The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-07-15
Gan sAy TIRE SHIPS
Colon Maria Teresa and Vizoaya
May Be- Raised.
SCENES AT WRECK.
The Wrecked Armada Ia Fleet OF
Steel CofHns- yultures
Hover About.

=
Sampson has cabled the navy department.
that in his opinion three Of the Spanish
vessels may be saved. The Colon IS Ger,
tainly in good condition, he reports, and
there are reasonable hopes Of Swing the
Maria Teresa and the Vizcaya. This is
the only news received from Sampson in
a day or more. the cables apparently be-
ing interrupted or in bad working order.
1t is expected at the navy department that
the onslaught on the forts ut the entrance
to the harbor of Santiago viii begin today.
Washington. %, G.. July. 9.-The text
of Admiral SIMPSONS dispatch is as fol-
lows: 81 8 e. 81 81:
Playa del Este, July s-.secretary Of the
from board ordered to examine wrecks,
states that wreckage appliances should be
gotten l here mWmsaiately Think ns doubt
rCristobal Colon, IL haste be made. Colon is,
much the most valuable, being In perfect
order Would recommend most perfect APP
The department had already arranged
with the Merritt- Chapman Wrecking
company to undertake the salvage Of
these vessels and two of the vessels of
that company are now on their way to
Santiago. T
As SIMPSONS dispatch makes out a
much stronger possibility of saving the
ships than was supposed copy of it has
been sent to the contractors with the re-
quest to hasten the work and to be pre-
pared to send additional assistance if it
be found necessary.
,~1 No Reference to Hostilities.
The two dispatches that came from
Shafter over night made no reference To-
the resumption of hostilities on his part,
and f01nO0n today nnfhino ntSo had
come from him. The statement : tele-
graphed the press from the army in the
held, to the effect that the Cubans UNI
der Garcia have undertaken to designate
a governor for Santiago after it falls has
attracted a good deal of attention here.
The dispatch went on to state that the
man chosen for the place was Col. Deme-
trio Castillo of Garcia's army, and that
Gen. Shafter, upon being notified of the
choice. had referred the matter to WASH
ington. No such reference has been made
and the officials here do not expect for an
instant that Gen. Shafter will make it.
If Santa go falls under his attack, Gen.
Shafter and no one else will assume com>
mand of. Santiago and retain that COM
mand as long as he stays in that vicini-
ty and until he is relieved by orders from
Washington.
1t is not contemplated here to turn the
captured communities over to the Cubans
without very careful consideration of the
consequences involved, not only from the
point of moral obligation upon the United
States as a civilized nation, but also from
that of sound political considerations.
The reports that are reiterated as to
the brutal attitude of the Cubans toward
the Spanish who surrender near Santiago
have caused a great. deal of disQuiet here
and it is believed that our military and
naval commanders will be expected to see
to it that the Cubans are held to the
strictest observance of the rules of civil
lied warfare under pain of being severely
dealt with. !
4 Visit to the Wrecks.
OFF Santiago, July 7.-(By the Asso-
ciatcd Press Boat Dauntlcss, via Port An
tonic by way Of Kingston, July s, 11:5O
p. m.)-The vessels which composed Ad-
miral Cerveras squadron, converted into
wrecked charmed houses, are littering the
Cuban coast and the scenes of desolation
and death battle description.
At the entrance of the harbor of San
tiago lies the Reina Mercedes sunk at
from the harbor, is a torpedo-boat de-
stroyer stuck fast in the rocks, close in
shore, battered by the surf. Rocks jut-
ting cut of the water in front where she
lies hide her hull from view. Her davits
and the top of her coming tower alone
mark her resting place. Visible from
the. sea few miles farther. in an inlet
embraced by two mighty arms of black
rocks that extend half mile into the
sea, are the remains of the twin, cruisers
Infanta Maria Teresa and Almirante
Oquendo, formerly the pride of the Span
ish navy. :
On beyond lies the vizcaya, mass of
ruins, and forty.two miles away from
Santiago the Cristobal Colon lies help
less hor side hor hos to- Obj
water.
The lnfanta Maria Teresa and the
Almirante Oquendo stand upright, stuck
fast on the rocky shoals. All that is left
of them is their outer hulls. the heavy
armor defying total humiliation. Inside
OF the work of destruction is complete.
Their boilers, engines, bunkers and maya
zines have been blown into unrecogniz-
able masses of twisted, melted iron. Ex-
ploded shells. burned rifles and revolv-
ers, pieces of yellow brass work and gold
ana silver coin, melted by the intense
heat, are strewn all over the remains of
the once proud arnlored cruisers, whose
protective decks only stand in places.
g. .. Huge Steel Coffins.
:. But the most ghastly, horrible sights in
those steel collins are the manglcd,
SCARED and charred bodies of hundreds Of
BRAY sailors, sacrificed for their country.
ouA-dAuS are 1eeuiHk OH the ueat and
others are lowering over the wrecks.
On the beach other fiocks Of yultures
sit in silence waiting for the sea to give
up its dead. Every tide adds to the tale
Of horror, washing up such objects as.
for instance, a sleeve enclosing a wasted
arm, other portions Of human bodies
gnawed by hungry sharks, and countless
relies of the battle.
Attention has been given to the burial
Of the dead Of the enemy, and over 100
bodies taken from the ships or washed
ashore have been inferred upon the beach
by Rear-Admiral SIMPSONS orders. -
r Those which now remain are either al
most wholly consumed by Ere. charred
beyond belief or lie in the depths Of the
sea. These form the food for the buzz
yards. who keep constant vigil about the
wrecks. -. .. =
The buried remains lie in confused
mass, unnumbered and unnamed, in a
huge pit dug in the sandy beach, where
the vessels went ashore. A rude wooden
cross from the wreckage alone marks the
grave, grave over which Spain NAV
well mourn. 1,y ~---.st:= : :. -. ::
WERE 23O MEN KITIED5