The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1898-05-15
sAMPsoN's CHANCES.
They Are EHeeiIent shoaid the span
i.h FLEET Desire Co Fight.

i hsh tleet Dtstfe 10 fikht
Washington, May li.-Considenble
speculation has been indulged in at the
navy department as TO the prospects Of
a sea fight between Admiral SIMPSONS
squadron and the Spanish Cape Verde
feet
IL is believed be will be able TO inter
cept them should they make a dash for
Cuba, but II they should get past his
vessels they would mare it warm for
our ships on blockade duty of Ciengue-
gos, on the south coast They could not
stand for a moment against the big
Spanish armored cruisers, and yet are
not fleet enough to escape II they are
sighted.
Should Sampson sight the Spanish
feet II is not certain that he could en-
gage them, providing the Spanish adj
miral found IL TO his interest to decline
the engagement. The Spanish ships are
faster than anything Sampson has, with
the possible exception Of the flagship
New York II Sampson should fall in
with them, however, and find the Span
iards In fighting humor, he would give
them all they wanted. The big battle
ships Indiana and Iowa, though 2b per
cent slower than the Viszcaya class, far
, oyermatch them In offensive and defen-
siye power Their armor belts and tur.
rets could not be pierced at a fighting
range Of 1000 yards by the biggest
gun mounted by the Spanish, while the
u and ls.inch guns Of our bottlcships
could perforate the Spanish armor belts.
The New York, however, Is inferior
in both offensive power and armor to
. the Spanish vessels, though she might
. hold her own by superior management
and gunnery. II Sampson has taken
his whole feet, the monitors Amphiirite
!. and Terror would make mp more than a
balance OF power against the Spaniards,
, allowing the cruisers Montgomery, De-
troit and Marblchead as a force suiii.
cient to take care Of the Spanish torpedo
boat destroyers The latter, however,
are almost untried elements In naval
. warfare and some naval officers feai
= that thoy are much more dangerous foe,
j than the ordinary strategists allow In
l. their calculations.
II suggested that the Spanish squad
ron has been lying In wait for the Ore
70 gon, which with the Marietta aud Mic
u theroy sailed on May II TO join Sampson
ne and the reported activity OF the Spanish
u torpedo boat destroyer In running in an,
ie out Of Martinique seems to show tina
le they are being used as scouts 20 give th'
"A rest Of the squadron notice Of the ap
:, proaoh OF the American battleships, Tn
fact that the Spaniards are headed 10
W wards the westward, ON the surface
II would indicate that they were bound 70
OF the south coast Of Cuba, but warships II
n. these circumstances try to mislead oh
VI servers ashore
4 The naval attaches Of the several EN-
IN bassics look forward TO battle betweel
SIMPSONS squadron and the spanis
squadron as likely to be the greatest q
Il, modern times. One Of them said
he would be tho first great battle betwee
ID modern ironclads. The only fight q
. this kind In recent years was that b,
a, tween the japanese cruisers and torped
boats and the Chinese battleships q
Wei Hal Wei when the smaller craft q
gu the japanese navy, being swift and we
ar handled, sunk the Chinese battleshi
- Chuen Yuen. This engagement wa
triding, however, rs compared wit
~. wha, the eight between the America
:, and Spanish squadrons promises TO /
owing TO the many large ships wit
se bclted armor, heavy guns and the mo-
rs deadly weapons Of destruction known I
he modern nayal warfare