Evening star., 1898-07-08
He Tells of the Sinking Of the COL
lier Merrimac.
EXCITING RUN UP fBE CHANNEL
Only the Darkness Saved Them
From Utter Destruction.
EX Pc RIEN CE IN PRIS


Your correspondent saw Mr.. Hobson after
he had made his report to Admiral Samp-
son, and he consented to give the Herald
fuller interview about his experiences.
He spoke in glowing terms of the courage
and bravery of his crew.
I'VE have been ttirty-three days in q
Spanish prison." said Mr.. Hobson, land the
more l think about it the more marvellous
it seems that we are alive.
1T was about 3 o'clock in the morning
when the Merrimac entered the narrow
channel and steamed in under the guns
of MORO Castle. The stiffness of death
prevailed. 1t was so dark that we could
scarcely see the headland. We Lad plan
ned to drop our starboard anchor at a GER
tain point to the right of the channel, re-
verse our engines and then swing the Mer-
rimac around, sinking her directly across
the channel.
The Merrimac Hit.
This plan was adhered to- but circum-
stances rendered it's execution impossible
When the Merrimac Doked her nose into
the channel our troubles commenced. The
deadly silence was broken by the wash of
small boat approaching US from tie
shore l made her out to be picket boat.
She ran close up under The stern cf the
Merrimac and fired several shots from
what seemed to be three-pounder guns.
The Merrimac's rudder was carried away
py this fire. That is why the collier was
not sunk across the channel.
we did not discover the loss of the rud-
Ger until Murpny cast anchor. We then
found that the Merrimac would not answer
TO the hem, and were compelled to make
the best of the situation
The ru.l up the channel was very excit-
ing. The picket boat had given the alarm
and IN moment the guns of the Vizcaya,
the Almirante Oquendo and of the shore
tatteres were turned upon us.
Submarine mines and torpedoes also were
exploded all about us, adding to the excite
ment The mines did no damage, although
we could hear rumbling and could feel the
ship tremble.
Saved by the Darkness
I'VE We're running without lights, and
only the darkness saved us from utter de-
struction. When the ship was in the de-
sired position and we found that the rudder
was gone I called the men on deck While
they were launching the catamaran 1
touched off the explosives
AT the same moment two torpedoes
fired by the Reina Mercedes. struck the
Merrimac amidships 1 cannot say wheth-
er our own explosives or the Spanish tor
pedoes did the work, but the Merrimac was
lifted out Of the water and almost rent
asunder.
"As she settled down we scrambled over
board and cut away the catamaran. A
great cheer went UP from the forts and
warships as the hull of the collier founder
ed, the Spaniards thinking the Merrimac
was an American warship.
taI
on the catanaran, but a strong tide was
running, and daylight found us still strug
Cling in the water. Then for the first
time the Spaniards saw US and a boat from
the Reina Mercedes picked US up. 1t then
was shortly after o'clock in the morning,
and We had been III the water more than
an hour. We were taken aboard the Reina
Mercedes and later were sent to MORO
Castle.
Their ImprfsOnmcnt.
'In Moro we were confined in cells in
the inner side of the fortress and were
there the first day the fleet bombarded
Morro. I could only hear the whistlng
of the shells and the noise they made
when they struck, but 1 judged from the
conversation of the guards that the shells
did considerable damage.
AFTER this bombardment Mr.. Ramsden,
the British consul, protested, and We were
removed to the hospital. There was sep
arated from the other men III our crew ana
could see them only by special permission
Montague and Kelly fell i'll two weeks
ago, suffering from malaria, and 1 was per-
United to visit them twice.
Mr.. Ramsden was very kind to us, and
demanded that Montague and Kelly be re-
moved to better quarters in the he spitaI
This was DONE
AS for myself, there is little to say. The
Spanish We're not disposed to do much for
the comfort of any of the prisoners at
hrst, but, after our army had taken some
OF their men as prisoners, their treatment
was better. Food is scarce in the city, and
was told that we Jared better than the
Spanish officers"