Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-05-05

The oyerwheling defeat Of the Span
ish could at first hardly be credited,
owing to the influence of the hitherto
contemptuous tone of everything eman-
ating from Madrid regarding the Unit
ed States and her forces. The constant
ridicule aimed at the American navy,
the extravagautlY belittling expressions
OF 'brag and buster when referring
TO Americans, and the hypocritical bold
front assumed by Spanish officials when
making reference to their own abilities,
had begun to create a suspicion, perhaps
a conviction, that after all the big re
public across the seas was much overra-
ted and was only blnbbering bully.
When, therefore, the news was first
cabled from SPANISH sources that an
engagement had taken place, and that
the results to the Spaniards were serious
the conclusion was at once reached that
not the half was told and the general
feeling now is that when the full extent
of the damage is known it can be only
expressed by the words "annihilation,
extinction
The courage and almost reckless dar
ing Of Commodore Dewey calls forth
unb0unded admiration. The entrance
to Manila bay is about five miles wide
and is protected on either side by semi
powerful shore batteries. The iuforma
ton had gone out and must certainly
have been known to Dewey that the
bay was heavily mined with torpedoes
and other submarine explosives.
But little cared the undaunted Ameri-
can for either. Led by the flagship the
Olympia, his feet passed into the bay,
ignoring Spanish shot and shell, though
they flew thick and fast occasionally
whizzing over the decks. but mostly
i splashing in the water And once in
side the bay it was there to stay.
Two points seem to stand out in bold
| relief First, that the United States
vessels, though Of comparatively small
displacement were in every way, both
as givers and takers of punishment, the
infinite superiors of the Spanish ships,
and secondly, that the personnel of the
Americans, as regards accuracy IN FIR
ing and perfect discipline, was of the
highest order.
The first engagement took place at
daybreak, and lasted two hours. The
forts kept up an unceasing fire, supple
mented later on Dy the attack of the op-
posing feet at the end of the two
hours the Spanish admiral Montejo was
practically vanquished His flagship
was gone, her commander was corpse,
the cruiser Castillo next in size and
power to the flagship, was burned to
the waters edge, and the powerful Don
Juan de Austria was blown up.
A most remarkable feature of this
first engagement, and one that showed
the marvellous GOODNESS of the Ameri-
cans in face Of danger, was the skilltul
maneuyering Of Commodore Dewey's
| feet Instead Of remaining stationary
as targets for Spanish guns, Dewey kept
bis vessels in motion constantly, thus
puzzling and confusing the gunners on
shore and ship, and making accurate
craftsmanship for them an impossibili-
| ty.
The American fleet now Withdrew to
| their transport for the purpose of coal
ing and giving t he crews an opportuni-
| ty to recuperate and to attend to the
wounded, of which there was a small
| number
Admiral Montejo, who after the loss
| Of the Reina Christina had transferred
his command to the Isle de Cuba, think
| ing this meant withdrawal from the
contest, opened fire again. Dewey an
swered, and the fight was on once more.
| Desperate and furious was the inter.
| change. No breathing spells, no time
( 10 measure distances, nor to take steady
aim. 1t was load fire, crash dropping
men, spattering blood, flames and sink
ing ships Swift and decisive The
| Spani sh cruiser Don Antonio de Ulloa,
was damaged beyond repair, as was the
gunboat Mindanao Three other of the
smaller Spanish craft were deliberately
sunk, and Admiral Montejo ordered
| Cease Fire" 1t was all over as far as
| the Spanish fleet was concerned.
| Commodore Dewey now communicat-
cd with the British consul, L. II. Ran
| son Walker, and through him conveyed
a mesrage TO General Auguste, governor
| general Of the Philippines, demanding
| that he surrender at once the torpedoes,
guns and all ammunition, together with
the possession of the cable service, on
penalty of bombardment of the city.
General Augusta conferred with his
under officials, in the mean timeaprohib-
iting the dispatch of cable messages.
A further conference was then had
| with the British consul and the agent
of the telegraph corporation, and the
governor general decided he would not
comply with the demands for surrend-
er
The United States feet then took up
Il pDslJlOn III lTDHl DA AIdiIld LDI LhS
| purpose Of bombardment news or
which rapidly spread through the city.
The inhabitants became terror strick
en-, and gathering up what valuables
they could seize fed 30 the country.
Even the operators engaged in the ca
bic company's Offices deserted their
posts and hastened TO places of safety.
At Cayite the Generalization was
simply indescribable when Commander
Deweys intentions regarding an attack
upon Manila become generally known.
The officials attempted to becalm the
| frightened inhabitants, but thcir efforts
were futile There was one grand
exodous 20 points lying outside the
range Of the American guns
| After formal notice to the vario is
consuls Commodore Dewey's guns were
trained on both Cayite and Manila
| The former suffered most Shot after
shot was planted in the grief-strickeu
city. Fire was returned from the bat
teries, but all TO no avail The city
was virtually razed to the ground
At Manila an exploding shell did aw-