The San Francisco call., 1898-06-08

although we did not meet the Spanish feet we left here at daylight on the morning of picked up the battleships Iowa and Indiana monitors Terror and Amphtrite. cruisers this rather formidable fleet We steamed east ward, and our conjectures proved true that we were to proceed to Porto Rico and tackle the Spanish fleet if we could find them there We steamed slowly, as the speed of squad ron is the speed of the slowest ship and the monitors are not very fast. However. we ar rived about thirty miles north of San Juan final instructions, although several plans of battle had been agreed upon before. Either to find the Spanish fleet outside the harbor. or to find them inside not finding them at all to attack the Qualifications. This last was what we did as the enemy had withdrawn from that slowly toward the harbor. feeling our way and keeping very sharp lookout for the
 At 3 a. m. all hands were called and at s:so a. m. a light breakfast was partaken of. At daylight we arrived in the offing of the harbor up from the flagship and we formed 'line of column on the Iowa. next came the Indiana, order named. The Montgomery. Detroit and Wampatuck were sent out flank scouts and to mark the ten fathom line with stake boats in to reconnoiter and the Niagara with the Wampatuck were to recede out of range of fire The attacking line steamed in a triangle thus formed by the stake boats. and each in turn as 1t came in range poured forth steady
 
 , At 5:I5 a m. the signal gun for battle was by her great guns and finch battery The Indiana opened fire with her 13-inch guns, fol- New York and the monitors. The cruisers on either flank had come to a standstiil and were pouring broedside after broadside into the forts and town. When shells struck the forti- hcations 1t seemed as If a volcano had just broke forth. with the rocks. dirt. dust. smoke, etc. going up into mid air The guns on the Morro and water batteries were silenced tn- stantly and the Morro completely demolished One of the 13-inch shells from the Indiana cut a steeple of a church in two as If one were cutting butter with knife. This was only our iirst round at them. They returned and most of the shots whizzed over us. but dropped rather close for all that, and were the air just before they struck and they looked like little ,i bees h buzSng kt1 along, but am very would be of a far different nature than that of the busy bee. o the first. as the enemy had seemed to have gotten our range better and their shells came too confoundedly close for comfort at all, but still none of our ships were hit until we were nearly out or range, when two of their shots told on us
 We were drawing away from them having silenced and demolished all but three guns when a shell struck a stanchion on our port quarter. It exploded, the pieces flying in all conceivable directions. through smokest aclxs ventilators and decks and wreckng one of our cutters which we were compelled to throw 
 stantly, striking him in the back of the head. and wounding three others. We carried the poor fellows below and made them as com fortable as circumstances allowed. The Iowa was also struck once, wounding two men and these were all the casualties that occurred in our fleet of seven vessels and nearly 2000 men engaged. On the enemys side the slaughter must have been terrific. as all our shots told and thirteen-inch shells exploding in their midst are not anything to play with.
 In watching the flight of one of their shells, Ind e1 n1a n a hot l. wing and tumbling to the water below so realistic was the sight. For my part, I don't like those kind of ducks" around us.
 Another amusing incident of the day if such things in such times could be called amusing,