The San Francisco call., 1898-12-22

He says that the force of Deweys yes sels leaving out the transports, amounted to N 40 tons, 49 ,290 horsepower, l63 guns (many rapid fire), 1750 men and an average velocity of seventeen miles. Against this the power of his only five effective ships was 10,111 tons, Il 200 horsepower, f6 guns (very short of rapid tire), 1875 crew and maximum speed twelve miles. The ad- miral describes in vivid language the ter rible effect of the American onslaught on the Spanish vessels. He says: The Americans fired most rapidly. There came upon us numerous projectileS, as the three cruisers at the end of the line devoted themselves almost entirely to fight the Cristina. my flagship. A short time after the action commenced one shell exploded in the forecastle and put out of action all those who served the rapld-fre can mons.
 Meantime another shell exploded in the foretOp, setting fire to the crew bags At 7:30 O clock a shell destroyed completely the steering gear. Another destroyed the mizzen, bringing down my flag and en- sign; another shell exploded on the poop shell exploded in the officers cabin, GOV ering the hospital with blood and de stroying the wounded who were being treated there. Another exploded in the ammunition room.
 II had to flood the magazine when the cartridges began to explode.
 "One large shell penetrated the flreroom, putting out of action one master gunner and twelve men serving the guns. An other rendered useless the Starboard bow gun, and while the fire increased astern another fire started forward from another shell. The broadside guns continued fir ing until there were only one gun and one seaman remaining unhurt for serY- ing.
 'The ship being out of control. the hull, smokepip@ and the mast riddled with shot, men confused with the cries of the wounded, half of the crew out of action, among whom were seven officers, gave the order to sink and abandon the ship before the magazines should explode"
 The story of the loss of the Cristina was substantially the story of the loss of all the other Spanish ships, and Admiral Montejo sums up his account with this statement:
 The inefficiency of the vessels which composed my little squadron. the lack of all classes of the personnel, especially master gunnerS and Seamen gunnerS; the inaptitude of some of the provisional ma chinists, the scarcity of rapid fire can non, the strong crews of the enemy and the unprotected character of the greater part of our vessels, all contributed to which we made for our country and to prevent the possibility of the horrors of a bombardment of the city of Manila, with the conviction that with the scarcity of our force against the superior enemy we were going to certain death and could expect loss of all our ships. Our cas- ualtieS, including those of the arsenal, amounted to 3S1 men killed and wounded
 Apparently the first suggestion of the of the flying squadron, which was to divert Admiral Camera 5 squadron from his voyage to Manila came from Dewey, for In dispatch of June ? he says: Tn my judgment, if the coast of Spain was threatened the squadron of the enemy will have to re- turn"
 And that was exactly what hap pened. A month later the admiral pays lNf fr~, r11, D,.sA .-l- sul at Manila, MT. RawSon Waller who for three months had been discharging the duties of United States Consul in Manila and rendered great assistance The admiral's estimate of the impor- tance of the Philippines is set out in the following telegram sent in answer to an inquiry on the subject from the 
 MANILA, Aug. 20, 1S9S.-Secretary Navy, Washington: Referring to the depart ments telegram of August 13. important islands are: Colon, Luzon. Panay, Cebu ture of the inhabitants, have a small amount of civilization. want of cultiva- tion. They may be neglected, especially isles of southern group. Luzon Is in all respects the most desirable to retain. Contains most important commercial ports Manila is farthest north. Pro- duces all of the good tobacco. Friendly natives. Civilization somewhat advanced. Not yet developed. Possible rich min erals. Population S25 900. Subig Bay pest harbor for coaling purposes and military. Water deep, landlocked, easily defended. command of bay and city of Manila, with arsenal at Cavite. most valuable. Panay, Cebu. Negros thickly populated, most civilized and well culti- vated. Iloilo second commercial port; center of sugar trade: a good harbor in view of the situation good for defense. Cebu third commercial port; a good harbor; very desirable. No coal of good quality can be procured in the Philipine Islands. Some has been mined on Cebu; English company. I trust it may not be necessary to order me to Washington. Should regret very much to leave here while matters remain in pres ent critical condition. DEWEY.