St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-05-18

LAGSHIP "NEW YORK."
turn of the warships, work was contin-
ued and the cable was cut.
When the boats returned to the ships
Reagan, who was in one OF the Marble
heads boats, of which there were two,
was found to have been killed and six
men were seen to be badly wounded.
The Spaniards had by this time suffered
severe loss. Their shots from the light
house struck the warships several times
and although they did not do much dam
age, the fire aroused the determination
of the American officers to exterminate
the fort. Therefore, for the moment, the
FIRE of the warships was concentrated
upon the lighthouse and the improvised
fort was blown to pieces. AS there were
great numbers Of Spaniards in and be-
hind the fort at the time there is no doubt
that many of them were killed. Com
mander Washburn Maynard of the Nash
vile was slightly wounded by a spent
bullet. The commanders of the Marble
head and the Nashville, when the proper
moment arrived, called for volunteers to
man the boats and cut the cable, and the
men responded with jump. Lieutenant
c. MGR. Winslow of the Nashville took
command of the Nashville's boats. The
shore surrounding the entrance of the
harbor was first shelled and then the
boats proceeded in.
The work of finding the cable was
slowly and cautiously proceeded with.
The cable was deep in the channel, and
was found with difficulty. One Of the
relays of the cable had been cut when the
Spanish opened fire. The marine in the
boats replied at once and machine gun
on the forward launch sent in stream
of bullets, while heavy shells from the
warships drove the Spaniards from the
rife pits along the shore, many of them
seeking refuge in the lighthouse fort,
which was aterward torn to pieces by a
shell from the Window.
With desperate courage the American
sailors remained calmly at their posts
and succeeded in dragging up the second
relay of the cable and severing it.
The Bombardment of San Juan.
The contention of the Spanish govern.
ment that the city itself had been bonn
barded is false in every particular. There
would have been no firing at all had not
the foolhardy garrison at the Moro
begun it.
Admiral Sampson acted at Porto Rico
exactly as he did while on the blockade
of Cuba. So long as the batteries there
did not modest his ships his orders were
that there was to be no shooting, but
when the Spaniards fired on his vessels
the latter were instructed to destroy the
batteries.
These orders were not issued until the
Spanish fire at different Cuban ports be-
came so irritating to the American blue
jackets that discipline was in a measure
threatened; but as soou as the men
learned that they were to no longer re-
main passive targets for the Spaniards,
but were to return any shots against
them, all grumblng against inaction
ceased, and the world knows the disas-
trous results to the Spaniards at Ma
tanzas, Cardenas and other Cuban ports
which opened fire on the American war
ships Thursday morning. The Iowa
came close in and the firing began imme-
diately. There was some doubt as to
who fired the first shot, but the under
standing that Admiral SIMPSONS orders
to the warships were not to fire until
they were fired upon indicates that the
artillerymen at the Moro Castle must
have fired first.
The Iowa at once responded to the
shot, her missile striking the old castle
squarely and knocking great hole in
the wall. 1t was then SIS o'clock. The
rest of the squadron began firing and the
engagement became general.
The American gunners were generally
accurate in their firing, while the marks
manship OF the Spaniards was inferior.
| Some OF the American shells, however
passed over the Notifications into the
city, where they did terrible damage
They crashed straight through rows o.
buildings and exploded, killing hundreds
OF citizens.
Another shell exploded within few
hundred feet of the French warship, but
did no damage to the vessel.
The Notifications were irreparably in
jured. Repeatedly masses of masonry
were blown skywards by the shells from
the Americans guns.
Fragments from one shell struck tn,
commandante's residence. which was sit
uated near the forti6cations damaging
it terri6cally.
The center of the Moro was almos
blown away.
Shortly after 8 o'clock the squadron
withdrew, with the exception of on
monitor, which remained firing for full,
twenty minutes afterward. This wa
the Terror.
All the American warships seemed t,
be practically uninjured, although one 4
the Spanish shells struck one OF them.
the vessels were damaged seriously it wa
not visible to warships near by.
The navy department at Washington
has received the following despatch fror
Admiral Dewey, dated Hong Kong, Ma
~:
There is little change in the situatio
since my last telegram. lam transierrin
to transports steel breech-loading rife
from sunken Spanish men-of. war, ais
stores from arsenal in my possession.
am maintaining strict blockade. Ad
l. Argos to list of destroyed vessels. l
: Correo reported destroyed) probably
: Cano. DEWEY"