The age-herald., 1898-11-09
CRUISER TERESA OFF CAT ISLAND The Vessel Did Hot Sink as Has
 Reported. ABANDONED BY HER CREW She DrIited LandWard and Vas Finally
 Grounded, SEARCH WILL BE MADE AT ONCE Repair Ship Vulcan and the Wrecking Tug Potomac Will at Once be
 Sent to the Scene to Save
 the War Vessel.
SEARCH WILL BE MADE AT ONCE

Washington, November 8-A message re- ceived at the navy department today from Captain Crowninshield, chief of the naviga- ton bureau, who is in New York, called attention to the report that the Spanish cruiser Maria Teresa had been seen off Cat island. The captain expressed his be- lief in, the accuracy of the report and sug gested to the department that the repair ship Vulcan, now at Norfolk, be sent at once to make search for the derelict. The department acted at once upon the sugges- tion. A telegram was sent to the com mandant of the Norfolk navy yard direct ing him to place the Vulcan in command of Captain Mccall, the captain of the yard, and send her with all dispatch to look for the Teresa A similar order was cabled to Captain Convers at Guantanamo, directing him to send the big wrecking tug Potomac from that place northward on the same quest She goes in charge of Commander J. E. Craven, and the department state that she will be in the vicinity of Cat is- land within thirty-six hours. The Vulcan was one of the vessels which was towing the Teresa when she was supposed to have foundered, and the department believes that she will reach the scene of the wreck in about forty-eight hours after leaving Norfolk.
 On the Shoal Beach
 Cat island lies about thirty miles south west of the spot where the Teresa was last seen, and it is said at the department if the vessel did not founder outright within a very few hours after having been cut adrift, she would almost certainly fetched up on the shoal beach of Cat island, for the wind and tide set directly on that beach.
 If so the location is much more fayOra- ble for saving the ship than the position occupied by her off Santiago, where the bottom was covered with rocks, and the wreckers worked at great disadvantage. Captain McCalla was selected for the task because of his great energy and ability for this particular class of work, and the off, cers declare that if any man can bring the Teresa into port he can. It Is the belief of naval constructors that the Teresa took water aboard almost altogether through the decks, and not through the hull, as would appear from the first accounts of the loss of the ship. These decks were rude, tenn porary constructions and were entirely un- suitable for rough weather. The fact that the reports indicate that the ship settled by the head. and that water ran into the coal bunkers and thence into the fire rooms, goes to bear out the constructors theory. It also tends to give color to the report that the ship may not have foundered at once, but drifted ashore on Cat Island. It is presumed that the wrecking company which had the vessel in hand will take inn mediate steps to recover the ship, if possi- ble, in order to secure the large salvage which was almost within its grasp when the ship was cast off.
 Reported
 Nassau N. F., November S.-Reliable news has just been received here saying that a steamer is ashore on the northeast part of Cat Island. She is painted black, is deserted, has two tunnels, two masts and no deck houses. Her name is not known.