Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1898-05-26
FIGHT AT SAN JUAN.
An 0n-Looker Gives Details Of the
Engagement of May II.
FORTS POSSESSED An ADVANTAGE.
The secondory Batteries of the Ships
Gould Not be Used as Close Quarters
Account of the Heavy Smoke
Woke the spaniards Up

KEY WEST, Fla, May so.-An on
locker of the bombardrnent of the fort
ifications of San Juan de Porto Rico,
on May IL, by the fleet of Rear Ad-
miral Sampson, gave the following de-
tails Of that engagement He said:
The most remarkable feature about
the hombardment was the escape of
the fleet with so few casualties. The
enemy's fire was heavy and continuous,
and the elevation of their batteries
gave them tremendous advantage.
How they missed hitting the ships NO
one understands Their shots fell all
around and their guns had capacity
for ssvice the range, yet they only
landed two projectiles with any seri-
.ous effect
1.-The San Juan affair strengthens
the opinion that the demolition Of
well-placed Notifications Is bard task
for even the strongest battleships.
1.-The secondary batteries of the ships
were not used after the line had passed
on before the forts. This was chiefly
on account of the smoke. Drifting in
front of the turrets, 1t made the han
dlers Of the big guns liable to lose all
sight of land
1.-The admiral and his assist ant
Chief-of-Staff Staunton, were on the
superstrucsure on the lee side of the
coming tower. They didn't go inside
the coming tower, which will proba-
bly, not be used In action unless the
fire is coming from both sides So far
1t has proved rather useless institu-
ton
''On the forecastle, in the lee of the
forward 12-inch turret, were Lieut..
March, flag secretary and Ensign Ben
net, flag lieutenant, both of whom,
with Staunton, accompanied the ad-
miral from the New York Bennett
had signal buoys with him His sig
nal flags, in the canvas bags, were
made fast with a line which ran around
the turret barbet. This wss to prevent
them from being shot overheard.
SIT took about four broadsides to
wake the Spaniards up. In the mean
time great yellowish White clouds
We're rising from the hillside, marking
where our shells had fallen. Then q
few puffs of white and little lines OF
flame came from hooks In the bluff.
The water spurted few hundred
yards from the Iowa, and everybody
was glad because they knew the enemy
| was returning the fire. Before that
the jackies had been gium.
by this time the smoke had begun
to hang heavily, and the Iowa wal
moist and covered with saltpetre
Marine glasses had to be wiped every
| few minutes, The menb faces wert
grimy and their mouthe were bittel
from the saltpeere. When the BIZ
guns In the turret were fired ID seemet
| as If the ship was almost drawn iron
the water In a straining effort to fol
low the projectiles as they whizze'
shoreward. BeAfnd, the Indiansh por
side looked like q huge fort, her owl
smoke hiding her star board side
| When the Iowa was turned TO g,
back to the starting point the entire
line was engaged The New York
stately, standing high out of the watel
and showing all her grsoefulness, bu
making an easy target, slowly ran TN
gauntlet Of two miles.
while the enemys fire was ct it'
hottest, two jacktes stood at the lowe
bows, without any cover, heaving tn
lead They worked Just as calmly a
| II In New York harbof. They can
bit us. George sang out one Of th'
| men to another fp the lee OF the tur
| ret
| Just then q she'll whizzed by.
"'Rig line to that thing lan9het
| the man 10 the chains, pointing deris
lively to the water that spurted up s.
| yards ahead Of HIM
"T'he feature most discussed was tn
wonderful pluck and her escape iron
being bit Shells simply rained aroun
her as she lay within 500 ysrds OF tn
| forts and blazed away with her Ave
inch rapid-fre batteries.
| 1.-THE Amphitrites trouble with he
| after turrets was caused by an acct
dent to the gear which supplies th
| turret power.
Several slight accidents occurre
| on the ships, but, on the whole, the
| were not as numerous as Renerall
happens during heavy target practice
The strain on the men was rather 81
we're. The heat of the sun was intens
before eight o'clock. The work don
by the engineer officers and their mer
who for three hours were under tn
battle gratings in the intense heat
cannot be too highly praised. The fl
ing of the monitors seemed hardly u
TO the mark Of the other ships, tn
heavy swell causing them trouble an
| prohibiting any degree Of accuracy c