The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1898-08-04
ADMIRAL SIMPSONS nooat


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| Ws-ut>.ro>. Jaly sss-Ths NAVY
department to-day made pabltc
the official r~I,ort o, Admiral SAms-
ron on the d~~,rucllon os C~rxsrs's
squadron. on Santiago. July 4 10
concludes A. foiio~s:
Nv hen all TN. work ~a- doe~ 90
well u l. dif'icult IL di-crtaiaat
In prai... The object VI the bloeA-
sdc of Ccrvcra'- .lsa.iron wAs
fully accomplished and Zach lndl-
Nidual bore we'll his part in a. thu
'ommciorc (Schicyl la command
OF she >ss'ond division. ihc captcios
OF ships, their of'i~r~ and men.
The firc of the hAttic~hiJ~ wAs pou-
erfui and destructive and the ss-
sistancs Of tn. spSnish .aussroa
was In great part broken almost
before they had Got b.yend the
range OF th.ir own forts. The fins
sposd of the Or,,gon cnablesi her To
take front position in the chass.
and the Cri~tobal Colon did not
give up until the Oregon had
thrown l3-inch shell beyond her.
This performance add. to the al
ready brilliant rcord of thls nne
batticship and sls,aks highly of the
skill and care with which hcr as-
mirxble efficiency has i-su main-
fained during n service unprsce-
dcnicd I'm the history 81 vr~~els of
her class. The Brookiyn's westerly
blockading position gave her an
advantage In the chase which she
maintained to the end, and she
employed her fine battery With tell
Ing effect. The Tcxa. aud the New
York were gaining on the chase
during the last hour, aud had any
accident befAllen the Br.sokiyn or
the Oregon, would have sp~edily
overhauled the Cri.toisni Colon.
From. the moment this spa atsh yes-
sci exhausted her first burst of
speed the result MAS never In doubt.
Sh. fell, In fact. far below what
might reasonably have b.es en-
pccfcd of her. Careful measure
ments OF time and distance gave
her an average speed from the
time she cleared the harbor mouth
until the time she wa. run ON
shore At Rio Tarquino. Of a. Z kuots.
Neither the New York nor The
Brooklyn stopped to couple up
their forward engines. but ran out
To the chase with one pair, getaisg
steam, OF course, as rapidly as pos-
sible on all boilers. To stop 20
couple the forward engines would
have meant n delay OF fifteen min.
utes, or four miles, in the chass.
Several OF the ships were struck.
the brooklyn more often than the
others, but very slight material In
jury Was done, the greatest boing
aboard the Iowa. oar los. was ono
man killed and one wounded, both
on the brooklyn. IL is difiicult 60
explain this immunity from loss Of
life or Injury Ia ships in a combaa
with modern vessels OF the L,sst
type, but Spanish gunncry is poor
at best, and the superior weight
and accuracy 81 our fire speedily
drove the men from their guns and
silenced their fire. This is borne
out by tho statements 81 prisoner.
and by observation. Tho spanish
vessels. as they dashed out OF the
harbor, were covered with the
smoke from their own guns, but
this speedily diminished I'm volume
and soon almost disappeared. The
fire from the rapid fire batteries OF
the battleships appears To have
been remarkably destructive. An
examination Of the stranded ysaseIs
shows that the Almirante Oquendo
especially suffered terribly from the
fire. Her sides are eyerywhere
pierced and her decks were strewu
with the charred remains of tbose
who had fallen.
"A board appointed by me several
days ago had made n critical ex.
animation Of stranded vessels. both
with view Of reporting as to our
fire, Of military features involved
and reporting upon the chance Of
saving any OF them and Of wreck.
ing the remainder. The report OF
the board will be speedily forward
cd. Very respectfully,
wv. I. sAMp-ox.
"Kear Admiral 4. n. Navy. Com.
mander-in-Chief L. -. Navy Fore
II L..