The evening times., 1898-07-16
ON THE cR1groBA1r COLON.
Fhss Finsi scenes Dese,sbea ~ IN
81 Eyewitness. -

Uccaeo OeDer1De0 ~ ~
Eyewitn<lss. y
Tho CristObal Colons appeared to.
resting easily on the beach. with he
stern clear and anoat. . Bosfs were or
dered to be lowered frsm. al our ship
present. and the transfer Of, the Span
iards to the transport ,Resoiute, whicI
arrived soon after. wasIimAeshately be
gun. When our men agriyyd on boar
the captured ship they found water OF
the berth deck. this coming through sho
holes and probably from the injured bow
The engine and forerooms were slightly
filled with water. but no apprehension
was felt ON this account, ~ there appear.
ed to be certain buoyancy about the
vessel that gave promise to save her.
Plenty Of time was given the Spanish
officers and sailors to pack their belong
ings into bundles and leave the ship.
Wine was flowing freely. the sailors were
nearly all drunk and the officers quite
free and affectionate In their manner to
the boarding officers. Our men had the
chance OF life time for loot. Some
stuffed their belts full Of pistols and
their bosoms with small shells and cart
ridges. The Spaniards. before the Amer
leans had boarded. threw great part
| of the breech blocks of the small arms
! and the machine guns into the sea. in
| order to render them useless. They were
| still doing this after our boats were
alongside and the men going through the
ship.
One Spaniard. In the act Of throwing
overheard a valuable piece of gun mech
anism. was warned BY an Oregon man
to leave 1t alone. The Spaniard was de-
termined to destroy It; the American to
save 1t. Finding 1t was the only course
left him to pursue. the American knock
ed the Spaniard senseless with the butt
of his pistol. This had some effect on
the Spanish sailors. who. crazed with
drink and the excitement of the morning.
would have destroyed everything. Some
OF them as they stepped down into our
boats swore fearful oaths: others wept.
A few Of them could speak a little Eng
lish. and others enough to let you know
they could swear. When they drew nigh
our ships they were eloquent In the way
they expressed the firing of the OregOn's
guns. Too much boom. boom, BOOM. Is
the way they explained 1t. The Brooklyn
they considered a minor danger. and II
seems that had the Oregon not been
there they would have made great ef-
forts to fight the Brooklyn.
The Indiana is their idea of our most
powerful ships. and they were surprised
when told that the ship pursuing them
was the Oregon. one of four of the same
class as the Indiana They had been told
that the Indiana was our only ship worth
considering.
The night before their mad break for
liberty they had been fighting our SOL
- Axy HI apA
for some time. To encourage them and
raise their spirits they were Informed by
their officers that all We had outside to
prevent their escape were a few yachts
with guns on them, and that as soon as
they left the harbor they would be met
by some more Spanish ships to cover
their escape. What kind OF yachts they
met is now known to, the whole world.
The sailors seem to have a great fear for |
the name of Sampson. They dread the |
latter as much as our men respect him.
All afternoon the work of rescuing the |
prisoners and transferring them to the |
Resolute continued. And also did the sail
ors of our navy fill up their bags and dit
ty boxes with curios that will be looked
at admiringly for years to. come. Silver
ware was strewn all about the decks of
the ward room and cabin. mixed with bot
ties of wine and liquor. .-af-
Every one of our men who was FORUM
ate enough to get into the boats came
back with either rifle or a cutlass. some
with both. Others bristled with pistols
and captured knives. Medical outfits, sill
yer cases. swords. fancy wooden boxes.
linen. and even live pig were carried
AWAY in an indiscriminate manner with
,ut the least idea of the chooser's wants
)r needs.
Had the live cows on the forecastle not
,een too heavy. probably one of the best
ed of the sailors would have carried them
way too. AS 1t is. they went down with
he ship One man struggled with a string
4 twelve chickens, but for some reason
r other he was compelled to leave them
ehnd. probably by someone higher in
who had a poor mess on board
hip.
Never before have American sailors been
laced In the midst of 50 much spoil to
hoose from. 1t was a case of select and
pproprate quickly. for the ship was
oomed TO go down very soon. as about
clock 1t was discovered that she was
,aking water rapidly. Therefore, a man (
18th his arms full Of bunting and flags.
,ols and relics. would drop piece after
lece in his travel aft and replace 1t with
more valuable. until eventually
Il his original load would be scattered in
Is tracks for the next man to choose {
ON. g
The more sensible and sober of the Span
rds were quite affable. and pleasantly L
,owed our men about the ship and help +
to gather the spoiis. There was not I
uch regret shown by them at the loss I
their splendid ship and the loss of the Z
,tire fleet. What seemed to touch their e
elings most was when they spoke of the o
they had been receiving in their
rvice. The Cristobal Colon. after the I
lrrender, reported twenty-five killed and h
ounded on board. OF this number but r
few had been hurt by shells. These h
ere lying on the decks in hammocks.
me of them moaning pItifully. T
''The remainder Of those who had lost r
cir lives. We were told by the sailors. }
I'd been shot down in the fire room by S
70 Of the engineers. who, with pistol in n
md. had shot every man that tainted or o
we the least sign Of exhaustion in that tt
IL below the water line. This has been
Id US by several Of the Spanish pris- 7
ers. Imagine that exciting chase-de-
ruction inevitable and nothing to hope y,
r even did the present attempt to es-
pc SUCCEED. With matches battened
wn to prevent any attempt to get out
that furnace below. where men were al
ing literally roasted alive, and an Off "
: standing there. pistol in hand. shoot sv
3 them like dogs. Thank God we have a..
en- born Americans and that it is not III
cessary for our men to be taught their ne
ty through the slender tube of a pistol. H
wonderful sight-aos never to be of
-gotten-to see that pSwerful-looking
anish ship. with her. double row of :.
sting guns, lying helpless at the base ie'
green Cuban moyntain and within to
few feet of green grass and fragrant 1
wers few cable lengths distant are We
ps that have SO hotly pursued her to Ia,
tth. and the former enemy now solicit da
IS about the lives Of the Spaniards. ali