Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-07-14
MERRIMAC HEROES RELEASED
FROM SANTIAGO PRISON.
EXCHANGED FOR SPANIARDS
Lieutenant Returns to the Flagship
New York to Report to the Ad-
miral-Says He and His Men Were
Fairly Well Treated by the
Spaniards.

| NAV d. COuSIIuCIOI IslcumOuu L. HUI
son, Of the flagship New York, and
the seven seamen who, with him
sailed the collier Merrimac into the
channel of the harbor of Santiago de
Cuba on June last, and sunk her
there, were surrendered by the Span
ish military authorities in exchange
for prisoners captured by the Ameri-
can forces. Hobson and his men
were escorted through the American
lines by Capt. Chadwick of the New
York, who was awaiting them. Every
step Of their journey was marked by
the widest demonstrations on the
part of the American soldiers, who
threw aside ali semblance of order,
scrambled out Of the entertainments,
knocked over tent guys and other
camp paraphernalia in their eagerness
| to see the returning heroes, and sent
up cheer after cheer for the men who
had passed safely through the jaws OF
death to serve their country. The
same scenes of enthusiasm were re-
! peated upon the arrival of the men at
the hospital station and at our base
at Juragua. Hobson, who reached
there in advance Of his companions,
was taken on board the New York
Immediately. The fagship's decks
were lined with officers and men, and
as HObs0n clambered up her side ana
stepped on board his vessel, the har-
Dor rang with the shouts and cheers
of his comrades, which were re-
echoed by the crews of dozen trans
ports lying near by.
Before leaving for the sea coast
HObSOn was taken to Gen. Skaters
headquarters and warmly greeted by
the commanding general. A CORE
| spOndent Of the Associated Press
asked Hobson for an interview and
statement as to his experiences on
| the Merrimac when he took the col
! lier into Santiago harbor He de-
clined to say anything with regard
| to the Merrimac on the ground that
! he intended to submit a complete re
port to Sampson on the subject and
it would be outside the line of his
duty to say anything about the sink
ing Of the Merrimac until he had
made such report or at least had an
| opportunity to consult the admiral.
With regard to his experiences as a
prisoner of war in Santiago he said:
During the first four days we were
! prisoners of war we were confined in
Moro castle, and l can assure you
that those were extremely uncom-
Portable and disagreeable days. The
Spaniards did not exactly ill-treat us,
but it took them some time to recOy-
er from the shock caused by what
most of them considered our yankee
impUdence in trying to block their
harbor AS rule the officers and men
who came into contact with us were
gruff in speech and sullen in manner
For Admiral Ceryera, l have nothing
but the highest admiration. His act
in informing Sampson Of our safety |
regard as that of a kind-hearted, gen
erous man and chivalrous officer. |
expressed to him my sincere thanks
and the thanks of my men for taking
this means Of relieving the anxiety OF
our shipmates and our friends at
home. He repeatedly spoke to me Of
his admiration of what he called one
of the most daring acts in naval his
tory, though | am sure that we are not
entitled to the commentator we re-
ceived, for there were hundreds Of
other men on our ships who would
have been glad to undertake to DO the
same thing. While we were in MORO
we were naval prisoners, but, at tbs
end of four days, we were transferred
to the jurisdiction of the army and
removed to the Reina Mercedes hos
pital, on the outskirts Of Santiago
where we remained until today. We
knew but little Of what was going on
in the city, though, of course, we could
always. tell when oul
feet bombarded the shore
batteries, and We could easily dis
tinguish the terrific explosion!
caused by the Vesuvius throwing dy-
Mantle shells. Several times at night
we also were fully aware that the
land batteries were fighting outside
the city. Last Friday and Saturday
5 it would be difficult to explain how
anxious we were for news Of the
success of our side during the en-
gagement. The little information the
Spaniards would give US could not D;
relied upon. One thing that I fount
out in the hospital was that large
number of Spanish officers were
wounded in last Fridays fight, fol
many were brought to the hospita
to be treated. Numbers of badly
aimed bullets came into the hospita,
windows Friday, but I do not believe
anyone was injured by them. Our
quarters there were very clean and
comforta BILE and the food was fairly
good. In fact, I have no reason tc
= complain of our treatment as prison,
ers of war"
The Spanish authorities consente
Wednesday to exchange Hobson an
his men and a truce was established
{ for the purpose. The place selected
for the exchange was under tree be
tween the American and Spanish lines
two-thirds Of a mile beyond the en-
| trenchments occupied by Col. Wood
rough riders, near Gen. Wheeler
headquarters and in the center Of tn
American line.
The American prisoners left tn
f Reina Mercedes Hospitals, on the out
skirts of Santiago de Cuba, wher
e they had been confined, at 2:45 in tn