The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-22
If Sampson Had Bombarded the Forts
Two Hours Longer the City
Would Have Capitulated.
TWENTY SPANlARDS KILLED
AND ABOUT SIXTY INJURED, ALL IN
THE HARBoR DEFENSE WORKS.
Incidents of the Fight Told by People
who Have Arrived at New York
from the Island of Porto Rico.

NEW YORK, May 21-Captain Lloyd, OF
| the steamer Arkadia, that has just arrived
| here from San Juan de Puerto Rico. says
that he and the ships steward were the
only ones who went ashore during the
| steamers three hours stay at the bonn
| barded port. From what learned twenty
| men were killed by American guns" said
| Captain Lloyd ''Of these six were moved
| down at the guns and the others were laid
| out by bursting shells in the defenses. No
| one was hurt In the town. About sixty were
| injured, all in the forts. The agent Of the
| line, naturalized American citizen, took
| me around the town. A shell from the
| American fleet had struck the fourth story
| of the Hotel Ingleterra, knocked off the
| whole roof and drove the guests, men and
| women, into the streets in their nights
| clothes at 515 a. m. Flying over the forts
| a good many shells had fallen into thu
| fatlands, striking houses, some of which
are now propped up to keep them FROM
| tumbling. / saw a storehouse that had BEEN
riddled by an American she'll which hads
punctured the roof, bored it's way through
the lumber stored in the building. pene-
trated the office and. emerging through q
rear door had knocked hole in the hull
Of a Spanish merchant steamer. the Ma
nuela.
"a Spanish custom house inspector told
me that his father, soldier, had been
killed while asleep in his bed by one OF the
first shots Below the Notifications lie
many shells, some of them still unexploded.
| The Spanards are picking them up and
| treasuring them for menentoes. See the
presents the Yankees sent us they tell their
friends.
IF man can speak only so much English
as yes or no his life is now in peril in
San Juan. Secretary Bett, of the English
consulate. told me that there is much dis
cussion among the consular officials at SAN
Juan AS to whether the bombardment will
stand the test of international law. as no
notice was given"
MR.. BRAKES STORY.
Among the passengers on the Arkadia
were A. v. Drake for three years secre-
| tary to M Vadrene, United States consular
| agent at Mayaguez; William Cantrell, an
| Englishman, and nicolai Megwinom "a ma
| tive of Russia and an Americas eltszei Sdrsu
| Drake was the last native born American
| to leave the island of Porto Rico. Mr..
| Drake said 1.-The agent from whom
learned of the bombardment lived outside
the city, but, awakened by the heavy bonn
harding, he got up and watched the engage
ment from a safe distance. One vessel,
which he said he believed was the Iowa, left
the fleet and, accompanied by small boat
steamed fairly under Morro's guns. She
stationed the small boat, and, going slowly
around it, let fly her shells at every revoIu-
ton. This was actually so close that the
guns on the Notifications could not be
trained on the war ship, and volleys of mus
kerry were showered upon her. Soon the
feet was enveloped in such bank of smoke
that Morros guns must have beeen abso-
lutely helpless. Under cover of the smoke
the daring vessel joined the fleet again. An
other daring war ship was believed to be the
monitor Terror. She, too, came within easy
range of the shore guns, and the shot from
her seemed to have taken effect Once when
the seas were breaking over her deck the
gunners on MORO, unused to her type, cried
in glee. See, we have sunk her.
According to Spanish reports there were
eleven vessels in the bombarding fleet, and
the most serious damage was the dismount-
ing OF one gun and the killing Of one OF
the gunners. Conflicting stories of the NUM-
Der killed in San Juan were current. 1t was
reported soon after the fiet had retired that
sixty had met death, but later reports put
the number at six. These six, it was said,
were the men at the guns. Several shells
struck the town, but have not been able
to learn that any persons were killed by
them. Another shell went through large
warehouse on dock, shattering timber
pile and lodging in the side plates OF the
Spanish mail steamship Manuea. 1t nearly
sunk her.
1T seemed strange to me that the Amer
lean fleet did not continue the bombard-
ment until all the fortifcations were demol-
ished. The pilot. who boarded us off Sandy
Hook, said the fleet had gone to San Juan
to engage the Spanish fleet, and his state
ment goes to explain several incidents OF
the attack. quantity OF small shots was
fred IN the harbor at first to draw out, as
/ now understand, any Spanish war ships
that might have been there. ALTHOUGH
there were in San Juan at the time
cruisers Isabel IL and Alfonso XIII ana
the gunboat Concho, not one of them took
any part in the engagement and the Amer
lean vessels retired. After it was all over
the Alfonso XIII put to sea to give chase
to the American liner Paris, as was learned
afterwards. She returned In three hours
alone. We saw the same liner fifteen miles
away, off Parade, on Friday morning. She
was cruising to the southeast. -
ALMOST READY TO CAPTTULATE
There was much surprise In San Juan
when the American fleet retired. If the war
ships had continued their attack two hours
longer the town would have surrendered.
The authorities both naval and military,
were unable to learn how much damage had
resulted to the American ships, but 1t was
not generally believed in San Juan that the
fleet had been compelled to withdraw under
the fire from the Notifications.
There was much disappointment too.
that the Spanish fleet had not arrived 10
protect the town. The war ships had been
looked for every day for two weeks pre-
ceding the boinbardment and there were
several British vessels unloading coal for
the fleet when we were at San Juan. The
guns which we saw on the Notifications in
entering the harbor seemed to be of an
Client design, and / am told that what mod
ern guns the American fleet left are not
in lighting order. Several Krupp guns
which were landed at San Juan a year ago
were not removed from the wharf until a
couple of weeks ago.
Under Spanish sovereignty affairs in
Porto Rico are anything but prosperous
There is little money in circulation, ana
there have been many failures during the
last two years. There Is q strong feeling