The Red Cloud chief., 1898-07-22
MORO WAS WITHOUT GUNS.
santiago's iIarbor Dee iseS Largely Insg.
insry-rot To card by Our Shot.

insry-Not To card by Our shot.
SANTIAGO. July 1a.-At exactly .
o'clock Sunday morning the Spanish
flag was lowered from the sta II crown
ing the heights upon which battered
MORO castle spreads half way. Tho
lowering of this emblem Of the dcfunct
sovereignty OF Spain in this part OF
the world was witnessed by a few
spanish and American troops on shore
and by the Brooklyn, New York. Vix-
en- and Vesuvius, lying within n few
hundred yards of the harbor entrance.
Almost Immediately after the flag
was hauled down steam launches COM
mandcd by L~icutenants llobson and
Palmer entered the harbor, pcnetrat-
ing as far As the firing stations OF the
submarine mines. These mines were
judged to be not so formidable as cx.
pectcd. and later in the afternoon they
were all exploded under the supervis.
ion of the Vixen.
1t was seen that two mines had been
exploded at the time of the entrance of
the Merrimac into the channel of San.
tihgo harbor. but it is not thought
that either of them had anything to do
with the sinking Of the craft.
Six or seven steamers in the harbor
fall as prisoners to the army and navy.
The Spanish gunboat Alvarez had al
ready been taken possession of by n
prize crew from the New York. The
other vessels lie at tho other end Of the
harbor, at Santiago proper.
Soon altar p,nu ro,n,..l.-. c.lt--
with Captain Cook of the brooklyn,
Lieutenant ID. II. Sears, the flag lieu
tenant. II. ii. Wells, the flag secretary.
n three correspondents, went into
the harbor on n steam launch, which
moved slowly in order to make close
observations of the Spanish forts and
batteries.
Everyone expressed satisfaction at
the fact that MORO castle had not been
demolished by the bombardment, Cap
tain Cook saying: 1--WE need El MORO
rs an object lesson, and America il
rather shy on ruins. anyhow"
The old fort stands upon the bluff.
terrace fashion. From the waters
edge to the cliff there are numerous
caves formed by the action of the
waves. and around the base and in the
superstructurc are not n few caves
made by the navy's projcctiles. It
would appear. however, hat only ono
bastion was knocked to pieces, while
the queer little sentry boxes, dating
back to the sixteenth century, escaped
almost intact.
NOT A GUN ON MORRO'S WALLS.
MORO castle is the only imposing
fertilization in the harbor and it is
only so in appearance, since not a gun
is mounted within or upon the crum-
blcd walls. In fact, all the batteries,
masked and open. dwindled in their
terror-inspiring qualities as the in
spection grew closer.
Growing the hill upon the west side
Of the entrance were the famous 6-inch
rapid-fre guns from the Spanish
cruiser Reina Mercedes. These were
dangerous, while below, on big found
atoms upon the western shore of tho
entrance, were some revolving guns.
These were the ones which poured
such a hard fire into the Merrimac.
Directly east of MORO castle, on the
crest of the plateau-like cliff, were
six big guns, one or two OF them dis
mounted.
The Estrella battery and a small
%neighbor further in, showed no guns,
while the famous Cayo Smith filed the
islet with blue, white and yellow hues
situated in groves of Towering trees.
some of the buildings looking as if
they had been the resorts Of pleasure
seekers in happier times. Others were
humble enough to be fishermen's
houses.
NOT TOUCHED BY A SHOT.
All were deserted and, strange to
say, not one, apparently, had been
touched by n hostile projectile.
On the inside of the slope and hill to
the westward some hastily construct
cd, though very comforting,
were seen, into which the Spanish gun
ners were wont to retire when our
ships opened fire. When the firing
ceased the gunners had only q few
steps to climb to their six-inch rapi,l
fire guns, which almost always fred n
few spiteful farewell shots.
At Punta Gorda there were two four
inch guns, one above the other, neither
protected even by sand or earth
These commanded the harbor entrance
pretty well, but they could have been
silenced by one we'll directed heavy
shell.
Commodore Schley has over and over
again expressed the belief that GU,
fleet probably could have entered the
harbor without tho loss Of a single
ship. The mines might have stopped
ingress by sinking the leading ship,
but this is the chance of war and not
so grave as many taken during tina
civil strife, nor as serious as would
have been the situation had there been
good batteries, properly manned, in
the harbor.