The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-07-09

The Calls of Humanity


LAS it was apparent that could not pos
sibly catch the Cristobal Colon and that
the Oregon and Brooklyn undoubtedly
would, and as the fast New York was also
on her trail, 1 decided the calls of humanity
should be heard and attention given to the
1900 or 1900 Spanish officers and men who
had struck their colors to the American
squadron commanded by Admiral Samp-
son. therefore headed for the wreck of
the Vizcaya, now burning furiously fore
and aft. When 1 was in as far as the depth
of the water would admit. lowered all my
boats and sent them a. once to the assist
ance of the men who were being drowned
by dozens or roasted on the decks. I soon
discovered that the insurgent Cubans from
the shore were shooting on men who were
struggling in the water, after having sur
rendered to US. 1 Immediately put stop
to this, but could not put a stop to the
mutilation of many bodies by the sharks
inside the reef.
Work Of the Sharks
"These creatures had become excited by
the blood from the wounded mixing in the
water. My boats crews worked manfully
| and succeeded in saving many Of the
| wounded from the burning ships. One man
| who will be recommended for promotion,
clambered up the side Of the Vizcaya and
saved three men from burning to death.
The smaller magazines of the Vizcaya were
exploding with magnificent cloud effects.
| The boats were coming alongside in a
| steady string and willing hands were help
| ing the lacerated Spanish officers and sail
ors onto the Iowas quarter deck. All the
Spaniards were absolutely without clothes.
Some had their legs torn off by fragments
| of shells. Others were mutilated in every
| conceivable way.
Canoes Filled With Wounded
1.-THE bottoms of the boats held two or
three inches of blood In many cases dead
men were lying in theblood. Five poor
chaps died on the way to the ship. They
were afterwards buried with military hon
| ors from the Iowa. Some examples of
heroism, or, more properly devotion To
discipline and duty, could never be sur
passed. One man on the lost vizcaya had
his left arm almost shot off just below the
shoulder. The fragments were hanging
| by a small piece of skin. But he climbed
unassisted over the side and saluted as if
on visit of ceremony. Immediately after
him came a strong hearted sailor, whose
|
He was hoisted on board the Iowa with a
tackle, but never a whimper came from
him. Gradually the mangled rodies and
naked we'll men accumulated until it would
have been almost difficult to recognize the
Iowa as United States battleship.
Covered With Blood
BLOOD was all over her usually white
| quarter deck and 272 naked men were
being supplied with water and food. FL
nally came the boats with Captain Eulate,
commander of the Vizcaya. for whom a
| chair was lowered over the side, as he was
| evidently wounded. The captains guard
of marines were drawn up on the quarter
deck to salute him, and stood waiting to
welcome him. AS the chair was placed
| on the deck the marines presented arms.
| CAPTAIN Eulate slowly raised himself from
the chair, saluted me with grave dignity,
unbuckled his sword belt and, holding the
hilt of the sword before him, kissed Ii
reverently with tears in his eyes and then
surrendered it to me.
| The Crew Cheered
"Of course, declined to receive his
| sword; and. as the crew Of the Iowa saw
this, they cheered like wild men.
I'm the meantime, thirty officers Of the
Vizcaya had been picked up, besides 272
of her crew. Our wardroom and steerage
officers gave up their state rooms to the
naked sailors, and each was given all the
corned beef coffee and bareback he could
eat. The war had assumed another as
| pect.
GAS knew the crews of the first two ships
wrecked had not been visited by any Of our
vessels. ran down to them. I found the
! Gloucester with Admiral Cervera, and a
number of his officers aboard, and also a
large number of wounded, some in fright
| fully mangled condition. Many prisoners
had been killed on shore by the fire of the
| Cubans. The Harvard came off and I re-
| ouested Captain Cotton to go in and take
| off the crews of the Infanta Maria Teresa
and the Almirante Oquendo, and by mid
night the Harvard had 947 prisoners aboard,
| a great number of them wounded.
Spanish Courage
"For courage and dash there is no parallel
in history to this action Of the Spanish ad-
miral He came, as he knew, to absolute
destruction. There was one single hope
that was that the Cristobal Colon would
steam faster than the Brooklyn The spec
tacle Of two torpedo boat destroyers, paper
shells at best, steaming out in broad day.
light in the face Of the fire Of battleship,