Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1898-05-19
ADvnRrrsIre nArrs.
UNDER HOT FIRE.
San yuan'a Forts Wore Itiddied- -siight
Loss ON American side.

Loss ON American Side.
On Board the Flagshlp Iowa, of San
Juan dc Porto Rico, May I0.--The
encmy's loss In the attack by part Of
Sampson's feet on the forts Of San Juan
ID believed to be heavy. The American
loss Is two men killed and seven men
injured.
After three hours firing, the adj
miral withdrew the feet, heading for
Key West. He said:
81 am satisfied with the mornings
work. / could have taken San Juan,
but have no force to hold it. only
wanted to administer punishment.
This has been done. l came for the
Spanish feet, and not for San Juan
The men killed were:
Seaman Frank Widemark, Of New
York.
A gunner's mate, Of the Amphitrite.
The latter died from the effects Of the
extreme heat.
OF the injured men, three were on
the Iowa and four on board the New
York. The names OF those slightly In
jured on the Iowa are: Seaman
Mitchell, Private Marine Merkle, APP
prentice Hill. Injured on the New
York: Seaman Samuel Feltman. seri-
ously; Seaman Michael Murphy.
The four above-named were injured
by the bursting Of shell on the New
York. This is complete list Of the
killed and wounded.
The American ships are uninjured.
The engagement began at 5:I5 A. M.
and ended at S:l5 A. NJ. The enemy .
batteries were not silenced. The town
In the rear of the Notifications probably
| suffered. The ships taking part in the
action were the Iowa, Indiana, New
York, Terror. Amphitrite, Detroit,
Montgomery, Waumpautuck ard Porter.
The enemy's firing was heavy, but
wild, and the Iowa and New York
were probably the only ships hit.
They went right up under the guns In
column, delivering broadaides and then
returned. They passed in front Of the
forts. pouring tons of steel on shore. 1t
is impossible TO judge the amount of
damage done TO the buildings and forts.
They appeared to be riddlei with shot.
but the Spaniards were pIucky.
The after-turret of the AmphrIte got
out OF order temporarily during the en-
gagement, but she banged away with
her forward guns
After the first passage before the
forts, the Detroit and Montgomery re-
tired. their guns being too small to do
much damage. The Porter and Waum-
pautuck also stayed out Of range,
The smoke hung over everything,
| sporting the aim Of the gunners and
making it impossible to tell where our
shots struck The officers and men Of
the ships behaved with coolness and
bravery. The shots flew thick and
fast over all our ships.
The men who were hurt during the
action we're injured by spIinters thrown
by an eight-inch shell, which came
through boat into the superstructure.
and scattered fragments in all direo-
tions. The shots course was finally
ended on an iron plate an inch thick.
MerkIe was struck in the arm and may
lose it. A fire was started in the boat.
but was quickly extinguished.
Moro battery, on the eastern arm OF
the harbor, was the principal point Of
attack.
Rear-Admiral Sampson and Captain
Evans were on the lower bridge OF the
Iowa, and had narrow escape from
the flying splinters, which injured
three men.
The Iowa was hit eight times, but
the shells made no impression on her
armor. The weather was fine, but the
heavy swells made accurate aim diff
cult The broadsides from the Iowa
and the Indiana rumbled in the hills
inshore FIVE minutes after they were
delivered. Clouds OF dust showed
where the shells struck, but the smoke
hung over everything.
The shells screeching overhead and
dropping around showed that the Span
iards still stuck to their guns.
At 7:45 A. NJ, Admiral Sampson
signaled cease firing Return
was sounded on the Iowa, and she
headed from the shore. The Terrer
was the last ship in the line, and, fail
ing to see the signal, she banged awsy
alone for about half an hour, the CON
cert of shore guns roaring at her and
the water flying high around her from
the exploding shells. But she pos
sessed charmed life. and reluctantly
retired at 8:l5.
As at Matanzas, the unsatisfactory
conditions, the smoke and the dis.
tance, prevented any importaut con-
clusions being drawn. The town Of
San Juan must have suffered. Al
though somewhat protected by the
hills, the high shots must have reached
it. No traces Of the bambardmont
were discernible on the forts, except
small fires, which were apparently ex-
tinguished before the fleet left.
Madrid Expects an Encounter.