The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-07-09


WORK OF RESCUE.
GAS it was apparent that l could not
possibly catch the Cristobal Colon, and
that the Oregon and Brooklyn I'M
York was also on her trail, 1 decided
the calls of humanity should be heard
and assistance given to the 1000 or
1,500 Spanish officers and men who
had struck their colorS to the Ameri-
can squadron, Commanded by Admiral
Sampson. l, therefore, headed for the
wreck of the Vizcaya, now burning
furiously fore and aft. When | was in
as far the depth of water would per-
nit, 1 lowered all my boats and sent
them at once to the assistance of the
men, who were being drowned by doz-
ems or roasted on the decks l soon
discovered that the III urgent Cubans
from the shore We're Shoctin6 on men
who were struggling IN the alter, af-
ter having surrendered to US. 1 i'm
mediately put a stop to this, but
could not put a stop to the mutilation
OF many bodies by the sharks inside
the reefs. These creatures had become
excited by the blood from the wounded
mixing in the water. My boats crews
worked manfully and succeeded in saw
ing many of the wounded from the
burning ship. One man, who will be
recommended for promotion, clambered
up the side of the Vizcaya and saved
three men from burning to death. The
smaller magazines of the VfZcaya were
exploding with magnificent cloud eff
fects. The beats We're coming along
side in steady string, and willing
hands were helping the lacerated Span
Ism ofhcerS and sailors on the IoWa's
quarterback.
NAKED AND MANGLED.
'All the Spaniards were absolutely
without clothes Some had their legs
torn off by fragments of shells. 9th
ers We're mutilated in every conceiy-
able way.
THREE INCHES OF BLOOD.
THE bottoms of the boats held two or
three inches of blood. In many cases
dead men were lying in the blood Five
poor chaps died on the way to the
snip. They were afterwards buried
with military honors from the Iowa
Some examples of herOism, or more
properly devotion to discipline and
duty, could never be surpassed. One
man ON the lost Vizcaya had mis- left
arm almost shot off just before the
shoulder. The fragments were hanging
by small piece of skin. But he climbed
nnasSiSted over the side and saluted
as II on a visit Of ceremony. Imme-
dlateiy after him came asstrong-heart-
ed sailor, whose left leg had been shot
OF above the knee. He was hoisted on
board the Iowa with a tackle, but
never Whimper came from him. Grad
ually the mangled bodies and naked
well men accumulated until it would
nave been almost difficult to recognize
the Iowa as a United States battle
ship.
Blood was all over her usually white
quarterback, and 272 naked men were
being supplied with water and food.
A PATHETIC SCENE.
Finally came the boat with Captain
Eulate, commander of the Vizcaya. for
whom chair was lowered over the
SIDE, as he was evidently wounded The
captains guard of marines were swung
up on the quarterback to salute him
and l stood waiting to welcome him.
AS the chair was placed on the deck
the marines presented arms. CAPTAIN
Eulate slowly raised himself from the
chair, saluted me with grave dignity,
unbuckled his sword belt and holding
the hilt of the sword before him kissed
1t reverently, with tears in his eyes.
and then surrendered it to me.
Of course l declined to receive his
sword, and, as the crew of the Iowa
saw this. they cheered like wild men.
In the meantime 80 officers of the
Vlzcaya had been picked up, besides
zt2 or her crew. Our ward room and
steerage officers gave up their state
rooms and furnished food, clothing and
tobacco to those naked officers from
the Vizcaya. The paymaster issued
uniforms TO the naked sailors. and each
was given all the corned beef, coffee
and bareback he could eat. The war
mad assumed another aspect"
AS L knew the crews of the first two
ships wrecked had not been visited by any
OF our vessels, | ran down to them. 7
found the Gloucester, with Admiral Ger
vera and a number of his officers aboard
and also a large number of wounded. some
IN frightfully mangled condition Many
prisoners had been killed on shore bv the
hre OF the Cubans. The Harvard came off
and l requested Captain Cotton to go in
and take care of the crews of the Infanta
MARIA Ieresa and the Almirante Oquendo
and by midnight the Harvard had st4 mrs,
oners aboard, great number of them
For courage and dash there is 70 par
allel in history to this action of the SDan-
ish admiral. He came. as he knew. to
absolute destruction. There was one sim
gle hope-that was that the Cristobal Co
ion would steam faster than the Brook
destroyers, paper shells at best. deIiber-
ately steaming out in broad daylight in
the face of the fire of a battleship can be
described in one way: 1t was Spanish
and it was ordered by Blanco The same
must be said of the entire movement.
CERVERA HONORED.
81 took Admiral Cervera aboard from
the Gloucester which had scued him.
and received him with fun admiraIs
guard. The crew of the Iowa crowded
close to the turrets. half naked and black
with powder, as Cervera stepped over the
side, bare-headed. Over his undershirt
he wore a thin suit of flannel, borrowed
from Lieutenant Commander Wainwright
Of the Gloucester. The crew cheered Vo-
Cervera is every inch an adj
miral, even if ne had not any hat. He
submitted to the fortunes of war with a
grace that proclaimed him thorough
BRED
Captain Evans is intensely proud of his
ship and her men. The Iowa fired 81 u
inch, As S-inch, go finch, 060 6-pound
and 120 1-pound shots.
The officers of the Vizcaya say they
simply could not hold their crews at the
guns on account of the rapid fire poured
upon them. One of the Pinch shells from
the Iowa exploded a torpedo in the Viz
caya's bow, blowing q men against the
deck above and dropping them dead and