The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-04-25

D., men OIL Wal.
| That shots had been fired by the New
York and that one steamer had been
seized and that another had been stop
ped must have been known in Havana
very soon after the occurrences, for
the whole affair could be witnessed
| from the shore. However, none of the
vessels were close enough to the city
Of Havana itself to know what demon
stratlons the events caused there.
| The Pedro was the second seizure Of
| the day, the first being that Of the
! Spanish steamer Buena Ventura. A
| third seizure occurred yesterday a few
| miles west Of the entrance to Havana
| harbor. 1t was a small schooner, ap-
parently a fishing craft, and she was
| captured by the Cincinnati. The cruiser
| towed her to the flagship, and her cap
| tain made a satisfactory explanation to
Admiral Sampson, who released the
vessel.
Thought 1t Spanish Warshlp.
The New York, with the torpedo boat
Porter in close attendance, was lying
about eight or ten miles off Havana,
when the smoke of a steamer was seen
a few miles to the eastward. The flag
| ship and the Porter started for her i'm
mediately. but when they drew near
they found that she was the italian
man of-war Giovanna Bausan, bound
for Havana. The Italian ran the Amer
lean colors I'D to his masthead and
fired rear admirals salute of Is guns,
1t being the first salute Admiral Samp-
l,aI
ship since his appointment to his pres
ent rank. The New York returned the
salute, and as the firing occurred only
a few miles off shore the incident prob
ably created CONSERVATION in Havana.
When the Giovanna Bausan was first
sighted the excitement was terrific.
The Cincinnati. the New York, the
Marblehead and the Wilmington start
ed in pursuit. The distance which sep
arated the vessels rendered it impos-
slble to make out the warship's iden-
tity. She was thought to be the Viz
caya or the Almrante Oquendo. head
ing hard for Havana. The men at the
guns shouted with glee. The stokers
Off duty below cheered vociferously and
begged to be allowed to go on deck to
help shoot at the first armed enemy
met. The officers crowded on the quar-
ter deck, as eated as the men, though
under better control The bugler blew
general quarters" All hands flew to
their posts. Down came the shrouds
with rattle. The life lines vanished
from the deck.
Rear Admiral Sampson, standing on
the bridge, said deliberately to Captain
Chadwick: Yes, the Oquendo or tho
Vizcaya," and then added: II should
like to bag them both" Then it was
seen that the chase was flying an Ital-
Ian flag, but this was no proof that
behind her still invisible guns Span
iards were not concealed, ready to shoot
under advantage or subterfuge. All
the guns on the New York's port side
and in the forward and after turrets
were trained on the stranger. A few
minutes later, when about $500 yards
separated the New York from her tar
get, the American flag was run up by
the warship, and then 1t was known
she was not Spaniard. Then came
the rear admiral's salute, which was
answered, and the incident ended.
The Porter Captured a Schooner.
Shortly before noon yesterday the
torpedo boat Porter captured Spanish
coasting schooner, Mathilde. She was
loaded with barrels of rum, was sunk
almost to her rails, and the Porter had
much difficulty in dragging the heavy
schooner through the water, but she
finally brought her prize alongside the
flagship. and by this time she had
hoisted the Stars and Stripes above the
Spanish flag at the Mathilde's mast
head.
The Dauntless was about ready to
leave for Key West, and Admiral
Sampson asked the dispatch boat to
tow the prize to that port for him,
which was done, prize crew from the
New York being placed on board the
Mathilde. The prize crew sat on TOP
Of the schooner's cargo each man
ready with his rifle to prevent any at
tempt that might be made by tho
schooner's own crew to cut loose from
the Dauntless.
1t was an example of the grim irony
of fate which gave to the most fa
nous ex-filibuster the first opportunit,
to tow a Spanish prize to the United
States. AS the Dauntless passed unde
the lee of the New York she received
the heartiest of cheers from the blu
Jackets while the officers of the flag
ship clapped their hands, the mega
phone roared some encouraging words,
and Admiral Sampson lifted his cap
In answer to the salute Of the CORE
spondents
Ensign Christy. with a crew of 16