The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-28


araron for the infantry attack by arta-
lcry fire was impossible. as there was 10
artillery; the men suffered from lack OF
food, because the commissariat had
struggled with great difficulties OF trans
pOrtation, The preliminary preparations
for the care of the wounded We're very de-
, fectiVe. All this was known to the sol
diers, who, nevertheless advanced with
undlmiuished courage. The positions tho
Americans CARED on both days Of battle
they not only retained, but later won still
more ground.
The Spanish troops. whose military quail
5tics are valued very highly by the oppo-
| nents of the militia, were stationed in ex-
cellent strong positions, had with them
sutiiclent artillery, made use of smOkeless
powder, were superior in number to the
| Americans, and were commanded by OFF,
GERS experienced an war. Why did not
/ these European-trained troops sally out Of
Santiago and simply drive the Americans
into the sea? Why does not Marshal
Blanco who is said to have at his COM
mand a well-armed army of at least 100,-
900 men accustomed to the climate and to
hghting, make his superiority felt? our
militia soldiers have not yet ventured to
give an answer to these questions.
The value OF troops does not depend
merely on the military dril, such as IS
! usual in Europe. There is militia and
/ militia. A popular army like the SWISS
/ with its fun equipment ever ready for war,
/ represents a stronger power at the begin
/ ming of war than the American state
militia, which Is not intended for foreign
service and out of which, when war breaks
out, an army must first be formed. In
spite Of al these disadvantages and diff
culties. the Americans have set an army
on foot in a few weeks which was Obliged
TO take the field under unfavorable cir
cumstances and nevertheless. has shown
itself therein not merely equal, but supe-
rior TO its well-trained adversary
Almost as instructive as the combats on
land have been the sea fights. In the first
place a former experience has been con-
nrned namely. that a bombardment OF
modern earihWorks, even with guns OF
large caliber, does little damage. When
the English, sixteen years ago, bombar-
ded the fOrtiticatons of Alexandria. they
believed they had completely destroyed
them, but on landing they found out, to
their establishment, how little harm their
heavy firing had done. The Americans
have now met with the same experience
at Havana, at San Juan de Porto Rico
and at Santiago de Cuba. l is not alarm
over the mines, but fear OF the guns OF
MORO Castle and Of La Socapa that has
restrained Admiral Sampson up to the
present from rsl5ing an entry into the
harbor OF Santiago, although the MORO
fort has been repeatedly bombarded, and
the newspaper reports have more than
once announced that "the fort has been
reduced 10 a heap of ruins.
or an effective use of mines we have
heard as little as Of the use Of torpedoes.
In the battle between the fleets the Amer
cans have no occasion to approach the
Standards near enough to bring their tor
pedoes into play. while the Spaniards were
so hard pressed by the American fire that
they could not even think of letting loose
torpedOes Whenever Spanish torpedo
boats have attempted to approach Amer
lean ships they were either, when the
attempt was made at night, discovered
by the searchlights and then overwhelm-
ed with such a hail of shot that they We're
obliged 70 withdraw, or else as in the
cese of CerYera's dash, were at once
shot 20 pieces The two Spanish torpe-
do boat destroyers, Furor and Pluton,
had a speed of y 10 30 knots, and We're
armed with two 14-pound and two g.
pound quick-irers and a Maxim gun. AS
soon as they came out Of Santiago harbor,
nevertheless, they were attacked by the
armed yacht Gloucester, carrying only
few 6-pounder and s-pouuder quick-dring
guns, and rendered useless in a short
time. The Gloucester is said to have fired
400 shots and suffered hardly any dam
age The fact must be noted that in this
case two torpedo boat destroyers, vessels
which heretofore have been represented as
extremely dangerous for battleships were
destroyed by an armed yacht Of inferior
speed 20 theirs.
Equally interesting are the observations
made on the fight between battleships and
cruisers. AS in the battle Of the Yalu. be-
tween the Chinese and Japanese, superior
ity in Workmanship decided the fight off
Santiago. The Spanish vessels were in
part superior In speed to the American
the yalor and discipline of the Spanish
sailors are much praised by the Ameri-
cans; experienced officers commanded the
ships but, nevertheless, they were defeat
ed without any damage worth mentioning
to the enemy. II is well known that for
years the Americans have kept up indus
tTiously target practice, and that they ex-
pected good results from this themselves.
Good guns without good gunners are USE
less in a fight. The Spaniards shot poorly
and the Americans shot we'll The result
was that the Spanish vessels caught fire
and were, therefore, compelled 70 run
ashore. How far better armor Influenced
the outcome of the fight cannot be deter
mined with certainty One thing, however.
Is settled. Her speed could not save
even the Cristopal Colon from the sure
aim of the Americans. Besides this, the
American material. missiles as well as ar
NOR plate. seems 10 have shown itself to
be much better than the Spanish. Amer
lean experts, indeed believe that in this
respect they are superior even to thu