El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-04-26
iiiiiiAMlE

I above the water-line. A moment
| later the Calling guns in the tops of
both ships were brought into action.
and leaden hail began to patter,
! while great projactiles were hurled
from the lange deck cannon. The
rapid-6riug pieces of the Chileans were
trained upon the Huascar's turret
apertures. while the one in the mill
tsry top of the latter vessel was aimed
at the gun-por, 5 of the enemy. Many
man dropped, dead or wounded, hit
by one of these small shot. For fif-
teen minutes not much was accom-
plished by the great gun-fre: the
heavy shot either fell short of the
mark or were buried in the armor. By
this time, when the ships were within
fifteen hundred yards of each other, q
shell from the Cochrane entered the
Huascars turret, exploded, and killed
twelve men: But the places of the dead
from below, the cham Der
WAS cleared of the corpses, the
guns were loaded again, aud tne action
was renewed. Then the Haascar
secured an advantage. One Of her en-
inch shells forced its way through a
casemate on the starbOard side of the
Cochrane, exploded on the deck, dis
mantle d gun, and killed several men.
For "a few minutes the enemy WAS in
such confusion that not a cannon was
fired: and 1t became almost q panic on
the COchraue when the Huascar edged
in closer, her sailors cheering as they
again discharged the twin pieces.
At this stage OF the combat victory
perched for moment on the red, white,
and red: but even as it d!d so the COM
nander of the Cochrane saw relief
which Grau had not perceived. In
fact, shot that plowed into the Huas-
cars side WIS the first warning the
Peruvian admiral hid of assistance
coming to the Chileans; and looking to
starb"ard through peep-hole in the
conDing-t he saw the Blanco En-
calada bearing down: while veering
seward, only "a few cable lengths
astern Of the rapidly approaching iron
clad, were the Matias Cousiuo and tie
Covadonga, evidently starting off to
give chase to the Union, by this time
well in the offiug, and fitted, because of
her superior speed, to take care of her
self. Grau therefore turned his atten-
ton to his own ship, which indeed was
in sore straits.
Seeing aid at hand, the men on the
Cochrane had redoubied their efforts.
and ~hen the Blanco had ranged along
to port the horror of it began, and the
engagement resolved itself into a ma
rine carnage: for the Huascar lay be-
tween the two fires, the Cochrane to
starboard the BlancO to port, AID
both so near that the gunners in the
turret of the little ship could see the
faces of their adversaries as the latter
lighted the pieces on the Chilean
boats.
The turret rapidly became so crowd
ed with the bodies of the dead tn It the
steam training-gesr of the iron round
house was clogged and useless. AS the
nen struggled to remove the tumbled
corpses of their comrades, blood be-
came smeared over their chests, and it
mingled with the sweat which dripped
as they toiled in quarters that re-
sembled baking charnel house,
which filtered steam and
smoke, while a nauseous odor rose
from the bodies and the heated guns.
The sun beat down upon the wild scene
through air 50 calm that after the
white smoke had belched from the
guns, it rose In pillars and clung to the
mastheads.
From the first of the battle the en-
voice of Grau had come to
the men in the turret through the
speaking tube from the cOnr ing tower;
but when the BlancO crowded into the
thick Of it. and great shot struck the
Huascar's sides as regularly as blows
of battering ram, the orders of the
commander were no longer heard. The
officer in CT arge of the turret called to
ais sup5 rior. There was no answer,
and when Commander Elias Aguirre
ran up the narrow little ladder
that led to the tower,
he stumbled over the dead body
of his admiral. A shell had struck
the conning-tower, and had taken off
Grau's head as n atty as if the decap-
tatiOn had been by the guilotine. This
shell a'so xii ed Lieutenant Ferre, the
aide. There was only time
to push the corpses aside. and the new
tn III p to give his directors; but AS
he did so the Huascar staggered,
keeled over, then shook in every plate,
while a conclusion mole terrific than
any go far told that a she'll had entere
the turret and had burst there. When
the fumes had cleared away SO that a
person could speak, a midshipman
called out that one of the great guns
had been oismOun;ed, and twenty men
killed. The survivors tumbled the
bodies through the hatch that opened
into the deck below, thus releasing
the clogged machinery; and as the
corpses ratified dow ether men rushed
up, throwing off their clothing as they
jumped into the pools OF blood to seizr
hold of he gear and swing the remain
ing gun into position, that it might
train upon one of the ships, they could
no longer make out which, nor did
they care, an il wa dis harged, b Ill
ed in, loaded, and disch a, ged again.
Once more al was silent in the con-
L;eutenau; Palac os has
tened there, but before he could enter
he was compelled 10 push three codes
out of the way. He had barely piven
his first command when bullet from
the well-aimed rifle of a marine in an
enemy's top lodged between his eyes.
Then the fourth to command the Huas-