The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-08

Was Naturally Uncomfortable While
In MORO Castle, hut Fared Bet
ter After Reaching Reina Mer-
cedes HOspital-Snys Good
Word for the Spanish Admiral
Cervera-Grateful to Soldiers.
OFF SANTIAGO, July Z. = Before
leaving for the seacoast Lieut.. Hobson
was taken to Gen. Skaters hcadquar-
ters and warmly greeted by the COM
| manding general. /, The correspondent
of the Associated Press. asked Hobson
for an interview and statement as TO
his experience on the memorable night
when he took the collier Merrmac into
Santiago harbor. He declined to say
anything with regard TO the Merrimac
on the ground that he sintended to SUBJ
NIT a complete report to Admiral
Sampson on the subject and that it
would be outside of the line of his duty
to say anything Of the sinking Of the
Merrimac until he had made his re-
port or at least had an opportunity
to consult. the admiral. He could not
be induced to say anything on this sub
ject, but with regard to his experiences
oo e~s ~ ASyOAOA VI W0A III 0oAltle16Os- IC
said
During the first four days we were
prisoners of war, we were; confined in
Morro castle, and.sI can assure. you
those We're extremely uncomfortable
and disagreeable days. The Epasliarls
did not exactly ill-tre7s us, but it took
them. some time to seeaver from the
shock of what most Of them considered
our Yankee impudepce in trying. to
block their harbor.> sAs a rule the Off
GERS and men who came into contact
with us were gruff In speech and sullen
in manner. There was many threaten
| ing. glances fshot in pur direction. For
Admiral Cerversa have nothing but
the highest admiration.
"His action In informing Admiral
Sampson Of our safety ] regard as that
Of a. skind-hearted, generous man, and
| chiyalrous officer expressed to
him the sincere thanks of myself and
men Of taking the means Of thus cas-
ing our shipmates and friends. He re-
reatedly spoke to me of his admiration
of what he called one of the most dar-
Ing acts in naval history, though I
am sure we were not entitled to the
commendation We received, for there
were hundreds, of other men on our
ships who would have been glad to un-
dertake to do the same thing.
While we were in MORO castle We
were naval prisoners, but at the end Of
four days we were transferred to the
Jurisdiction of the army, and were re-
moved to the Reina Mercedes hospital
on the outskirts of Santiago. where we
remained until today. We knew but
little of what was going on in the city,
| though, of course, we could tell when
| cur fleet was bombarding the shore
batteries and we could easily distin-
guish the terrific explosions caused by
| the Vesuvius throwing dynamite shells.
Several times at night we were also
fully aware that the land batteries
were fighting outside the city. Last
Friday and Saturday 1t would be diff
| cult to explain how anxious we were
for news Of the SUCCESS of our side dur
| ing the engagement. The little infor-
nation the Spaniards would give us
| could not be relied on
"One thing that I found in the hos
pital was that large number of Span
| ish 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
| hospital windows ON Friday, but I do
not believe any one was Injured by
them. Our quarters there were clean
and comfortable, and the food was
fairly good. In faet,.I have, no rea-
son to complain Of our treatment as
prisoners ofa@swar. The prejudices
| which the Spaniards. showed against
us during the first few days, soon wore
off. We conducted ourselves properly,
and simply forced sthem to treat us
well.
I'VE knew nothing about the destruc-
| ton Of Admiral Ceryera's fleet until
| told of it by our comrades today
"Of course, our confinement became
very irksome, and I cannot tell you
how great our relief was to be free
again. I cannot express our gratitude
to the soldiers who gave us such
| welcome as we came into the lines.
All of us are in excellent health, and
glad to get back to our posts again and
see the war in such good condition"
Lieut.. Hobson was in as good health
as his sailors. The twelve-mile gall
lop to Juragua was made very quickly,
though on account OF stopping at
Gen. Shafter's headquarters it was
| dusk when he arrived on the beach
and took the boat for the, New York.
~