The San Francisco call., 1898-07-07

NEW YORK, July 6.-In anticipation of the great battle between the Amer ican fleet and the Cape Verde squad ron, commanded by Admiral Cervera, The Call, in combination with the New York Herald, secured the services of an expert naval authority on board one of the battle-ships to write technical description of the fight when it oc- cured. During the engagement the writer was at his post of duty and could not possibly furnish his narrative when The Herald dispatch boat Golden Rod left the scene of action to steam at full speed to Port Antonio and file in the cable office a full account of the battle, which The Call and Herald printed exclusively on Tuesday morn ing.
 nen the writer agreed to furnish The Call and Herald with the descrip- tion which follows he telegraphed: I will write the story unless killed in bat tie. If anything happens to me trust one of the ether officers to be spared will render The Call and the Herald the service which they reuest."
 This account is, therefore, the first technical description of the battle printed anywhere. The Call regrets that it is unable to give the signature or the writer 10 the story, put SlIlcl naval regulations prevent.
 ON BOARD THE UNITED STATES SHIP IOWA, OFF SANTIAGO, July 4, by the Call Herald dispatch boat Col den Rod to Port Antonio, July 6.-On Sunday morning, July 3. our watching ships lay rolli- in easy surges off the from the guarded haven varied from four to six thousand yards, and there, with an unsparing alertneSS, they waited for the promised dash which all hoped for, but feared might never come.
 A little after three bells in the fore noon watch the inspection of the ship had been concluded, and as Lieutenant Van Duser, the officer of the watch, was relieving the navigating officer, Lieu tenant Scheutze. then officer of the deck, he heard quick cry to call the captain, followed by the shout, There come the Spaniards out of the harbor"
 The trained eye of the alert officer had marked the thin trail of drifting smoke and before the signals Clear ship for action" had been given the bows Of the Spanish vessels, rushing in line ahead" were seen darting around Socapa point for the open sea.
 In moment all was hustle and trained energy. Men rushed to their quarters, guns were trained and in less than twenty seconds the whistling shriek of the rapid-fire gun warned the startled fleet of the hot work await ing. In two minutes every gun on shipboard was cast loose manned loaded and ready for the long-expected signal to fire.
 At the yardarm of our battle-ship a string of signal flags warned the fleet that the enemy was trying to es- cape, but even before the answering pennants of the other ships announced their understanding of the message all vessels were flashing to their sta tions long before the allotted time, for the emergency which had come at last
 It was splendid spectacle. The SpaniardS with bottled steam cleared the harbor's mouth seemingly in mo- ment. Under their eager prows a col umn of foam whitened the long pillows and their bubbling wakes left a furrow as straight and sharp as a racing yacht making winning run for the finish line. Their course was shaped for the westward, but as fast as they sped in their desperate break for free dom, the faster flew the shells of the pursuing Americans. The first heavy shell from the Iowa's battery fell short. and then, by mischance, so did the second, but afterward a rain of shot fell upon the fleeing foe.
 Not a whit behind in this eager fu- sillade roared the batteries of the Span ish ships. Their port broadsides famed and grumbled, but it was a splendid display of fireworks rather than a successful effort to damage the unharmed targets of the Yankee ships. In fifteen minutes after they were discovered four Spanish armored cruis CTS had cleared the entrance, and five y1oi,, lnt ha tnr stroyers, hugging the beach and seek ing the sheltering broadside of their sister ships, flew into the turmoil of the action.
 At this time every gun of the Amer ican squadron that could be brought to bear was pumping projectiles into the enemy. In an instant it almost seemed one ship of the Vizcaya class burst into flames, caused, undoubtedly, by a long sure shot from the Oregon or Texas. A minute later a 12-inch projectile sent from a forward turret struck the Ma ria Teresa near her after smokepipe. A tremendous explosion followed. Then she was shrouded In smoke and was lighted with lurid flames; and then, when the powder cloud cleared away she was seen helm hard a-port rushing for the beach.
 Twenty-Five minutes after the first ship had been sighted half the Spanish fleet had surrendered or was on fire As our vessels rushed toward them every ship was hulled time and again and 1t almost seemed from the sureness and directness of our batteries as if it were target practice of a summer morning, and not the annihilation of a squadron. Even this interval would have been shortened measurably, for