The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-06-03
Copyright 1895 by Associated Press.

pdtCh Boat DANDY, fott AnlOulO' ia
maica. June 1. p. m.-For an hour yes
terday afternoon ;he Massachusetts,.
Iowa, New Orleans and Vixen of Com
modore Schey's squadron exchanged
shots with the Spanish fleet under Ad-
miral Cervera and with the land bat
teries guarding the harbor of Santiago
de Cuba. behind which the fleet is hid
ing. The engagement was the first
which has occurred between the two
naval forces and was but a prelude to
serious work in the latter part Of the
week. No attempt was made by the
Americans to bring off a general en-
gagement. II being his desire to locate
the batteries on the hills above the har-
bor and to determine the position OF the
| Spanish fleet.
Shortly before 10 o'clock Commodore
Schley left the Brooklyn for the Massa-
chusetts. on board Of which battleship
he remained during the fight. AT
o'clock the signal to form column was
posted on the flagship and the New
| Orleans, Iowa and Vixen fell in in the
order named.
| Inc MasSdCnuSettS steamed SLOWLY
until about five miles west of the harbor
| entrance. when she turned in toward
| the shore, and when about 5000 yards
| off she turned east again and bore down
| on the harbor. the New Orleans being
close up and the Iowa half a mile be-
hind. The flagship gradually increased
her speed and was soon running
| through the water at the rate Of 10 knots
an hour. She drew closer and closer to
the batteries. and to the anxious watch
| ers on the other ships Ii seemed that she
| would not open fire. When. however.
she had passed the harbor entrance by
500 yards a great cloud of white and
yellow smoke burst from the two l3-inch
| guns in her after turret. and two shells
rose over the hull, one of them striking
the Spanish flagship Cristobal Colon,
as she lay at anchor. and the other fall
ing close alongside.
The two guns on the forward turret
were then fired and their shells explod-
ed. throwing up great geysers OF spray
close to the Colon. All the shore bat
teries took up the challenges and began
a rapid fire on the Massachusetts But
| she was soon beyond their range and
| the batteries thereupon turned their
guns on the New Orleans. This cruiser
had been directed TO pay attention to
the batteries and to draw their fire as
| much as possible, and she obyed in
I structions to the letter. Her first shot
| located a large battery on the hill above
| Moro 1t flew straight into the forts
and must have caused much damage.
as a great cloud of dust and debris rose
as the shell burst. A couple more shots
sent part Of the walls OF Morro flying
into the air and then the New Orleans
| confined herself 90 the batteries, her fire
being rapid and extremely accurate.
Every shot she fired made trouble for
Spain.
The Iowa. like the Massachusetts,. de-
voted her attention To the ships in the
harbor Their 13-inch shells made the
water fly about that part Of the har-
Dor in which the Cristobal Colon lay.
The latter. however. was not seriously
damaged and kept up her fire long after
the American ships steamed out OF
range
After the Iowa came the little Vixen.
which apparently had no business In a
fight where battleships were engaged.
But she scudded along after the Iowa.
like a fox terrier following a mastiff.
and when at the proper point she left
fly with her one-pounder and glided
away. proudly conscious Of having done
her best. After the Vixen had passed
the forts the Massachusetts, turned
again to the westward followed
by the other ships in the same order,
the one exception being the yacht Jo-
sephine. which was ordered to keep out
OF trouble. The ironclads bore down on
the harbor once more. The flagship
kept on until less than 1000 yards from
shore and then her shells again be-
gan to heave up the waters of Santiago
harbor This time the shore batteries
were better served. and the Spaniards
replied to the warships' fire in energetic
fashion. But nearly all the shots OF the
batteries fell short. Then came the
New orleans once more. her long black
guns doing fearful work and tearing
! up the ground all around the battery
in the most savage manner. The Span
iards dropped shells close to the Iowa
as she came by for the second time,
sending a stream OF shells into the har-
Dor as she did so.
The Spanish warships. with the ex-
ception of the Cristobal Colon. were
behind the hills and could not see the
| enemy. who threw shells around them
with such rapidity that they knew he
was somewhere on the other side Of the
hill. and then hopefully raised the
muzzles OF their guns and banged
away. The result was what might
bosom OF the Caribbean sea. but II
| harmed nothing.
After the Massachusetts, had passed
the point where she could fire into the
harbor with advantage. she returned
10 the open sea. the other vessels fol-
! lowing her. The fight was over as far
! as the Americans were concerned.
| Spanish honor. however demanded that
| some further destruction of gun pow
| der be made. and the ships doomed
| and the batteries roared long after the
| American vessels were entirely out of
range. The AFFAIR soon became ludi-
| crous as nearly all of the Spanish
shells fell from two TO three miles from
| the vessels at which they were aimed.
Worse gunnery was never seen. Not
an American vessel was struck and not
a sailor injured although fully 500
shots were fired by the Spaniards, the
| Americans firing not one e-fourth of that
| number in return.
IL is likely that the latter part of the
week will see more serious work The
| dynamite cruiser NesuNius is coming