The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-05-10
DIDN'T cArcu rluE RABBIT

k,y West May only plur marks.
manship on tho part ~ tho Hpanltrda
sawed ihr yl.kHhufk and cutter Morrill,
from destruction in Havana hafbur SOS.
trrlay morning
Fuf over hair nm hour they wrrr under
th, nfo NJ tho guns of tho santa Clara
water batteries but both escaped without
material injury although nhrapnel from
ihr Nlnyh guns exploded an about lhcm
aud both now hhuw scars NJ the Spanish
bullets
Tho SrauInfds had arranged q trap TO
send couple ~ our chips tn tho bottom
A small schooner waa sent ou, from lia'
yaua harbor shortly before daylight y"7.
irrday morning Co draw some NJ tho
Americans 60 tho ambuHrade Tho fuuo
worked lku charm Tho Ylrksburr ana
lhc Mpfriil IN tho heat ~ tho chase after
lhr schooner and IN thrlr contempt for
spanish gunncry. walked straight into The
,Bp that had been aoi fpf them Had tho
spanish waited n,c innutca longer 20 nrr.
uul oven had gun practice would have
saved our ships for they would have been
within a thousand yards " the guns
Tho schooner lhcy hah sent out before
dayilEh, ran out 10 tho eastward. husrlng
enc shore with tho wind on hor slatbuaft
quarter About three miles cas-, of tho
entrance 10 tho harhor ahc came oyer on
iho port tack Nho MAS not discovered
untl three miles m shore. when tho May.
flower made hcr out and slEnallrd the
Morriu and tho Vlcksburs
a..
mandcr rily ~ tho Vlgksbutg lmmcdl-
ately slapped on an steam and started In
pursuit. The schooner Instantly pu, about
and ram straight for MORO castle before
tho wind In doing no sho would. accord.
ms ip tho well conceived spanish plot
lead The Two American whrnhlpa directly
under ihv guns of the Santa clara bat
trrlrs,
rhr Morr.u and The virksburs were
nHlu, slS miles from tho schooner when
JNr chase began The, steamed after hcr
n' taU speed the Morrill, loading until
Thin milo and q hNf ~ tho Santa
clara batteries Commander THY of the
N..krhurs WAS tho nrHt 90 realize the
danger into which tho reckless pursuit,
had iri them Ito concluded o. WAS time
GO hlt and sent shot across tho bow
of 'hr schooner The spanish skipper In.
sAully brought hia vessel about bur
while she was a,Ill rolling In the trough
" the sea. an S.lneh shrapnrl shcll came
hurting through the alr from the water
battery, q milo and half away 1t passed
over me Morrllls pilot house nnd smoke
stack less than nfty feet on the port quar-
t,r Two moro shots followed IN quick
succession. both uhrapncl one hurst
rlrsc under the alafhoard quarter nning
the engineer room with tho smoke ~ the
explosion. Tho Spanish gunncru had the
range and their fuses were accurately Hct
The rrcwr NJ both ships we're 40 their
guns A. the nrst shot the Vlrkshurg
shrrrrt m ana passed to the wlndwnrd
under tho MorrllrS stern In the mean
time CAPTAIN Smith also put his helm Ia
port and was mono too soon, Tor ~ tho
Morrill, stood m a solid S-lnch shot graErd
her ainrbourd quarter and Kicked M tons
~ wutcr us It struck nfty yards beyond
Captain Smith said nflerward that this b
WIS undoubtedly an S-lnch nrmor piercing |
proiectlc and that II would have passed .
through the Morrllls boilers had she not I
changed her course ono ~ the guns OF /
the water battery cut the Jacob ladder .
of the Vlckahurg ndrift and another cHr. |
rlrd away portion NJ her rigging
A the Morrlll and Nickahurg steamed !
away, their after guns were used but |
only frw shots were frcd The Nor.
rim G.noh gun was elevated for 1000 |
yards and struck the carthworks re-.
Tho Vlckshurg fired repeated |
shots from hor G-poundcr Tho Spnnlards
continued to nrc shots ana shells Tor % |
minutes, hut tho shots were ineffective.
The Spnnlurds only ceased nrng when
the Morrill, and Vlckshurg were complete
~ out ot range,
The otilcrrR Of both the Morrill, and
Vicksburg frankly admit their own rock
lcssncss and the narrow escape OF their
vessels from destruction, They are firmly
that the pursuit Of the schooner
was q neatly planned trick which almost
proved successful
" any one Of the shots had struck the
thin skin of either vessel It would have
offered no more resistance than n piece
~ paper to rifle ball