The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-05-06

lands, hired a fisherman5 cahoe anu i'S
owner. and at early dawn s'si1eu tns
in the morning mists. Before the sun
was I'd an outside accident happened 10
III Trlunfo. although afterwards oihcers
and crew declared the calamity occuIr-
ed inside the ship. There was me lllu-
mination which first lit mp the Ilgsihgs'
then caught the hull and the Spaniards /
were 30 pleased they jumped over board !
10 have a better view Of the spectacle.
The Triunfo was towed a snort Instance |
from the other ships: II burned 10 us |
water line and sank where u can DC seen |
TO this day i'm calm weather.
Two or three days later the other |
ships sailed south TO Chill, 0ut the news
OF their doing had reached that place
therefore Its ports were closed ana war
declared against the Spaniards' quay
aquil followed the same course ana
not one country on the western coast
allowed the Spanish ships TO take wafer
For this and for wood they had to go
TO Juan Fernandez.
Chill and Peru took measures toward
fitting up their men-of-war; but the
Spanish fleet was strongly reinforced by
the armored ship Numancia, the 6i-gun
frigate Almanac, the despatch boat Nues-
ira Sonora dc CovadOnga ana the trlgate
Rerenguela. These. with the others mem
toned formed the strongest Spanish
squadron that had ever searched the
waters OF the Pacific. and II remained
there two years During this time Presi-
dent Pezet Of Peru, wanted 10 temporize
with the Spaniards. even TO pay the IN
demnity. This resulted IN MS removal
from Office by a revolution.
'In 1866 the fleet was under command
OF Admiral Pareja. son OF the last wee
roy OF Peru. and born IN Lima. Upon
being ordered 90 lombard valparaiso
commercial. defencelcss city this man.
rather than do such a dastardly deed
blew out his own brains on board the
Numancia. The command then devolvcd
upon the next chief. Mcndez Nunez. who
less scrupulous. bOmbardcd the city Tor
four hours. destroying many public build
iugs. while not even a pistol was hred OFT
I'm return The French frigatc Venus
was In the harbor az the time also the
English frigate Shearwater and the
American war steamer Vanderbilt. with
Commodore John Rodgers on board. act
ing as escort 90 the monitor Monadnock
which was on its way to California "here
81 now IS.
commodore Rodgers sent word 20
Captain Derram. Of the Shearwater, ask
ing If he would Join him in preventing
the Commandment. The English com
rnander replied that. having only one
shin no hesitated 70 attack theSpanish
squadron Rodgers then said.
Fire one gun against Spain and then
retire. with my monitor and my snip l
| will send those blasted Spdniards 10 the
! bottom
Rodgers. himself told me this. IL was
afterward rumored that the British COM
! mander was disgraced for having done
nothing toward defending the great Eng
| lish interests in Valparaiso. At the end
| Of April 1866 the Spanish squadron cast
| anchor six miles from Callao az the mead
| Of the Isle Saint Lorenzo On learning
| of the bombatdment Of Valparaiso, Col
| onel Prado. then President Of Peru, or
! dcred the setting up of two irou-clad
! turrets belonging 70 a monitor which had
| brought i'm sections and had not been
! put together. one turret was placed at
/ a short distance 10 the south Of the city.
and called La MERGED. The other was
| placed TO the north and called santa
! Rosa. In each two PARROT guns, SJO-
| Founders, were mounted.
! THE army officers from generals 10
the youngest lieutenants and the stu
| dents of the universities and medical
] colleges hunted up fifty old cannon OF
! various calbres. which had been dis
carded. mounted these as best they could
! on the shore between the two turrets and
! I'm front Of the cannon placed sand bags
| as a protection against the coOblesiones
| that formed the beach. and which the
| the balls of the enemy would convert into
| crane shot. The officers themselves man
| ned the guns. No common soldier had
| hand in that unequa! struggle
"The fifteen or twenty United states
| residents. mostly merchants, eager 10 take
| part I'm defence of American soil. got per-
| mission 10 use and man another Parrott
| gun, a 5o)-pounder, that was in the arse
| nal. This was mounted on its carriage
| I'm about fifty yards Of the railroad depot.
! Commodore Rodgers. who happened 70
! be there. assured me that he had diff
| Guilty I'm restraining his men, so anxious
were they 10 land and assist in the fight.
| when on that famous May I'd, the
| people I'm Lima learned that the Spanish
| ships were stripped for action and that
| CallaO was 10 be bOmbarded, their cour-
age and enthusiasm knew no bounds.
| Every able bodied person wanted 10
, hasten there 20 encounter the peridiou5
| Spaniards. Those who could not ind
room in the railroad cars walked 20 the
port nearly nine miles of. Young WOO
| men OF the best families sped to the scene
Of action 10 encourage the combatants
and attend the wounded. The Peruvian
priests also hurried TO the coast. but
| the Spanish friars in Lima stayed within
their converts and cried 20 heaven Tor
| the defeat OF the people who generously
sheltered them.
$50 deep was the public Indignation
against that power which. in order 10
force gold from the Peruvans. debased
itself to the most cowardly deeds, that
the officers and civilians did not even
wait 10 call upon the common soldiers,
but rushed headlong TO the defence Of
land and liberty. There was reserve
force OF 200 men out OF sight only
few hundred PAGES from the shore, pro-
vided with sevCnty-hve pieces Of field
artillery and ready TO face the Spaniards
had these effected a landing. The 1000
soldiers We're sheltered behind the walls
of a. fortress which covered fifteen acres
of ground. 10 was built in no and
served as custom house and storerooms.
LAS / have said. the Monadnock and
Vanderbilt happened 20 be at Callao
with other vessels of the United states
South Atlantic heet-the Dakota Suwa-
nee. Wateree and Mohonge also the
French frigate Venus. The squadron OF
Mendez Numez started from its anchor
age about II o'clock and advanced IN the
form Of a letter V. tho Numancia oc-
cupying its point until about half a mile
from shore. This ship then took up It's
position in front Of the old fortress. The
Almanac and villa de Madrid faced the
northern batteries. La Blanco and Ber-
renguea those TO the south. The Cova-
donga kept beyond the line OF fire, ready
10 aid any disabled ship.
"As eight bells sounded on board and
the bells In the fortress belfry -ang out
| Y o'clock the first gun was hred-from
the Numancia. Considering the strength
tod n Ia