The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-06-20

of Life Must Have Been Heavy
A Spanish officers Bravery.
Copyright. 1898. by the Associated Press.)
On Board the Associated Press Dis
patch Boat Dauntless, off Santiago de
Cuba, Sunday, June is. (via Kingston.
Jamaica, Sunday, June 19.)-A careful
inspection of the Notifications along
the crest of the hills defending Santi-
ago harbor since the bombardment
Thursday morning. shows the Amer
lean gunners spread wreck and ruin
everywhere. Some of the batteries
were demolished beyond repair. The
vultures which circled over the hills as
! thick as swallows around a chimney
for hours after the firing ceased, fur
nished gruesome evidence of the IA
tally among the Spanish soldiers
/ Hundreds of troops could be seen from
the ships digging in mounds of earth
piled by the explosions OF the prOjec-
tiles from the heavy guns. for bodies,
while their heads were famed by the
wings of the black scavengers Of their
| battlefield
There were two spots, one on the
east and the other on the west Of the
harbor entrance, which were denuded
of the foliage. The hill tops seem liter
ally blown away. These markell the
/ places where the 200-pound charges OF
gun cotton blown by the Vesusius
! landed.
But the most Ominous token of death
flew from MORO castle. The saffron
! flag of Spain was half masted for sew
eral hours. The significance of this is
not known. It is not customary to half
mast flags, but possibly some Spanish
/ leader was killed by the heavy fire of
guns, though some officers of the
squadron believe that the flag was
half-masted as a notification to the
Americans that Lieutenant Hobson
and his brave men were dead. If SUCH
/ is the case they must have been wan
tonIy murdered. The Spanish might
seek to lay their death to the lombard
ment, but not a shot from the Amer
leans struck the fortress.
Neither Admiral Sampson nor CON-
mOdOre Schley believe that Lieuten-
ant HObson and his party have been
killed. We have II prisoners taken at
Guantanamo, including lieutenant,
besides a number in the United States,
for reprisals or exchange
SPANIARDS DEMORALIZED.
There was evident decentralization
among the Spanish troops during the
bombardment. officers could be seen,
with drawn swords, driving the men
to the guns but even then they could
not be forced to stay so lOng~as our
fire was directed at them. Fifteen min
utes' night work of the Vesuvius had
shattered their nerves
1t is believed by some that the 13-
inch prOjectile fired from the Texas,
which was reported to have exploded
the powder magazine in one of the
western batteries, did not fall in the
battery, but went beyond and blew up
one of the ships in the harbOr.
A dramatic incident of the lombard
ment was the act of a Spanish officer,
who bravely ran along the parapet I'M
der a heavy fire, encouraging his men
to stand by their guns. Shot and shell
rained about him, and, after one ter
rife explosion, he was seen no more,
and the parapet had disappeared. He
could not have escaped death.
From the foretop of the Brooklyn,
1900 yards distant, the men in the
grounds could be noticed, but a min
ute later, dust and flying debris would
take their places. and when the smoke
raised away, only q spot of red earth
could be seen-guns and gunners had
been swept away.
DEADLY AND DESTRUCTIVE.
1t was the most deadly and destruct-
i've bombardment of the war thus far.
Scarcely a shot from the big guns Of
the squadron went astray. The aim
of our gunners was superb, and not
only were the forts annihilated, but the
batteries on Cayo Smith, up the har-
Dor, were destroyed Had all the ships
used smOkeleSS powder, as did the New
Orleans, there would remain no signs
of guns or Notifications 10 indicate
that there had ever been any defenseS
there. There were no casualties on our
fleet, though our ships held fixed po-
sition.
The half-stripped ships gunners
never worked with more enthusiasm.
The words of Rear Admiral Sampson
were: First silence the batteries on
the shore and then continue firing until
the fortifcatiOns are reduced.
This order was strictly Obeyed. 1t
was the first time that such instruc-
tons had been given and the men re-
sponded with a viii. In 90 minutes the
order was given to cease firing and the
message went to each ship from the
admiral:
well done!" and the officers and men
turned in for breakfast. Every de-
tail of the engagement had been exc
cuted to the letter from the opening of
fire by the New York to the last shot
from the Iowa. The Spaniards were
evidently surprised while strengthening
their Notifications.
The first shot of the New York
landed full and fair on the top or the
hills to the east where the gunners
were already at work erecting new
pieces. The earth seemed to rise in a
cloud and when the 12-inch shells OF
the Iowa and the 12-ineh beauties OF
the Oregon landed Squarely great
cheer went up from the ships.
The western squadron got into line
and began firing before the eastern one
did and the effect of the shots could be
plainly SEEN The Spanish gunnerS at
the batteries could be noted and a
Quick fire was returned. but only for a
brief time did they withstand the ter
rible assault of the fleet.
AWAITING THE TRANSPORTS
The horizon is eagerly and impatient
" scanned for a glimpse OF the long
expected transports. The delay IN their
arrival is inexplicable, as much tavor-
able weather is being lost and the hur-