The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1898-05-31
A FAMOUS SEA FIGHT.
ENGAGEMENT Between CHILEAN
AND PERUVIAN IRoNcLAps.

! Inc DeSttICIicn OF tnS ~ uasc2r. O11 me
Bolivian, Coast terrible Slaughter
! What Fight Between Modern War Yes
seis Means.
In The Century Claude Il. Wotmors
has an article on "a Famous Sea
Fight. . describing the engagement be
tween Chilean and Peruvian ironclads
off the scast Of Bolivia in 1879. Mr..
Wetmore says:
From the first Of tie battle the en-
eouragipg voice of Grau had come to
the men in the turret through Che speak
ing tube from the coming tower. bat
when the Blanco crowded into the thick
Of it and great shot struck the -Huas-
cars sides as regularly as blows Of q
batteripg ram the orders Of the CON-
mander we're no longer heard. The off,
Ger in. charge Of :. the turret called to his
superior. There was no sEswer. and
when Commander Elias Aguerrera ran up
the narrow htt1s ladder that led to the
tower ne stumbled over the dead body
of his admiral A shell had struck the
coming tower and had taken of ,Grau s
head as. neatly az If the decapitation
had been by the guillotine. This shell
also killed Lieutenant Ferre, the. ad-
miral's aid. There was only time to
push the corpses aside, and the new.
commanding officer pulled back. the
tube flap to give his. directjnrs. but as
be did so the Huascar staggered keeled
over. then shook in every plate. while
conclusion more terrific than any SO
far told that q she'll had entered the
turret and had burst there. When the
fumes had cleared away so that per-
son could speak, a midshipman called
out that one Of the great guns had been
dismounted and 30 men killed. The
survivors tumbI6d the bodies through
the hatch that opened into the deck b.
low, thus releasing the olegged ma
chinery, and as the corpses ratified down
other men rushed mp throwing OF their
clothing as they jumped into the pools
Of blood to seize hold of the gear and
swing the remaining gun into position.
that it might train upon one Of the
shipsAthey could no longer make out
which, nor did they care-and it was
discharged. hauled In, loaded and dis
charged again.
Once more all. was silent In the con-
ming tower. Lieutenant PaIacios has
tened there, but before he could enter
lie was. compelled to push three bodies
out Of the way. He had barely given
his first command when a bullet from
the well aimed rife Of marine. in an
enemy's top lodged between his eyss.
Then the fourth to command the Huas-
car that day. Lieutenant Pedro Gsrezou.
took the place, and as he did so be call
ed through an aperture telling the
quartermaster to put the helm to port;
for he had determined to ram one Of the
adversaries and sink with her If neces-
sary. Over and over spun the wheel.
but the Huascar's bead still pointed be-
tween the Chilea.lss
"Porst Port, / say!'' screamed the
commander.
e She won't answer" came back the.
sullen reply from the only one of four
QuartermasGers alive The bodies Of the
others were lying upon the grating at
his feet. -.
-. % a shot has carried away the star
board, steering gear, sir, " reported an
ensign.i and he dropped dead as she
words left his mouth. -
The Huascar now lag drifting in a
hell of shot and fame, but all the while
the red, white and red f1uttered from
the peak. One by one, in ~twos and in
threes, the men in the tnrret dropped
at their posts, and at last the remaining
great gun was silent. its tackle literally
choked with dead. The turret could not
be turned for the same reason. Corpses
hung over. the military top; corpses
clogged the coming tower.
With coats and Haistcoatg of the sur
geons had been laboring in the. ward
room upon the wounded, who. Shrek
ing in their agony, had been tumbled
down the companionWay like SO much
bptchered beef, for there was 10 time
90 use stretchers or to carry a stricken
comrada to q doctors care. Steam and
smoke filtered through the doorways,
and the apartment became sitting.
While theJ- were. Swing. .arnputasing
and bandaging a shell tore into the
wardroom, burst. and fragments wounds
ed the assistant surgeons, tbs chief of
the medical staff having been killed
earlier, in the conflict. Those unfortu-
mates whp were stretched upon the "a.
bic awaiting their turn under the knifa
and those who Iay upon the floor suffer
ed no more pain. They were killed as
they lay grooming. This she'll tore away
wardroom and stern cabin, and hardly
a trace was lefs. Of the b1lkheada After
that whss little surgery was d e was
performed in the coal bunkers.
Huddled in a passageway near the
engine room were score or more Of non
combatants-steWards. pansrymen and
gtokers. They wore IN a place that was
lighted only as flashes canss from the
guns Et was filed With powder smoke.
and olonds Of steam that drifted from
below told that tie Huascar had been
struck in 2 vital spob-her machinery.