Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1898-06-23

MORO Castles Flag at Half Mast
Decentralization Among Spanish
TroOps-NOne of Our Men Injured
shores swarm with spanIards-
Other War News OF Interest.
nt~S @e~~ 49, - ~ Elr.
On Board the Dispatch Boat Daunt-
less, OFF Santiago de Cuba,vi Kingston,
| Jamaica, June 2O.-A careful inspection
of the Notifications along the crest of
| the hills defending Santiago harbor
since the bombardment Thursday
! morning shows that the American gun
ners spread wreck and ruin every
where. Some Of the batteries were de-
molished beyond repair. The vuItures
which circled on level wings over the
hills as thick az swallows around q
| chimney for hours after the firing
ceased furnished grewsome evidence of
| the fatality among the Spanish sol
diers. Hundreds Of troops could be
seen from the ships digging in mounds
Of earth piled up by the explosions of
! the projectiles from the heavy guns for
bodies while their heads were famed
| by the wings of the black scavengers
of the battlefield. There were two
| spots, one on the east and the other on
| the west of the harbor entrance, which
were denuded of the foliage. The hill
| tops seem literally blown away. These
marked the places where II e 20O-pound
charges of gun cotton blown by the
| Vesuvius landed.
Morro's Flag at HaIf-Mast.
But the most ominous token of death
| few from MORO castle. The saffron
flag of Spain was half-masted for sew
eral hours. The significance of this Is
not known. It is not customary to half
mast flags, but possibly some Spanish
leader was killed by the heavy fire of
our guns, though some officers of the
| squadron believe that the flag was half
masted as a notification to the Ameri-
/ cans that Lieut.. Hobson and his brave
men were dead. If such is the case they
must have been wantonly murdered
The Spanish might seek to lay their
death to the bombardment, but not a
shot from the American ships struck
the fortress. Neither Admiral Sampson
nor Commodore Schley believe that
Lieut.. Hobson and his party have been
killed.
spanish General Killed.
Spies report to Admiral Sampson that
the Spanish general, Joral, and several
officers were killed by the gun cotton
explosion at the first trial of the bat
teres of the Vesuvius.
There was evident decentralization
among the Spanish troops during the
bombardment. Officers could be seen
with drawn swords driving the men to
the guns, but even then they could not
be forced 10 stay so long as our guns
were directed at them. The IS minutes
night work of the Vesuvius had shat
tered their nerves 1t is believed hv
some that the 13-inch projectile fired
from the Texas which was reported
10 have exploded the powder magazine
In one Of tho western batteries did not
fall in the battery. but went beyond
and blew up one of the ships in the har-
Dor.
Not Man Lost.
There were no casualties in the fleet
although the ships held fixed position,
as if inviting tn Spaniards to fire upon
them The half-stripped ships gun
\ ners never worked with more enthusi-
I asrn. The words of Rear Admiral Samp-
son were: First silence the batteries
4 on the shore and then continue firing
I until the Notifications are reduced. !"
/ This order was strictly obeyed. 1t
\ was the first time that such instruc-
tions had been given, and the men re-
sponded with will. In 50 minutes the
order was given 10 cease firing, and
the message went to each ship from the
J admiral: We'll DONE" and the officers
and men turned in for breakfast.
shores swarm with spaniards.
Several attempts to find landing
\ places for the United States troops
! within a distance Of two miles west Of
! Santiago have demonstrated. along
/ with previous inquiries to the eastward
/ that the shore hor Is miles is lined
4 with Spaniards. While this will not
1 prevent a landing close TO Santiago. il
/ may entail considerable delay, as the
surrounding country must be thor
oughly shelled and cleared before the
/ troops can land in safety.
To lombard MORO.
Admiral Sampson has decided 10 re-
duce 70 ruins MORO castle at Santiago.
lie has deferred attacking this fortifi-
cation. knowing that the Spaniards
were holding Hobson and bis men there
as a shield. Sampson has leaII ed that
the gallant band that sunk the Merri-
mae are no longer held in MORO castle,
and he has decided to lombard the fort.
| lie thinks that one shell from the Nesu-
Nius will tear II to shrAds. During the
firing on Santiago's land batteries care
was taken not 70 hit MORO because Of
the knowledge that Hobson ara his men
were confined there.
mtg spanish Force at santiago.
Key West, Fla, June 20.-Juan san
tos. a Cuban pilot who arrived here sun
day morning on board an American
warship, reports that he entered san
tiago de Cuba and found there Span
ish garrison of $4,000 men. He adds that
the vessels Of Admiral Cervera. : feet
lying at that port are the armored
cruisers CriStobal Colon N{zn.xa 80