The San Francisco call., 1898-05-09


 C Till from destruction in Havana C
 c harbOr yesterday morning. For C
 6 over half an hour they were un- c
 c der the fire of the guns of the C
 c Santa Clara water batteries, but C
 c both escaped without material c
 c injury, although shrapnel from c
 . eight-inch guns exploded all .
 . about them, and both now show c
 6 the scars of the Spanish bullets. c
 The willy Spaniards had arranged a
 trap to send a couple of our ships to
 the bottom. They baited it as a man would bait a trap. A small schooner was sent out from Havana harbor shortly before daylight yesterday morn ing to draw some of the Americans into the ambuscade. The ruse worked like a charm. The Vicksburg and the Mor-
 Till, in the heat of the chase and in
 their contempt for Spanish gunnery, walked straight into the trap that had been set for them. Had the Spaniards possessed their souls in patience but
 five minutes longer not even the bad
 gun practice would have saved our
 ships, and this morning two more of
 our vessels would lie at the bottom, within two lengths of the wreck of the Maine
 Friday evening the VicksbUrg and the Morrill,, cruising to the west of MOrro Castle, were fired upon by the big guns of the Cojimar batteries. Two shots were fired at the Vicksburg and one at the Morrill,. Both fell short and both vessels, without returning the fire steamed out of range It would have been folly to have done otherwise. But yesterday morning the Spaniards had better luck. The schooner they had sent out before daylight ran off to the eastward. hugging the shore with the wind on her starbOard quarter. About three miles east of the entrance of the harbOr she came over on the port tack. A light haze frin@ed the horizon and she was not discovered until three miles off shore. when the Mayfower made her out and signaled the Mor- Till and Vicksburg.
 Captain Smith of the Morrill, and Commander Lilly of the Vicksburg i'm mediately slapped on all steam and started in pursuit. The schooner in stantly put about and ran for MOrrO Castle before the wind. On doing so, she would, according to the we'll con- ceived Spanish plot, lead the two Amer jean Warships directly under the guns of the Santa Clara batteries These works are a short mile west of Morro, and are a part of the defenses of the harbOr. There are two batteries, one at the shore, which has been recently thrown up, of sand and mortar, with wide embrasures for eight-inch guns, and the other on the crest of the rocky eminence which juts into the gulf at the point. The upper battery mounts modern ten-inch and twelve-inch Krupp guns behind six-foot stone parapet, in front of which are twenty feet of earthwork and a belting of rail- road iron. This battery is considered the most formidable of Havana's de- lenses, except Morro Castle. It is masked and has not been absolutely located by the American warships.
 It is probably due to the fact that the SpaniaTds did not desire to expose its position that the Vicksburg and Nor Till are now afloat. The Morrill, and Vicksburg were about six miles from the schooner when the chase began | They steamed after her at full speed, | the Morrill, leading until within a mile | and a half of the Santa Clara batter l ies. Commander Smith of the Vicks- burg was the first to realize the dan | ger into which the reckless pursuit had | led them. He concluded it was time to halt, and sent a shot across the bow of the schooner. The Spanish slipper in- stantly brought his vessel about, but while she was still rolling in the trough of the sea, with her sails Tapping, an eight-inch shrapneI shell came hurtling through the air from the water battery mile and a half away It passed over he Morrill, between the pilot house and he smOkestack and exploded less than fifty feet on the port quarter. The small shot rattled against her side. It was close call. Two more shots fol- owed in quick succession, both shrap- 1el. One burst close under the star board quarter, filling the engine room with the smoke of the explosion of the shell, and the other, like the first, passed over and exploded just beyond.
 The Spanish gunners had the range and their time fuses were accurately set The crews of both ships were at heir guns. Lieutenant Craig, who was n charge of the bow four-inch rapid ire gun of the Merrill, asked for and obtained permission to return the fire. At the first shot the Vicksburg, which vas in the wake of the Merrill, slightly n shore, sheered off and passed to vindward under the Morril's stern.
 In the meantime Captain Smith also ut his helm to port and was none too oon, for as the Morrill, stood off a solid ight-inch shot graZed her starboard uarter and kicked up tons of water as t struck a wave 100 yards beyond. .aptaln smith SdlQ dIIeTWdIu that lIlIS vas undoubtedly an eight-inch armor- ,iercing projectile. and that it would lave passed through the Morrill's boil ITS had she not changed her course. All the guns of the water battery were now at work. One of them cut he jacobs ladder of the Vicksburg ( drift and another carried away por- ion of the rigging. As the Merrill and the Vicksburg Z teamed away their aft guns were used 7 ut only few shots were fired The [ 1orrill's six-inch gun was elevated for 7 900 yards, and struck the earthworks . epeatedly. The Vicksburg fired re- I eatedly shots from her six-pounder. The Spaniards continued to fire shot nd shell for twenty min1tes, but the hots were ineffective. Some of them yere so wild that they aroused the merican sailors to jeers. The Spaniards only ceased firing t ,hen the Morrill, and Vicksburg were ] ompletely out of range. If all the q