowded around them.
As Hobson and his party approached
| CAPTAIN Grimes battery, the men CRED
| out on every side TO have a salute hred
I'm their honor. Hobson protested against
/ this and shouted TO the artillerymen'
who had also caught the infection. not
! to fire their guns. Some OF the most en-
/ thusiastic OF the men appealed 10 Col
onel John Jacob Aston. and the latter
! entered into the spirit OF the occasion
/ and told the. men they need not ooey
/ Hobson's orders as he was only a Heu-
| tenant But the officers OF the battery
prevented the men from firing the guns,
as the Spaniards might have mistaken
| the reports for an opening Of ar attack
| and had the latter responded our soldiers
were I'm no position Din their state OF
| disorder and enthusiasm for an engage
ment. .
WELCOMED BY WHEELER.
Assistant Naval Constructor Hobs0n
| finally reached General Wheeler's head
quarters. where the veteran cavalryman
and other officers gave him warm well
come. Bv this time Captain Chadwick, OF
| tho New York. and the naval escort from
the flagship. had reached Hobson and
! his men. and they were the first persons
with whom the rescued prisoners had any
previous acquaintance, whom they hdd
met since they entereS Santiago haroor
on their perilous mission. Captain Chad-
| wick and all others took each man oy
| the hand and extended the heartiesl
| greeting.
FRESH CLOTHES.
The escort had brought a change OF
clothing, including new uniforms io'
! IIobson and his men. and the latter were
| given q short respite while they changed
| their apparel. HObson was also given
horse TO ride over the trail TO Juragua ana
| his men were placed in an army amou-
lance
Before leaving for the seacoast Hon-
son was taken TO General shafters heaa-
| quarters and warmly greeted by the
commanding General.
HIS EXPERIENCES.
The correspondent Of the Assoc'd,',
press asked Hobson for an interview ana
| a statement as 20 his experiences on the
! memorable night when he took the COZ
| lier Merrimac into Santiago harbor. he
! declined TO say anything with regard 10
| the Merrimac on the ground thdt ne III
tended to submit a report 10 Admiral
! SAMPSON on the subject. and that IL
would be outside of the line Of his duty
to saw ANYTHING Of the sinking OF the
| shin until after he had made such re-
| mort or at least had an opportunity 10
! consult the Admiral.
| lie could not be induced 10 say any
| thing on this subject. but with regard 10
| his exporiences as n prisoner OF war IN
! Santiago he SAID:
During the first four days we We're
nrisoners Of war We were confined IN
| Moro Castle. and can assure you tho-e
! were extremely uncomfortable ana us
agreeable days The Spaniards dld not
! exactly Hl-treat us. but II took thelh
| some time TO recover from the shoch
caused by what most Of them cor sideIed
our Yankee imprudence in trying 10
| block their harbor.
ADMIRES CERNERA.
"As rule the officers and men who
came into contact with us were gruh IN
speech and sullen in amer. Ihere
were many threatening glances shot our
direction. For Admiral Cervera, / nave
nothing but the highest admiration.
"His act I'm informing Admiral Samp-
son of our safety. I regard as that or q
| ldnd-hearted, generous man ana chlNdI-
| rOus officer. / express TO him my slh-
cere thanks and the thanks OF my men
| for taking this means Of relieving the
anxiety of our ship mates and our friends
al home He repeatedly spoke 10 me
OF his admiration Of what he called one
/ of the most daring acts In naval MS
\ tory. though / am sure we were not en-
| titled 10 the commentator we received
for there We're hundreds Of other men On
our ships who would have been glad 10
undertake 10 do the same thing.
IN MOIliO CASTLE.
while we wer i'm MORO Castle We
were naval prisoners. but at the
end OF four days we were trans
fcrred TO the jurisdiction Of
| the army. and were removed TO the-Reina
/ Mercedes Hospital on the outskirts OF
| Santiago where we remained until to-
day.
I'VE knew but little Of what was go
| ing on I'm the city. though, of course.
we could always tell when our feet was
bombarding the shore batteries. and We
could easily distinguish the terrific eX-
blossoms caused by the Nesuvius throw
! ing dynamite shells Several times az
night We were also fully aware that TIA
| land batteries were lighting outside the
| city Last Friday and Saturday it would
| be difficult 10 explain how anxious We
were for news Of the success OF our side
| during the engagement. The little in
formation the Spaniards would give us
| could not be relied upon.
MAY SPANIARDS WOUNDED.
cone thing that ] found ont IN the hos
pital was that a large number Of Span
ism officers were wounded In last Fri
DAYS fight. for many were brought to
the hospital to be treated. Numbers Of
badly aimed bullets came into the hos
pital windows on Friday. but 7 do not
/ believe anyone was injured by them.
our quarters there were very clean and
comfortable and the food was fairly good
I'm fact. / have no reason 20 complain OF
our treatment as prisoners of war The
prejudice which the Spaniards showed
against us during the first few DAYS soon
wore away. We conducted ourselves
properly and simply forced them to treat
us we'll
HEARD OF CERVERA'S DEFEAT.
1--WE knew nothing about the destruc-
| ton Of Admiral Cervera's fleet until told
BY our own people to-day. OF course.
onr confinement became very irksOme