The record-union., 1898-06-08

meet the Olympia. The entire An1eri-
can fleet concentrated fire on her, and
she was 80 badly injured that she turn
ed around to put back. AZ this juno
ture the Olympia let ny an S-inch shell,
which struck her stern and ~ pierced
through almost her entire length, ex-
ploding nnally In the engine-room.
wrecking her machinery. This shell
killed the Captain and sixty men, and
set. the vessel on fire. ..s@s ss.sk
The Spanish Admiral Immediately
transferred his flag to the cruiser Isla
de Cuba. Several smaller vessels OF the
American fleet. led by the Boston, CEN
tered fire on this ship, and literally tore
her to pieces. The Admiral was slight
ly wounded. and escaped In a small
boat into Bakor Bay, and finally, to
Manila.
I'm the heat of the fight two torpedo
boats moved out to attack the feet
They were allowed to come within 500
yards, when fusiEade from the Olym-
pia sent one to the bottom with all on
board, and riddled the other The Sec
ond boat was later found turned upon
the beach covered with blood
I'm the second fight the Baltimore
was sent to silence the fort at Cavite.
She plunged into a cloud Of smoke, and
opened all her batteries on the fortifi-
cations. In a very few minutes a shell
struck in the ammunition and the fort
blew up with deafening roar The
work of the Baltimore was glorious.
After the principal ships had been
destroyer, the Concord, Raleigh and
Petrol, being Of light draft, were sent
close in to handle the remaining vessels
Of the fleet. They made quick work Of
them. i
Several tugs and a large number Of
launches and small boats were captur-
ed. The vessels destroyed were three
cruisers, eight gunboats and two tor
pedo vessels. The series Of fortifica-
tions at Cavite, neighboring arsenal and
the fort on Corregidor Island, at the
head of the bay, were captured.
In taking possession of the land
forts several hundred wounded Span
iards fell into the hands Of the Ameri-
cans, and nearly 200 dead were ac-
counted for on the spot. Holes in
which numbers had been hastily buried
were found. The dead were returned to
relatives, as far as this could be done,
and the wounded were cared for in the
best manner by the American surgeons.
The Spanish loss footed up 400 kill
ed. 600 wounded and property loss Of
anywhere from $4,000, 600 to $1O,OOO.- :
600.
THE day Of the fight was clear and
hot. Not breath Of air was stirring.
After the first battle the Americans
were greatly tagged by the heat, and
the rest and breakfast allowed them by
the Commodore was Of inestimable ben
eft While the men were having break
fast conference of all the officers was
held on board the Olympia, when the
plans of the second battle were made
known by the Commodore. ~ =
Several shots struck the Olympia,
and she was pierced number of times.
One shell struck the side of the ship
against the hospital ward. The Chap
lain and nurses were watching the
away, and were stunned by the con-
cussion. Fs-, y
Experts have figured out that the
fighting volume Of the guns Of the re-
spective sides in the battle was three
for the Americans against seven for
the Spaniards. 1t is clear, then, that
the superiority was in the ships and
men themselves, the Americans having
the experience and the nerve"
Gunner Evans of the Boston was one
of the men who sent the Spanish ships
down to Davy Jones' locker. He direct
ed the fire of one Of the big guns on
the cruiser He was at all times great
ly exposed. but did not receive a shot.
Not man on the Boston received a
scratch.
Mr.. Evans states that throughout the
battle the fighting force Of the Boston,
and. in fact. all Of the ships, were as
cool as If on a May Day pleasure cruise.