Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1898-06-15
TWO CENTS

munition and all the guns were loaded
and every man was supplied with small
arms and $50 rounds of ammunition.
/ Then all went 10 their stations ready
for battle A little after | o'clock Sun
day morning we started to enter the
channel, on each side OF which are
large fortressts Gu, plan was to Try
and steal past them without being seen,
aud we did il successfully They did
not see us until We We're psst and al
most cat OF He sanpe OF their gums
One fort saw us ami opened fire. but
not one shot hn H. The Bos.an re
turned the fire tor few minules then
we were out "a ssngr This was the
most wonderful piece, al work ever &C.
complistied in warfare and you will
read all about II IA our great newspa
pers After persfng .he forts safely we
steamed slnNly up the channel, aiming
to reach the hal us III dayhreak. Just
as soon as II bfgan 10 get light the
Spanish ship- across the harbor began
10 fire ri Us. Then the battle began
All Of their ships were out in front of
their navy yard and were partially pro
teu,ed by theit shore battery. We stood
oil aboui Il miles, AID the fight ragged
for over three hours, our ships manou
vrug ronua IN a circle giving them
hroadside after hroadside. The shells
we're flying thick and last You could
hardly hear any command, and The
rmoke b'otied out The sun Our aim
wac sure and effective, md at the end
OF three hens we had the pleasure OF
seeing two of lhr .ormy ships on fire
and sinking. The. battle began al $50
and we drew of al 8 O'Clock to see the
effect OF our work We could see on
the euemy's side nothing but smoke
and flame The fret fight was grand
victory After We cleared away the
wrecksge aud snaiohed bite 10 eat,
The Baltimore led the fight again, and
Tor one hour we poured shot after shot
into their disabled ships and blew up
lheu iotis. We could see with the
glasses men, guns and earth going up
10 the air. When one OF our great guns
placed shot emidships OF their flag
ship we could zee men going over the
side tore and aft The most wonder
fol part of The battle was that moi one
man on our ships was killed, and the
killed on thr Spanish side was some
thing awful; their blackened bulls and
forts are regular slaughter pens. We
had five shots TO take effect on our ship,
and only four men wounded on this
ship and two on the Raleigh. The
shot that came on our deck was
an armor piercing pTojectile, and
that was the one that wounded our men, it
tore its way through the supsrstructure and
! saw men drop. for it was only few feet
from my gun; IL made my heart jump up in
my mouth, II it had been q common shell it
would have killed all on that side the deck,
and / would not have written this letter.
They used all armor piercing shell on as and
did no damage, while we used shells with
powerful explosives in them and every shell
that hit them brought death with It. 1t
will be hard to believe that 80 many were
killed on their side and not one on ocrs, but
it is true, and you will find out SO afterward.
/ have gone through an experience that i
will never forget. | could hear the shells
whistle over our heads and expected every
minute to be my last There was not one
man excited on our ship. When we saw
those four men fall we did not lose one bit of
courage. The Consul General instead of be-
ing in the coming tower with the captain
protected by four inches OF steel, was out on
the deck helping carry shells and powder
and encouraging the crew. We have APP
prentice boys here, some are not over 15
years old and they went through it as brave
ly as the older ones. At 8 o'clock in the af-
ternoon not one shot came from the enemy.
Those that were not killed or wounded had
fled from the ships and forts Now the-
have made complete surrender and the
Philippines are ours. Our fleet Is composed
Of the following ships, all o. which were in
the fight:
Name Rate Tonnage.
Oiymphia, Cruiser, $500
Baltimore. 1890
Raleigh, $500
Boston, 5000