The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-05-16
Blanco's Clumsy Attempt to Ensnare
Our WarShipS.
TWO CRUISERS AS DECOYS
TRIED TO COAX AMERICANS UP
TO THE BATTERIES.
Two Spanish Warships Sent Out OF
Havana Harbor to Induce the
Blockading Vessels to Give Chase
Then Reiterated to the Batteries
Big Guns Opened Fire.
Copyrighted By Associated Press.)

copyrighted By Associated Press.)
Key West, Fla, May 15-(On Board the
Associated Press Dispatch Boat Kate
Spencer. on Havana. May II. Via Key
West, May Is, 5 a. m-)-Captain
General Blanco. two hours before
shutdown tonight, attempted to ex-
! ecute ruse. which, If sue
cessful, would have cleared the front of
Havana of six ships on that b!ockading
( station. Unable to come out to do bat
tie, he adopted the tactics of the spider
/ and cunningly planned to draw the prey
! into his net. but though clever and
pretty scheme as an original proposition,
trick by which the gunboat Vicksburg
and the little converted revenue cutter
| Morrill, were last week decoyed by a fish
Ing smack under the big Krupp guns of
the Santa Clara batteries. Thanks to bad
gunnery, both ships on that occasion
managed to get out OF range without be-
burst close aboard and the Vicksburg's
| ladder was cut adrift. The wary are
never caught twice in the same trap.
Late this afternoon the ships on the
Havana station were dumbfounded to see
| two ships steam out of Havana harbor
and head east. Dense smoke was stream
ing like black ribbons from their stacks
and a glance showed that they were I'M
/ der a full head of steam. By aid of
| glasses, Commander Lilly of the May
flower, which was flying the pennant,
]
| which was about zoo feet long and about
$500 tons displacement, to be the Alfonso
! XII. and the smaller one to be the lie
/ Gazpi, both of which were known to be
bottled up in Havana harbor At first he
supposed that they were taking advant-
age of the absence of the heavy-fring
ships and were making a bona fide run
for the open sea AS superior officer, he
| SiSnalled the other ships on the station,
the Vieksburg, Annapolis. Wasp, Te-
| cumseh and Osceola, which were moving
| in 70 fOr~Y COLI with l,Cef on
I the right flank. The little squadron
moved in obliquely toward the fleeing
Spaniards, keeping up running fire as
| they went.
The Alfonso and her consort circled in
shore about five miles below. and after
running in for half an hour. headed in
| for MORO castle. Our gunboats and thin
skinned vessels of the mosquito fleet did
not follow them in. Commander Lilly
saw that the willy Spanish ruse was to
| draw them in under the fire of the heavy
! ficers could plot out the exact range with
! their telemetreS and pot them. So the
turn was made in line ahead, parallel
| with the shore
BIG GUNS OPENED.
Commander Lilly had not been mis-
| taken. As his ships came abreast of the
Santa Clara battery the big guns opened
and fired 13 shells at a distance of about
five miles: The range was badly judged.
as more than half the shells overshot the
] mark and others fell short, some as much
/ as a mile.
The Associated Press dispatch boat
lasted over an hour. AS spectacle. the
greatest master of stage craft could not
have evolved finer setting. The low
| sun, in q bank of camillian, dyed the
Cuban hills a royal purple, against which
| Havana's white walls cleaned like ala
| baster. Morro's gray towers stood out
while directly behind sprung a broad
| band of rainbow, woven through dense
gray clouds, until lost at the zenith.
The big Alfonso and her convoy
of the harbors mouth and, turning
sharply east, ran along the coast as
though as though to slip through the
! Gordon of blockade 1t was a bold trick
and not at first transparent, although the
| folly of it created a suspicion, as there
| was no hope of ultimate escape and no
| object in escaping the Mayfiower, which,
standing well like a cat with mouse,
gave a slight start, then swinging her
| engines and tiny squadron into line,
dashed in to cut them off. The Spanish
| boats crowded on steam and stood along
| the coast as long as they dared give zest
7 to the chase.
The Mayfiower sfgnalled her escorts:
| ''Close in and charge" Word was flung
on from ship to ship as they steamed IN
| column. Seeing the bait had apparently
been taken. the Spaniards veered, bring
ing their stern so as to bear on the
| Americans, and doubled back for Moro.
1t was beautiful running fire, viewed from
where the Kate Spencer lay, seven miles
off Moro castle. Little puffs of white
smoke burst from sides of the eunboats
and occasionally an explosion OF a shell
in the air like spark OF ire, could be
| discerned with the aid of glasses. The
| flash of the Spaniards' guns was plainly
| visible reports of the same were dull
and indistinct.
SPANIARDS DAMAGED.
Two shells from the Vicksgurg burst in
the rigging of the Alfonso, and some of 1t
possible to know whether any fatalities
| occurred. The American fire was much
more accurate than the Spanish, as every
| shell of the latter fell short of their pur-
pose. The Spaniards were a mile off
! MORO and our ships were fully four
| miles further when flame leaped from the
of smoke drifted up the coast Half
minute later dull, heavy roar Of
great gun came like deep diapason of
an organ on high treble OF smaller guns.
mounted there, and a S5O-pound projec-
tile plunged into the water half mile
inside of the American line, throwing
up tower of white spray 1t ricochetted
and struck again half a mile outside.
The mask was now off Maddened by
the failure of their plot; the Spaniards
continued to fire. In all 13 shots were
] fired but not one struck within 200 yards
of one of our ships
FLEET DREW OFF.
AS soon as the battery opened, Com
mander Lilly signalled and his fleet stood
off shore. Captain Mckenzie, on the
| bridge of the Vicksburg. watched the fall
! of the shells. but he considered it USELESS
| to waste ammunition at that distance. He
| aDpeased the desire of the men at the
guns, however, by letting go a final broad
side at the Spanish ships, in chance hope
of making them pay for their daring be-
fore they gained the harbor, but they
| steamed in under Morro's guns untouched.
and as they disappeared fired several
| shots. Several shots We're sent after them
| at that moment by the Annapolis, which
| dropped inside the harbor probably Great
ing CONSERVATION among the score OF bum
| boats on the water front.
| At the close of the action. Just at sun
down, the Associated Press dispatch boat.
| Kate Spencer ran up alongside of the
| Vicksburg Her men, many of them
stripped to their trousers and pistol belts,
| We're still at the guns.
| The officers received the news of Samp-
sons capture of San Juan with cheers
that reached the Mayfiower, a quarter
of a mile off, bringing her crew TO her
| side Commander Mckenzie thinks, as
do others of the fleet, that the Alfonso
| had been stripped of her guns, and those
| used today were only temporarily mount
ed If it was the Alfonso XII she must
have found new boilers, since lately she
was a helpless cripple in the Havana
| harbor. From the action of the Krupp.
IL is evident that the Spaniards have no
| cordite and are using ordinary cocoa
powder.
BLANCO'S VERSION.