Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-06-02
Rumor That Either Samp-
son or Schley Has
Begun Fighting.
Towns Forts Are Bonn
barded for Over
Two Hours.
Naval Officers at Wash
ington Discredit SEN
sationaI Report.

Port Au Prince, Hayti, June L.
About 2 o'clock Tuesday afternoon the
American squadron composed of four
teen warshlps, OF which the cruiser
New York displayed the flag Of Admir-
al Sampson, and number OF torpedo
boats, began bombardment with heavy
guns OF the forts and harbor Of San
tiago do Cuba The American fire was
directed principally against the forts
and harbor. me Gorts of MORO castle,
In Zocaa and Punta Gorda suffered es
pccially. The cannonading was very
persistent and cannot have failed to
be destructive. 1t lasted until 3.i5
p. IN. The town, which Is situated
near the inner end OF the harbor, cs
capped damage. At 3:45 pm. the cannon
aGing diminished About O'Clock the
capnonading discharges were heard at
a distance presumably at sea- contin-
ulng some time, when the firing
ceased completely. The Spanish uu-
thorlties maintain strict silence az t.
tho number Of victims, who apparently
wer1 numerous.
Cape Haytlen Reports,
CIpo IaytIen. June l.--Acco"dlug TO
advices from Spanish sources. conrtaen
American warshlps and two 'orpedo
boats O. gagged in q combat at San
tiago. A very careful fire was directed
against the batteries OF MORO castle
until 3:45 when discharges OF cannon
began to be heard at sea off the port.
These discharges continued until 4 p,
m, and then entirely ceased From
the Spanish account 1t Is impossible
to Judge M to the exact merits of the
encounter.
Naval Officers Discredlt It,
Washington, June 1.-The laval Of !
ficials absolutely discredit the news
from Cape Haytien to the effect that
Schley forced IN entrance into San
dAgo bay and engaged the Spanish
feet In the harbor. While no official
,advices have been received from
Schley since the battle is reported to
have occurred. the naval officials de-
clare with positiveness that II is not
only improbable but in the clrcum-
stances almost impossible that an at
tempt should have been made by the
American commander to force an en-
trance to the bay. The latest official
advices from Schley were contained in
Il cablegram received late Tuesday af
ternoon. and in that the commodore
gives no indication of an intention to
try 20 enter the harbor of Santiago.
While the contents OF the dispatch
were not made public, the bulletin Is
sued upon 1t by the navy department
indicates that Schley Is still endeavor-
Ing to determine just what Spanish
vessels are In the harbor. The bulletin
was: Schley's feet has sighted
another vessel Of the Vizcaya class In
Santiago harbor." The naval officers
declare that Schley would not en-
deavor to force his way into the har-
Dor in view Of the great difficulties OF
navigation which would have to be
surmounted In the effort. Tho en-
trance to the harbor is a channel
nearly three-quarters of mile In
length and at one point only about
100 yards wide. While the channel
has plenty of water to float ships, It is
tortuous and mt places dangerous. At
one point 1t twists sharply to the left
as tho vessel enters. and naval Of
bcials say that It might become neces-
sary at some stages Of the tide for a
ship to como almost, II not quite, to a
full stop as she made the turn. Shore
batteries line Dotn sides Of the chan
mel anu vessel running it would at
ford target that not even Spanish
gunner could fail to hit.