The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-06-17


On Board the Associated Press Dis
patch Boat Dauntless, off Santiago de
Cuba, Thursday, June 16, noon (via
Kingston, Jamaica, June 16, p. m.).-
Rear Admiral SIMPSONS fleet bonn
barded the batteries at Santiago de
Cuba for the third time at daylight
this morning For hours the ships
pounded the batteries at the right and
left of the entrance, only sparing Ell
Moro. where Lieutenant Hobson and
his comrades are in prison.
The western batteries, against which
the main assault was directed, were
badly wrecked. One was utterly de-
stroyec. = In others many guns were
dismstsr.'.4d.
At first the Spaniards replied pas
sionately and wildly, but impotently.
Then most of the guns were deserted.
Not ship was struck nor man in
jured on the American side.
1t is believed the Spanish loss of life
was heavy.
WORK OF VESUVIUS.
AS preliminary to the hammering
given the batteries, the dynamite
cruiser Vesuvius last night, at mid
night, was given another chance. Three
250-pound charges of guncotton were
sent over the Notifications at the en-
trance. The design was to drop them
in the bay around the angle, back of
the eminence on which Ell MORO is sit
uated, where it was known that the
torpedo boat destroyers were lying.
Two charges went true, as no reports
We're he1rd-a popularity of the eXplo-
sion of guncotton in water. Whether
the destroyerS were demolished IS not
known, but the destructive area or
guncotton is large and it would not be
surprising if one or both torpedo boatS
We're destroyed.
The third charge exploded with ter
rifle force on Cayc Smith. From where
the fleet lay the entrance of the harbor
looked, in the black of night, like a
door opening into the liyid fire of a
titanic furnace. a crater big enough
70 hold a church was blown out of the
side of Cayo Smith, and was clearly
seen from the ships this morning.
GENERAL COMPARTMENT.
Admiral Sampson issued the orders
for the bombardment last night Coffee
W.ls served to the men at $3.50 this
morning, and with the first blush of
dawn the men were called quietly to
quarters. The ships steamed at five
knot speed to a 3OO0-yard range, when
they closed up, broadside on, until a
distance of three cable lengths separat-
ed them. They were strung out in the
form of a crescent the heavy fighting
ships in the center, the flagship on the
right and the Massachusetts on the
left flank The line remained station
airy throughout the bombardment. The
Vixen and Scorpion took up positions
on opposite tanks. close inshore. for
the purpose of enfilading any infantry
that might fire upon the ships.
When the ships got into position 1T
was still too dark for any firing. The
admiral signaled the ships not to fire
until the muzzle of the enemy's guns
in the embrasures could be seen by the
gun captains.
Fifteen minutes later, at 5:25 a. m,
the New York opened with a broad
side from her main battery, at the
works east of the entrance TO the har-
Dor. All the ships followed in streaks
of flames The fleet, enveloped in
smoke. pelted the hills and kicked up
dirt and masonry. It was a magnifi-
cent spectacle from where the Daunt-
less lay.
RAPID AND EFFECTIVE.
Though the gun captains had been
cautioned not to waste ammunition, but
to fire with deliberation, the fire was
so rapid that there was an almost con-
tinuous report. The measured crash of
the big 13-inch guns of the battleships
sounded above the rattle Of the guns
of the secondary batteries like thun-
der-claps above the din of a hurricane.
A strong land breeze off the shore car
ried the smoke of the ships seward,
while it let down thick curtain in
front of the Spanish gunners. The
guns responded spiritedly at first, but
their frenzied, half crazed> fire could
not match the cool nerve, trained eyes
and skilled gunnery of the Americans.
Our fire was much more effective than
in preceding commandments.
The admiral's ordnance expert had
given explicit directions to reduce the
powder charges and to elevate the guns
so as to shorten the trajectory, and
thus secure a plunging fire. AS the
shells in the preceding bonbardments
dropped with the almost straight ira
jectories OF projectiles with full
charges, it was almost impossible to
plant them. They would shoot into the
air, encircling the batteries, owing to
the high elevation, and fall far over the
Notifications.
BATTERY WRECKED.
The effect of the reduced charges
was marvellous. In Is minutes one west
ern battery was completely wrecked.
The Massachusetts tore a gaping hole
in the emplacement with a 1000 pound
projectile, and the Texas dropped
shell into the powder magazine. The
explosion wrought terrible havoc. The
frame was lifted, the sides were blown
cur and a shower of debris flew in
every direction. One timber, carried
out of the side Of the battery, went
tumbling down the hill. The loss of
life must have been great.
The batteries on the east of Moro
were harder to get at, but the New
Orleans crossed the bows Of the New
York to within 1,50o yards offshore and
played a tattoo with her long 10-inch
rifle hitting them repeatedly, striking
a gun squarely in the muzzle, lifting
It off its foundation and sending it
sweeping somersaults into the air.
After while Admiral Sampson sig