The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-29
THAT B0MBARDMENT
OF MATANZAS CITY

The flagship used five of her S-inch guns
and all of her 4-inch quick frers that
would bear, while the Cincinnati fired G.
inch and 5-inch guns and the fire was
exceedingly heavy, as both ships ana
shore batteries burned cocoa powder. A
heavy band of smoke almost hid the land
from sight. Through 1t, however, was
able again and agGin to see sand and
bushes around the gun positions risillg In
clouds, while the water around the flag
ship was splrshng frequently into col
umns Of spray whore the Spanish pro-
jcctiles were falling.
SO far as could be made out the whole
Of the Spanish fire from punta Gorda was
directed at the New York. She was not,
however, struck once during the enga ge-
ment. | believe the Spaniards fired only
solid shot as no burst of shells was seen
by any one. After the fight | was told
that one shTapnel burst about one hum
dred feet above the flagship. but only one
observer on the ship herself reports it.
FIRE OF OUR SHIPS EXCELLENT.
The fire of the American ships was cx-
Ccllcnt, and there must have been heavy
loss in the Spanish works. After about
twenty minutes fire the batteries were 81
lenccd ana the ships ceased firing.
The monitor, which had been marking
the Cardenas battery with an internht-
tent fire, was signalled to close up. As
she came round a small gun was fired at
her and the prDjeCtile dropped between
her and the New York. Almost Instantly
the Puritan replied with a Pinch shell
which ploughcd directly into the very
SPOT from which the Spanish gun was
fired
The huge proiectile exploded with ter
rihc effect The sand and earth rose sin
ty feet i'm the air, leaving gap behind
that showed nearly half the battery had
been demolished, This was the last shot
Il ,pl clnuy1N of
about three miles.
NO CASUALTIES ON SHIPS.
We hailed the flagship and learned that
there had been no casualties on board any
Uf the ships. If the action is to be taken
as measure OF the accuracy of the
Spanish gunnory. the American fleet will
rot have Il difficult task in reducing Hav-
ana and the other fortIfcations on the
cuban coast. The New York and Cincin-
natl. both very large ships, lay broadsde
on the batteries at MatauZaS today for
twenty minutes at three thousands yards,
Offering a target that any expert gunner
could hardly nave missed, but no shell
came nearer NIan one hundred yards, and
some of them fell Iearly a mile OF. The
American sailors are fun of enthusiasm
over the fight.
ANOTHER VERSION.
The description written by Richard
Harding Davis follows
The first shot was fired from the S-inch
gun of the New York amdships on the
port side. 1t is under Cadet Boone. The
harbor of Matanzas is protected from he
sea by a long, low strip of land covered
with mangue. On this point a battery had
been placed, and for the last few days the
officers of the Puritan and Cincinnati had
observed men working ON the ramparts
and placing the guns i'm position This
tod to, Ia Il "A he,
bombardment of today was to clear the
point of this fort.
When the call came to general quarters
the flagship was four thousand yards off
the shore. The Puritan was ABOUT one
thousand yards further out on the New
Norks port side and the Cincinnati lay
still another thousand yards out, moving
slowly to tho starboard of the ship. Ad-
miral Sampson and Captain Chadwick
were on the forward bridge throughout
the bombardment.
The bulls eye at which the first gun
was trained was long rampant Of yellow
earth, about two hundred yards long
With a glass it was quite possible TO see
groups of men moving about it.
The first shot fell about a hundred yards
10 the right of this bank and the
mangua bushes were thrown up into the
air in a cloud of yellow sand. The sec
ond shot came from one Of the eight-inch
guns in the forward turret, which is un-
der command of Lieutenant Frank Mar
Bile.
STRUCK FAIR IN CENTER.
1t fell at the extreme edge of the point,
two hundred yards to the left of the fort
but its sister gun followed it like a rever-
beratiOn of the first, and struck the fort
fair in the center with proiectile twen-
ty-ive inches long and weighing 2jO
pounds.
The parthWorkS rose i'm the air lilye a
geyser of muddy water and the work of
many men for three days was demolished
as completely and as suddenly as though
an earthquake had swallowed it up. How
many Of those men were demolished with
the earthworks, or what guns were dis
mantled it was Impossible to see.
Simultaneously with this third shot 4,
battery in Il fort ON the further side of
the harbOr opened ON the war ships, and
guns from all parts of the ship returned
the fire. 1t was impossible TO keep count
of them. The smoke as it drifted back
over the ships superstructure and be-
tween decks made it almost difficult 10
see which of the shots had reached the
shore.
Not more than five or six shots from the
forts came near the flagship. one shell
fell about hundred yards to the stern
another fell short by a hundred yards and
shrapnell shell broke almost overhead
There was no casualties of the men,
OF course, the fact that the ship was pre-
pared for this and stripped tor action and
mat every unnecessary piece of iron
and wood work had been removed aC-
counted for the little damage done by
the conclusion of her great guns.
PERFECT DISCIPLINE.
This was the first time one of ou
greatest war ships has gone into action
and 1t was interesting TO note the per.
fectness of discipline that obtained OF,
ticers gave their orders i'm voices hardly
above that of every day. Men laughed
when the shots struck home, but there
was no cheering, nor no greater show OF
excitement than at practice. At the same
time the deck OF the superstructurt
heaved, aud where your correspondent
stood, on the forward bridge back of thu
turret, the conclusion of her guns made
the ear drums tingle, and the smoke
illled the mouths and nostrils of the of
ilcers and dimmed their eyes so that il
was for a second at a time impossibl,
TO see or to speak
NUMBER OF SHOTS FIRED.
one Of the Herald's correspondent
says
All told the United States ships free
eiShty-siN shots at the forts. The fort
fired probably twenty nve shots. But ia
more important than the destruction o
the Matanzas batteries is the CONCLUSION
about the future which may be draw
from the bombardment, This conclusion
Is that Havana Is absolutely at the mere,
OF the United States fleet whenever W
choose TO open fire
Admiral Sampson today, with gun
Whlch amount to less thanI one-tenth o