The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-06-24
Yesterdays Third Edition.

III eue uoomed vessel that she was.
,s ne Marpiehead came near the shin
OF the officers, which, had. howavare i n1ss
sent aboard the Massachusetts The afrsr-
>noon before. 'ne ai'sr-
was requested that some food he ran,
h,a', W. as tnere mad been none left on
Dosru and no means of preparing any.
some coffee and hard tack were sent nm
uoaru from the Marblehead. This was all
, ma. .ne men had until late in the after
noon except those who went on hnara ~,
nagsnip about o'clock to rest and 90,
something to eat. 80
poatswain Mullen went aboard the flag
SNIP and did not return for the second ana
Ia,'.a a..enpt' Seaman Murphy of the
UNI wa came aboard to take his place.
ne men lay around the ship most Of
So eay, attempting to get little rest.
We're made e''"' p'ans
81, about l;6o o'clock MIR Hohson came nm
inc bridge. All the men who were N s ~,
IN with the shp-Montague. Cherett phi.
Fps, Diegnan. Murphy and Kelly-were
JARED up and given their final nstruc.
tlons as to their duties.
Everything was made ready hollow mr.,
reilet crew and myself were Sent ahosrj
me Iexas. The ship was steaminr In,
towards the entrance at dead slow :,
rms was about $50 a. m At 3.I5 o,c,nc,,
tne hrst shot was fired. coming from onn
OF me guns on the hill TO the left Gwes1
| OF the entrance. N1'
| me shot was seen to splash seward
her The firing became general verv 500,
aiter being especially fierce and rapid
! from the batteries inside on the loft ~
| ebe harbor probably from the batteries ~,
smith caya. VA
| me flashes and reports were apparen,,y
smosn of rapid fire guns ranging from
larger. For fifteen minutes '"oa o,
luslilade was kept up Then the fire s,ac,S-
ened and by $50 o'clock had almost ceased
a close watch was kept on the month n,
,he harbor in ordey to pick UP the steam
launch. There was little desultory tirlnr
| untll about $40 o'clock. when all hecame
qulet Daylight came about o'clock. AT
| ABOUT ola O'CLOCK the launch was seen
steaming from west to east near or arross
| the mouth of the harbor. She steamed
pack from east TO west and then began
sklrtng the coast to the west OF the en-
france Mr.. Powell came alongside the
TeXas and reported that "No one mad come
out of the entrance of the harbor"
His words sounded like the dea<hknell or
| all who had gone in on the Merrimac II
seemed incredible, almost impossible. that
any of them could have lived through tho
| awful fire that was directed at the shin
There was probably no one in the fleet
who did not think that AL seven of the
men had persisted. In Che afternoon, much
to the surprise OF every one. a tug, flying
a flag Of truce was seen coming out o.
| the entrance. The Vixen, flying a table
cloth at the fore went TO meet the tug.
Spanish officer went aboard the Vixen
from the tug and was taken aboard the
! flagship. Not long afterwards a signal
| was made that Murphy, of the Iowa, was
saved and was prisoner OF war. About
4 o'clock another signal was made from the
flagship: Golfers crew prisoners of war.
Two slightly wounded. All we'll"
1t can easily be imagined what relief
this signal brought to an hands who had
| been mourning the death OF all the men
The Spanish officer said. also that the
prisoners were confinca q, MORO Castle.
He said further that Admiral Cervera con-
sidered the attempt to run in and sink the
Mefrlmac across the chennel such an act
of such bravery and desperate daring that
he thought it proper that our admiral
should be notified of the safety OF these
| men Whatever the motive for sending out
the tug with the flag Of truce the act was
| most graceful one and one OF most chiN-
alrous courtesy The Spanish officer Is re-
ported to have said. Yea have made II
more difficult, but we csn sim get out
From bearings of the Merrimac (wnose
|
seem taken in the afternoon II appears
that she is lying with her bow to seward
lust above Estrella point, with her stern
swung around until she lies almost paral
lei to the direction OF the channel FROM
the fact that she is completely submerged
except her mastS and smokestacks, IL
would seem that she is sunk some httie
distance from the right bank. However
she Is not lying across the channel.
So far as blocking the channel the at
tempt can MOI he said To be successful IL
is probable that the anchor on tAe star
hoard quarter carried aw1y the stopper:
nm the chain and also the bits, when
were not very securely fastened IN 'ne
deck.
And the chain must have cut through
The rail as far as the midshp section OF
the ship. This would have permitted th'
STERN to swing entirely around until tne
shin Law up and down the channel &C
cordng to the Spanish report OF the aitali
sent to Madrid one Of the big America
liners attempted to force the entrahce u
The harbor and had been sunk in the chah
mel nv the batteries, and only seven OF hei
crew escaped Whether failure or sue
cessful, the attempt Of the Merrimac WI
, go down to history as one OF the braves
and most daring deeds in naval annals.
Mr.. Hobson and the men under him wer'
fully alive to the desperate II not nope
less nature of the expedition and OF theN
small chance of escane fror7 deatn
There was no shirkinE-to the con
trary, there was the s7-"test eagernes
10 be allowed to go with the ship. TIT
steady refusal OF Mr.. Hobson TO take or
hoard more than were absolutely indls
pensable for the bare discharge OF th'
duties required showed how well he ap
preciated the danger. He declined t'
grant the persistent and earnest entreatle
Of a number o. Young officers who beggel
permission 10 90. II seems well now tina
he went alone and that all the honor ant
praise are his.