The record-union., 1898-05-30

"SSl, the cruiser MaFDl6leaQ was seen
going to the northeast She signaled
that she was running into Key West for
coal.
A half-hour later the converted yacht
Wasp was sighted, and the Scorpion,
at Commodore Schley's orders, was sent
out to intercept it and get news She
reported that the blockade at Cienfue
gos had been practically abandoned by
the small fleet that had done such
splendid work there, having received
the United States Governments notice
that the Spanish fleet was supposed to
be heading in that direction. She also
reported that the Nashville had blown
out one of her starboard high-pressure
cylinder heads and was steaming in
slowly for repairs. There has been
no firing at ,Cienfuegos since the cable
cutting episode. The Wasp was al
lowed to proceed. The squadron took
an eleven-knot speed, and after the
ships were cleaned of the dirt made by
taking on coal active preparations for
battle were made, the decks being
stripped for action and the main bat
teries loaded.
AT / o'clock the Nashville passed the
squadron within hailing distance, bound
for Key West. She signaled her num-
Der and destination, and was not
stopped. On Friday morning at .
o'clock, when just in sight of Cape
San Antonio light, the lights of two
steamers were made out on the horizon.
A call to the guns and to prepare for
action awakened the greatest enthu-
siasm among officers and men, and
much disappointment was manifest
when the strangers were made out to be
the United States cruiser Cincinnati
and the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius.
Captain Chester of the Cincinnati came
aboard the Brooklyn, and to Commo
dore Schley gave a summary of their
patrol work about the coast They had
not seen the Spanish feet or any indi
cations of it, Captain Chester the
Captain of the Cincinnati, said that he
believed it to be of no utility to attempt
to land munitions of war on the coast
unless we landed troops also, for alb
solutely no dependence could be placed
upon the insurgents for assistance. He
believed that the arms and ammunition
already landed were in the hands of the
Spanish Maceo the insurgent leader,
A1clO lAOl Si4ONAA clAy lAIlCACSN III bAAC mat
ter, but had claimed to have been in
suited because Communications sent
him at great risk of life were not Off
cially addressed. The Cincinnati and
Vesuvius left for Key West to get coal.
On Saturday at > o'clock Cienfuegos
was sighted Sunday morning, at 1:30,
while at breakfast, a torpedo boat was
seen near the entrance of the harbor.
ters, but the boat disappearing, break
fast was resumed. At s O'Clock the
smoke of a steamer was s seen to the
northwest. 1t proved to be the torpedo
boat Dupont with dispatches for the
fleet. A close inspection of the harbor
of Cienfucgos failed to reveal any in
dication of the Spanish feet, although
the shore batteries defiantly raised their
Spanish standard. A group of cavalry
was seen at one point, but no attempt
was made to fire on them. AT noon the
Iowa steamed within sight and Joined
the squadron.
Commodore Schley allowed the men
to. cheer, and Fighting Bob" and his
splendid ship were cheered to the echo.
The Iowa assai0anced that the Marble
head, Castine and collier Merrimac
would be here in the morning At )
o'clock Commodore Schley took his
squadron, now a most formidable ag-
gregation of ships, and ran close in
to Cienfuegos harbor discovering that
there were no warships there, but only
a few schooners and small boats.
1T is the Spanish squadron I am
looking for" said the fighting Commo-
dore, and not a few almost ruined
Spanish boats in Cuba" and so not a
shot was fired.
At o'clock the Scorpion was sent
away to Santiago de Cuba, 800 miles
distant, for the purpose of communi-
eating with the Minneapolis or the
Harvard, either of which is supposed
to be there, so that they could take
dispatches from the fleet to Hayti for
direct cable to the United States Navy
Department The Minneapolis, which
is still attached to the flying squadron,
left Hampton Roads one day later than
the rest of the squadron, and went to
the east, completing with the rest of
the squadron a complete circuit of the
island.
Sunday evening on the flagship was
made a christening time The men
in the port S-inch turret had signs
painted to put over their guns and Ia
beled them the Dewey and Schley, and
the starboard turret they named the
Farragut and the Cushing. and in the
turret the kid" Mccoy and John l..
Sullivan One of the 5-inch guns was
named the Paul Jones'. and in Lieu
tenant Rush's aft S-inch turret two
big guns were named the Lawrence and
the Perry.
on Monday morning, May 23d, great
excitement was caused by the news
that the Spanish fleet was at Santiago
de Cuba. The news was brought by
the Hawk. the converted yacht. which
came from Key West with the gun
boat Castine and the collier Merrimac.
Her Captain said that the Minneapolis,
which had been scouting through the
Windward Passage, had discovered the
fleet on Thursday morning, and had
run to Hayti and cabled. The Hawk
came down with all speed Much con-
cern was felt for the safety of the
Scorpion, which left Sunday night
bearing dispatches from Commodore
Schley and the Associated Press CORE
spondent.
The work of coaling all the vessels
was proceeded with Immediately. and
actively continued all the morning
STAYED AT CIENFUEGos.