New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-13
A PROBLEM IN BOMBARDING.
EFFECTIVE WORK OF SHIPS IN THROW
ING SHELLS OVER HILLS
INTO THE CITY.

or Aguadores. July II. via Kingston ia
r,o,ca JuIy 1.-THE United States Navy has
had the following problem presented to 1t:
What is the best manner Of effectively pomoaro-
ing a city distant four and half miles ana
concealed from view BY range of hills go feet
high at its lowest part'
The problem has been satisfactorily soiVeu
ca I, the Army hereafter never fired a shot anu
merely guarded the roads. the Navy could HiaNe
Santiago untenable If. indeed. it did not tota"S
destroy it in a few days
On SUNDAY ard to-day the sea was caimer
than usual. so an opportunity for GOOD prac'i1e
was afforded. In pursuance OF Eehetai o"a'
tore reouest Commodore Schley at O'Clock on
Sunday afternoon ranged the brooNiyh' ''
Indiana and the Texas within five hundreo a'u'
~ the shore at d point almost due sou'h u tie
CITY of Santiago distant d little over ioui anu "
half miles. rh.
The ships were about half mile apart i"e
Rrooklyn opened fire with her S-inch guns 'heSe
being the heaviest caibre used as yet py many
of the ships The Army sgnalmen were oi' ''
beach opposite the ships and also on the crest u
a hill overlooking both the SHIPS ana 'iie oi''
These men wigwagged the result Of eacA sho''
telling the gunnerS II the She.' "''
high or too low not IN line
SHOTS CAREFULLY CALCULATED
Sundays practice was good. but II was pe''e'
TODAY. when the firing was opened by the New
Work. which returned from Guantanamo bay
last night
r, Non-yorx the Brooklyn and the Indiana
we're the ships which participated In the she'l'ns
otnt
,o.od and the wigwag sgnaed from the shore
N the ships where each shell feli anu ho'''eu
Tho punners If they had the proper elevation
Tho shins ran out their big guns on the side op
posite the firing. In order 10 secure '"'
list TO port or to starboard.
ceneraI Shafter signalled at about noon
.cor,. y, The shells fell in the bay ard some IN
.,a c,tv The latter 10 not appear to do great
damage"
cn,.rt IN this subject was changed imme-
s,o,a,v bv q message saying: The last shot
s,ruct Ct Michaers Church. where powder was
stored blowing up the building and doing great
damage"
Tho hombardment closed for the day at
, - NJ General Skaters request, as he was
about 70 send n flag OF truce into the CITY, IN
order 70 demand its surrender, for the third and
last time.
NO REPLY FROM sPANIARDs.
The whole proceeding was businesslike IN
the extreme. The ordinary avocatlons on ship
hoard went on punctuatcd at intervals OF five
minutes by the roar OF the big guns. the scream
~ nroiectiles and the echoes from the noun
tains in the rear Of Moro Castle plainly visible
70 the westward. and having the bombarding
ships we'll in range. But not gun was fired
hy the Spaniards.
The effect Of the shells when they did hit can
easily be imagined when 1t is known that each
OF them carries go pounds OF explosives ana
travels 02j feet per second. When such mis-
sile lands at a distance of four and half miles
from the muzzle it occupies 224 seconds in its
flight.
Four shells during the bombardment to-day
gnited fires in different parts Of the city. prov
Ing the feasibility Of reducing the place by
using the guns of the fleet alone.
It was strange to see American soldiers re-
pairing a locomotive on the railroad track run
ming along the beach while like the strokes OF
q slow clock the guns sent shells screaming over