Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-06-01

seen. The polished steel and bass or IA
guns glistencd in the sunlight Su..aas +,
infantry swarmed like insects uDon Two
shore. Groups Of cavalry were t.afloufpl,
mere and there and constantly racing un
ana DOWN a DUSTY white parh thaf f,.I
from the shore TO the side Of the bun Ia
the hilltop. Al this The men ssw. hui a.
~ the shore were a desert, tho boats w,r,
lowered. the implements were put in ana
'he perilous voyage was begun.
The little fiotilia that ala IN. baz.r,-
Gus work consisted Of two small launches
two steam launches and half a dozen r.,
osnarN row boats. The launches were arm
60 with machine guns and were designed
10 DO what they could In protecting IN.
men IN the small boats as they worked ard
tow them back TO the ships in cas-, the mon
shouIu DE SO badly disabled as To be una bile
10 use the oars.
Pulled Ont for the shore
With steady nerves and strong arms the
sailors pulled directly in shore toward the
cable house. on they went until they could
see the faces Of the Spanish soldiers peer
ing out from behind the buildings and ont
of the rifle pits They knew IL was only A.,
matter OF minutes when fire would %. omen
ed upon them. But the regular swing Of
the oars did nor faitcr
Az last a point within one hundred feet
" ,He cao!e mousse was reached They were
"ithln TWO hundred feet of the rifle mis-
Nhere the SpaUiards were lying ready IN
open ilre upon the boats.
l'eut. W insiow stood up in the boat and
gave the commend TO throw out the anchor
ana begin graphing for the cable The
water was clear as glass. The bright morn
ing sunlight penetrated a. and every OH
)ect upon The bottom was clearly sa.n
,a'hly as II trolling for fish. the men hant
over the boats and began TO work with 10
graphing hooks. AL this time the men on
the Nashville. Mdrblehead and NYfndo-n
sc ca at thelr guns ready 10 rain shot and
b..
pun OF smoke Was seen to come. from ~.
rife pits ' '''s
me men in the boats worked on steadily
ana In silence. Lieut. Winslow urged them
tc work speedily telling them that any
moment volley might come. They made
no reply, but bent to their work At last
one OF the graphing hooks caught some
thing few in hes below tn, soft white
SAND. and the arms of two strong sailors
soon brought ne cable into view TbsD
came the first shot Ii was lust a dash a
shafp snap, singing over the heads Of
tne sailors and n splash IN the water be-
!ohu. mere was no white pun from the
shot The Spaniards were using smokel,.ss
l'o"der. IL was the signal for the opening
OF deadly fire upon the men in the boats
~ was promptly answered by the gums IN
TIE ships cut in the bay. a hurricane OF
Sneiis shrleked and Kissed above the heads
OF the sailors in the boats. and tore 10 frap-
mehts the earth where the Spaniaris wer.
crouchins and hiding. Again and again the
guns roared from the ships Again and
s&aih the great clouds of dust and debris
new skyward on the shore Another
mighty crash from the Nashville and The
earle house flew into the air torn into
numberiess fragments. Another crash
from the Marblehead and the block house
was in ruins.
Swept the Hillside, Too
Then this iron stcIm from the sea swung
around and swept the hillside. 1t shattered
the rocks and trees. 1t plowed great fur
lows in the soft sand. II drove a thronr
of panic-stricken men scurrying to shelter
Then it lowered again like the rays of a
mighty searchlisht and raked and riddled
the rlhe pits. What Workmanship, The
terrible IRE pouring in upon the rifle pits
passed only a lew feet above the sailors
working in the boats Who but Yankee
Sunners could 10 that-would do it-and
who but Yankee sailors would work on
like heroes under such a blast furnace of
destruction?
AT the time = heavy was rolling and
the miscalculation of fraction of AN inch
or the fraction Of second would have
slaughtered the men in the boats But
there came moments pause in the awful
believing from the ships and that moment
WAS the fatal one.
Snap. snap, crash from a hundred diff
ferent points came the fire from the Span
ish rifles and eight brave men sank down
in the boats. Two were dead and six were
wounded
But the spaniards were too late. AL
ready one cable had been hauled up and
100 feet cut out of it This was the cable
that ran to Batabano and connected with
Havana. 1t was slow. laborious work
The heavy cables had to be hauled UP
across the small boats and then by slow
degrees the tough steel wires Were hacked
OFF with axes. chisseis and saws.
After the volley had been fired by the
Spa niards, the men transferred the dead
and wounded TO another boat and began
looking for the other cable which ran east
TO Santiago. This was found and
again under the canopy of shot and shell
from the ships they worked bravely on
until a section Of eighty feet had been
taken from that one. After this another
smaller cable running to some local point
east was cut and Captain General Blancos
last line of communication with the world
was apparently severed.
Cut Down the Lighthouse.
When our ships first opened fire on the
shore 1t was the intention to allow the
lighthouse to remain standing, but when
the Spaniards poured their fire in upon
the boats. the men on the Marb.ehcad dis
covered that a large number of shots had
come from the lighthouse. The guns OF
the Marblehead were at once trained upon
the building. Cut il down" shouted The
commander from the bridge. and the Mar
blehe ads guns again Numbered.
The craftsmanship was marvellous. First,
the small house about the base of the
tower was literally torn to atoms and
then, like an axman cutting down a tree.
one of the great guns of the ship. with
shot after shot. bit off the great tower at
the top. This was done al range of 1000
yards. with heavy sea rolling.
Then il was all over, and the small
boats Were towed back TO the warships
with random shots frcm the shore follow
ing them.
l. 80 ;,,,, ,.orocly Il, ,r,o ,,,orr;,,,-
when the small boats were put OFF and the
perilous work began. and il was 1915 ain.
when the boats were again hauled up with
the dead and the living heroes to the decks
Of the ships. For nearly three hours those
men worked under the very shadow of
death without fiinchinE. IL is said the men
in our navy untried. That is true.
But this is how they conduct themselv IS
when the trial comes They are Veterans