The Portland daily press., 1898-05-09
Spanish Fleet Nearly Annihilated
First Battle.
AMERICANS TOOK COFFEE AND
THEN FINISHED JOB.
Copyright, 1898, by the Associated Press. }

Copyright, 1898, by the Associated Press. }
Hong Kong, May 8.-Among naval
men, military men andscivilians, Euro
peans and natives here today, there is
only one subject of discussion, the bril-
liant, dashing, ,annihilating victory of the
American fleet under Commodore Dewey
over the Spanish fleet. commanded BY Ad-
miral Montejo i'll Manila bay on Sunday
last.
Owing to the fact that the cable be-.
tween this port and the Philippine ISL
ands was not in working order, havin g
been cut, it is stated, some distance from
the capital of the islands, there has been
delay in obtaining a detailed account OF
the battle and facts in the case were only
available when the United States gunboat
Hugh McCullooh arrived here yesterday,
and even then the tremendous pressure
of business, suddenly thrown upon the
cable company necessarily made the
earlier accounts Eof the engagement some
what BRIEF
Commodore Dewey's orders were to
capture or destroy the Spanish feet, and
never were instructions executed SO COM
pletely. At the end of seven hours, there
was absolutely nothing left OF the Span
ish fleet but a few relics. The American
commander most skillfully arranged every
detail, of the actions and even the appar-
entity most Insignificant features were
carried out with perfect punctuality and
in real table order. The end of the action,
Commodore Dewey anchored his fleet in
the bay, before Manila and sent mes
sage to the governor general, Gen. Au-
gusti, announcing the inauguration OF
the blockade, and adding that if shot
was fred against his ships he would de-
stroy every battery about Manila.
The position occupied by the Spaniards,
the support which their ships received
from the land batteries.and the big guns
they had ashore, gave them an enormous
advantage. Therefore, when it is CON
sidered that the Spaniarus lost over 600
men in killed and wounded, that all
their ships, amounting to "A, were de-
stroyed, and that their naval arsenal at
Cavite was also destroyed with it's de-
fences, it will become apparent that the
victory OF the American commodore is
one of the most complete and wonderful
achievements in the history of naval
warfare.
Not q man on board the American fleet
was killed. not ship was damaged to
any extent and only six men were injured
slightly on board the Baltimore.
This grand achievement is unquestion-
ably as much due to the generalshlp of
Commodore Dewey as to the fact that
the American gunners, ships and guns
are superior to anything in the same
line afoat anywhere.
Credit must also be given to the fullest
extent to the officers under Commodore
Dewey, for, to man, they seconded their
gallant commander in everyway possible
and thus helped him earn the laurels
which are SO justly his.
When the squadron left here it touched
first point in the Philippine islands
near Bolina, as Commodore wished the
insurgent agents to disembark there to
ascertain the strength and disposition of
needless bloodshed and inform the insur.
gents of his immediate intention to
change the government of the Philippine
islands, the Commodore strongly object
ing to giving the rebels a chance to COM
nit excesses. The insurgent leaders, how
ever, refused to disembark under any con-
sideration and the American warships
coasted in search of the Spanish ships
but failed to find them. Commodore
Dewey arrived at Subig Bay, about eighty
miles north of Manila bay on Saturday,
April go, and sent the Baltimore and
Concord to reconnoiter the enemy. They
found no Spanish ships at the entrance
of the bay and SO the Commodore decided
to risk the mines and proceed that same
night after dark, into the bay OF Manila,
which he did.
The order of batt1o taken by the Span
iards was with all the small craft inside
the stone and timber breakwaters of Ca
vite harbor. The larger ships of Spain
cruised off Cavite and Manila. The
Saturday night with the greatest of ease.
The Spaniards had not established a
Iatrol and there were no search lights at
the entrance of the bay. In fact the
American ships would probably have
passed inside the bay without any chal-
lenge had it not been that some sparks
flew up from the MoCulloch's funnel,
whereupon the few shots were exchanged
with the batteries on Corrigidor island,
but the fleet did not slow down and soon
took up position near Cavtte awaiting
dawn in order to commence hostilities.
The early hours of the morning revealed
the opposing ships to each other, and
the Spanish flagship opened fire, Her
action was followed by some of the larger
Spanish warships and then the Cavite
forts opened up and the smaller Spanish
vessels brought their guns into play.
The American squadron, which had
been led into the bay and through the
channel by the flagship Olympia, did not
reply, though the shells of the Spaniards
began to strike the water around them,
but moved majestically onward. When
nearing Baker bay a sudden upheayal