Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-06-01

Window stood at their guns ready 10
rain shot and she'll upon the shore the
moment the first puff of smoke was
seen to come from the rifle pits.
The men in the boats worked on
steadily and in silence. Lieut. Wins
low urged them to work speedily, tell
ing them that any moment volley
might come. They made no reply, but
bent to their work. AT last one of the
graphing hooks caught something a
few inches below the soft white sand
and the arms of two strong sailors
soon brought
THE CABLE INTO VIEW.
Then came the first shot. 1t was just
flash, sharp snap, a singing over
the heads of the sailors, and a splash
in the water beyond. There was no
white puff from the shot The Span
lsrds were using smokeless powder
1t was the signal for the opening of
deadly fire upon the men in the
boats. 1t was promptly answered by
the guns on the ships out in the bay
A hurricane of shells shrieked and
Kissed above the heads of the sailors in
the boats and tore to fragments the
earth where the Spaniards were crouch
ing and hiding. Again and again the
guns roared from the ships. Again
and again the great clouds Of dust
and debris flew skyward on the shore
Another mighty crash from the Nash
Vile and the cable house flew into the
air, torn into numberlesS fragments.
Another crash from the Marblehead
and the blockhouse was in ruins. Then
this iron storm from the sea swung
around and swept the hillside. 1t
shattered the rocks and trees. 1t
plcwed burrows in the soft sand. 1t
drove a throng CT panic-stricken men
scurrying to shelter. Then it lowered
again like the rays of mighty search
light and raked and riddled the rifle
pits. What workmanship! The ter
rible fire pouring in upon the rifle-pits
passed only few feet above the sail
ors working in the boats. Who but
Yankee gunners could do that-would
do it? and who but Yankee sailors
would work on like heroes under such
a blast furnace of destruction?
At the time a heavy sea was roll
ing and the miscalculation of frac-
ton CT an inch or the fraction of a
second would have slaughtered the
men in the boats. But there came a
moments pause in the awful below
ing from the ships and that moment
was the fatal one.
Snap, snap, crash from a hundred
different points came the fire from the
Spanish rifles, and eight brave men
sank down in the boats. Two were
dead and six were wounded.
But the Spaniards were too late.
Already one cable had been hauled up
and $50 feet cut cut of it. This was
the cable that ran to Batabano, and
connected with Havana. 1t was slow,
Iaborious work. The heavy cables had
to be hauled up across the small boats
and then by slow degrees
THE TOUGH STEEL WIRES
were hacked off with axes, chisels and
saws.
After the volley had been fired by the
SpaniardS, the men transferred the
dead and wounded to another boat and
began looking for the other cable which
ran east to Santiago. This was soon
found and again under the canopy OF
shot and shell from the ships they
worked bravely on until section OF
so feet had been taken from that one.
After this another smaller cable run
ming to some local point east was cut
and Captain General Blancos last line
Of communication with the world was
apparently severed.
When our ships first opened fire on
the shore it was the intention to allow
the lighthouse to remain standing, but
when the Spaniards poured their ire
in upon the boats, the men on the
Marblehead discovered that a large
number of shots had come from the
lighthouse The guns of the Marble
head were at once trained upon the
building. "Cut it down." shouted the
commander from the bridge and the
Marbleheads' guns again Numbered.
The craftsmanship was marvellous.
First the small house about the base
of the tower was literally torn to
atoms and then, like an axeman cutting
down a tree, one of the great guns OF
the ship, with shot after shot, bit Off
the great tower at the top. This was
done at a range of 1000 yards with a
heavy sea rolling.
Then it was all over and the small
boats were rowed back to the warshlps
with random shots from the shore fol-
lowing them.
1t was just seven O'Clock in the morn
ing when the small boats were put Off
and the perilous work began, and 1t was
1918 a. m. when the boats were again
hauled up with the dead and the living
heroes to the decks of the SHIPS. For
nearly three hours those men worked
under the very shadow of death, with
out flinching. 1t is said the men in our
navy are untried. This is tine. But
this is how they conduct themselves
when the trial comes. They are vete-
with corNicn