The herald., 1898-04-29

with dust clouds that looked like ninia-
ture geysers springing suddenly from the
earth. Each showed where a shot hal
struck.
At this stage the guns in the Quintas del
Recro battery were observed to be firing
On the flagship. This fort Is on the east
ward arm of the harbor 1000 yards from
where the flagship was lying. 1t is pro-
vided with four 8-inch guns. The flagship 8
fire was at once directed upon 1t. Up TO
this period the New York had been In the
firing alone. Captain Harrington, on the
Puritan, and Captain Chester, on the Gin
cinnati had drawn up, and were vigorously
signaling for permission to fire. When
this was reported to Rear Admiral Samp-
son he said: "All right, tell them to so
ahead" So, while the New York was
commencing fire on Quintas del Recro, the
Puritan took a position to the eastward
and opened on the same point. The Gin.
cinnati went to the westward and poured
a rapid-fire broadside into the earthworks
on Punta Gorda. Occasionally shots from
Cuintas del Recro could be seen coming
short, and at no time threatened the ship.
been fred from this battery during the
whole engagement. However. there may
have been more. 1t Is possible that It's
guns may have been disabled. as two
s-inch shells were distinctly seen to land
sQuarcly in the fort. Its distance from
the ship was SO great. and the smoke,
which the wind took in it's direction. so
thick, that 1t was hard to Judge the effect
of the fire, and still harder to get good aim.
For about five minutes Quintas del Recro
got the full benefit of the port broadsides
of the New York and Puritan. What its
ultimate fate would have been is hard to
tell, had not the attention been diverted
from it by shell from Punta Gorda, which
whizzed over the New York and fell short
Of the Cincinnati.
Leaving Quintas del Recro to the tender
mercies of the Puritan, which was still
merrily banging away, Captain Chadwick
put his helm to starboard until the port
battery once more bore on the Punta Gorda
earthworks Another shell came from the
shore, whizzing along past the flagship.
TOO high, but better shot than thought
they could make" said an officer. Then
the Cincinnati and New York poured shot
into the yellow earthworks and the sur
rounding land until the smoke hid every
thing from view. Only one more shot
from Punta Gorda was noticed. 1t fell
short Of the New York by about 200 yards.
1t was believed to come not from earth
works, but from a field battery on the
brow of slight hill about half mile fur
ther inland than the earthworks.
In fact, 1t Is doubtful whether any shots
~, t1xunr nrlrc o. n
two or three broadsides had been poured
into them. What became Of the soldiers
seen on Punta Gorda is not known. Somo
declared that they saw them running to
the brow of the hill where the field battery
was thought to be stationed. But this as
well as the estimate Of the enemy's num-
Der, which ranged from 400 to 1000, was
purely supposition, distance and smoke
preventing accurate knowledge.
Excited Admiration
. LONDON, April 2s-(Special to The .
. Herald) The gun practice of the .
American ships in the Matanzas bonn .
Q bardment has excited the warmest
. admiration of naval experts here. .
. The superior craftsmanship claimed .
. for the American fleet is now ef- .
. fectually demonstrated, and the re- .
. suit of the operations against Matan- .
. zas is held to point clearly to short .
. ening of the war If Spain risks de- .
. cisive engagement. The performance .
. of the New York is also regarded as .
. clear proof of the soundness of the .
y policy of the American naval author .
tiles in providing their ships with ex- .
. ceptional battery power, and the in .
4te1 . lax, orte- how =
. who always supported the American .
. system, are specially elated. believing .
. that England must now follow suit. .