The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-06-09
H0BS0N, THE B0ts).
Continued from LIST page.


that hour.
Some time after o'clock the Por-
ter came tearing back, and the Mer-
rimac, to every ones surprise, kept
her position,
Admiral Sampson. Captain Chad
wick and Lieutenant Stauntonscould
not understand until Lieutenant
Fremont, from the deck of the torpedo
boat, shouted:
Lieutenant Hobson asks permis-
sion to continue on his coursel He
thinks he can make it,
But, in stern tones the Admiral
sent Hobson a message that the Mer-
rimac must return at once. In due
course of time the collier slowly
steamed back, her commander evil
IDENTIFY disappointed with the order
received from the Admiral.
Preparing For Another Attempt.
All day Thursday the collier lay
near the flagship, and more elaborate
preparations were made to carry out
the mission of the Merrimac success
fully. During these e Eeff-essions
Hobson was tireless, cool and conf
dent, supervising personally every lit
tie detail.
When finally he went on board the
Merrimac late Thursday night. he had
been without sleep since Wednesday
morning. His uniform was begrimed,
and he looked like man who had
been hard at work in and about an
engine room for long time. The
Lieutenant remarked that his only
! regret was that all of the New York's
volunteers could not go with him.
Admiral Sampson, speaking of the
expedition said: II think he will
have fair chance to get out. Yes, it
is plucky. Very plucky."
When the Merrimac had started
Thursday morning on the trip from
which she was recalled she had on
board of her two men who had no
right to be there. They were Assist
ant Engineer Crank, of the Merrimac,
and Boatswain Mullin, of the New
York, who had been working on the
collier all day. These two men re-
fused to leave the ship, and as their
disobedience was of the nature which
produced Cushings and Farraguts for
the American navy it was not officially
recognized.
Cevera Admired Pluck.
In the afternoon some hours after
Powell had returned, bringing mo
tidings of the Merrimac's crew, a boat
with white flag, put out from the
harbor, Captain Oviedo, chief of staff
of Admiral Cevera, boarded the New
York and informed the Admiral that
the Merrimac's whole party had been
captured, and that only two of the
heroes were injured. Lieutenant
Hobson was not hurt.
The Spanish admiral was so struck
with the courage of the Merrimac's
crew that. he decided to inform Ad-
miral Sampson that they had not lost
/ their lives, but were prisoners of war
and could be exchanged. The plan of
escaping in dingy does not seem to
have been carried out, which leads to
the belief that the dingy may have
been smashed by a shot, for it seems
Hobson and his men drifted ashore on
an old raft, which had been slung
over the Merrimac's side, at the last
moment, as an extra precaution.
They were captured and sent to San
tiago under guard, previous to being
transferred to Moro Castle, where
they are now understood to be con
fined.
Money and provisions were sent to
the prisoners through Captain Oviedo
and it is believed that Admiral Samp-
son is taking the steps necessary to
bring about their exchange.
The fleet tonight is in state of de-
lightful enthusiasm and the Admiral
is just of as happy as the youngest
sailor. The general opinion is that
no man ever deserved recognition for
personal bravery more than does
! IIAhcAa