The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-06-10
TERROR NOT DESTROYED
Out Everyone at Santiago Believed
She Had Been.
MANY PERSONS STILL BELIEVE IT.
rioaunE Torpelocs Picked In =. =.
argued We're Probably Fired
mt the Merrimac.

on Board the Associated Press Disnstc,
BOAT Dauntless, OFF Sa>alaro do cub,
ounoay' june 5.--ts p. m.)-Via Kincston,
jamaica June 6.-(o:55 a. m y Er;aa,
hisht 1t was believed that n night attach
on the American fleet nv o,a 80 49,
.ne torpedo boat dcstroyers with the snan-
ish iieet had been frustrated by the vlg,-
rance OF the New Orltans, and tha, ~.
ueS'royers had been rcpulsei and drivs,
Duck INTO the harbor by he hot fire noprea
INTO them by the New Orleans and unes..
oh'setts II was this heavy firing which
'eu 10 the report which reached Port An
.opio saturday that the Spanish destrover
terror mad been surrounded and sun,, -,
rFlday night as she was trying to s,i, into
Santiago harbor.
Inc latter report is now know, 70 how.
mad no foundation. and there &c COMMIT,
u opiHioh among the officers of the fleet
as 10 whether the New Orleans had in
reality met torpedo boat. When tbo fir
ing was begun Friday night IT was dar,,
Gnu 'he OBJECT at which the guns on our
snips were dirqcted seemed to be moving
close in shore
railroad line connects Santiago with
cave Point. at distance of fifteen miles,
the site of the iron manufactures. The
track runs along the waters edge and tho
trains, which carry supplies and probablv
war material, are only run at night and
without lights. 1t is possible that in the
darkness fast moving train may have
osen mistaken AS one Was last week, for
torpedo boat.
But the discovery by the Porter of two
torpedoes on Saturday afternoon FLOAT
ing In the water two miles from shore
tended to strengthen the theory OF tbose
VINO insisted that torpedo attack had
oeen attempted The torpedoeS were ~
the Schwartzkopf pattern. which are not
used by our ships. II they were discharr-
eu az one OF our vessels by the DESTROY
e ea 'ne spania,ds must have had bad
case OF nervous fright as one had onlv a
prSetlce head-a blank cartridge.
ms TACT leads to the belief that the tor
Peuoes picked up by the Porter were fired
FRIDAY morning at the Merrimac when she
was discovered entering tue neck OF the
haroor, probably by the cruiser Reina Mer
cedes, which now lies dismantled wreck
on smith Cayo, where the harbor neck
broadens. After being fired tney NAV
II this theory is confirmed the momen-
tary panic caused by the sudden appear
ance OF our ships and the belief which
probably prevailed that the whole Amerl-
can fleet was attempting to force an un-
trance. might account for premature Dis
charge OF torpedo before the warhead
was affixed. With deliberate preparations
for torpedo boat attack, 1t would hardly
be likely for any OF the warheads not to be
adjusted.
or course 1t Is possible there may have
been a torpedo boat attack on Friday night
and that one of the reserve torpedoes got
adrft or If one OF the boats was sunk, as
some hold, the torpedo may have got loose
from its moorings as the ship plunged and
went down. The torpedoes were evidently
BET afloat after being discharged.
In our navy all torpedoes are set to sink
when they have run their course. The
Spaniards may have reckoned on keeping
them afloat in the hope that one of our
ships would stumble on 1t in the dark and
share the fate Of the Maine.
King Yusn. one Of the Chinese ships at
he battle OF the Yalu, is supposed by some
naval experts to have been sunk by a float
ng torpedo discharged earlier in the ac-
ton by one OF her sister ships.
A sharp lookout is maintained by the
squadron in guarding against
night attacks bv TORPEDO boats. az 1t Is
leading to firing by cSlr ships upon each
other on at least two occasions. During
last week the battleship Texas fired upon
the Marblehead and the Vixen. and both
the latter vessels had narrow escapes.
Only the flash of their signal lights and |
On the occasion in question, the fortunate
bad aim of the gunners Of the Texas-sav
I'd them.
Several OF the newspaper dispatch boats
have had stirring experiences of SINH
lar character
On board the New York and New
CrlcnuS they arc confident a torre-
do attack was rcpuised on Friday
night.