Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-06-17
UNDER FIRE AGAIN
SIMPSONS Fleet Hammering.
Away at Santiago Forts.
THE THiRD,B0MBAR ENT
batteries Badly Wrecked. one Being
completely Destroyed Ths Enemy.s
Guus Deserted. Spanish Eoss
believed to b. Heavy.

,r- Less. OFF SANTIAGO DE C,IIRa
thursday. June is, noon, via Kingston
he Jamaica. Thursday, June l6.-9 p. M
ell hear Admiral Simpsons feet BON
he t uu,ueo me batteries at Santiago d
ed cuba for the third time ar daylieh
n this morning For hours the ship.
re pounded the batteries at the right q n,
TO .ele OK the entrance, only sparing i,
Morro. where Lieutenant Hobson am
IT, his companions of the Merrimac are n
prison. 80, als =
r me western batteries. against which
u the main assault was directed wer,
n, badly wrecked. One was utterly des
sroyed In others many guns were dis
Id mounted : - -
n AT first the Spanards replied mas.
siohately and wildly, but impotently
Ihen most OF the guns were deserted
Soe snip was struck, nor q man In
n cured on the American side.
1T Is believed that the enemv's lbs,
or life was heavy.
,r AS q preliminary to the hammerina
& given the batteries the dynamite cruts-
& er eesuVMs last night at midnight wcc'
o. given another chance. Three 25O-s
1t charges tta lss. OF gun cotton were Where
IL design was to drop the..eh osp M'.. 35
1t around the angle bac' fyihs-
-e on which Ell Monn no reports Wefs
Is it was known. KY of the explosion OF
~ boat destr~rater. Whether the des-s
!. chargesre demolished Is not known.
h heaEs destructive area of gun cotton s5
: faye and 1t would not be surprising
70 It is subsequently ascertained that
one or both were destroyed.
The third charge exploded with ter
rife yio,encs ON Gays Smith. From
where the fleet lay the entrance to the
harbor looked, In the black night, IKE
n door opening into the liVid nre OF q
Titanic furnace. A crater big enough
70 hold a church was blown out OF the
seen from the ships this morning.
Aar>i-al Sampson issued the ordefs
for the bombardment last nteht- Cof~H
Zee was served to the men at half-pasr
2 this morning and with the first blush
OF dawn they were called quietly to
quarters The ships steamed In hVe II
knot speed to a 5000 yards range, Wnen
they closed up broadside on until g.,
distance of three cable lengths sepa-
| rated them. They were strung out IN
| the form OF crescent, the heavy fight
ling ships in the centre. the flagship ON 4,
| the right flank and the Massachusetts,
on the left flank. The Vixen and Scor-5&
pion took up positions on opposase
| hanks close In shore. for the purpose
OF enfilading any infantry that might 1
fire upon the ships.
When the ships got in position 1t was
still too dark for any firing. The adj
miral slgnalled the ships not to nre nn-
t.til the muzzles of the enemy's guns IN
tl> embrasures could be seen by the
gun Captains. -atI
Fiftee.. minutes later. at 5:25 A. M.
, the New York opened fire with broad
SIDE from her main battery at the
WORKS on the east OF the entrance to-
the har~,r. All the ships followed In
red streaks If flame. The fleet, envel-
oped IN smoke. pelted the hills and
kicked up dirt anc masonry. 1t was q
,, Dauntless lay.
Though the gun captains had beer,
; cautioned not to waste ANN .nition,
: but to fire with elaboration, theS Ore
, was SO rapid that there was an alnaoss,
continuous report. "A strong land
v breeze off the shore carried the smoke
: Of the ships seward. while it let down
n Il thick curtain in front Of the Spanish
q gunners. VA
3 Tie dons replied spiritedry at first,
f but their frenzied half-craZed fire could
: not match the cool nerve. trained eyes
t and skilled gunnery Of the American
: sailors. Our fire was much more eff
s fective than in preceding lombard
Y ments. The admirars ordnance ex-
n pert had given explicit directions to re-
II duce the powder charges and to elevate
e the guns. so as to shorten the traJec-
= tory and thus to secure a plungfng
ire. AS the shells in the preceding
bormbardments dropped with the all
most straight trajectories Of projectiIes
with full charges. IL was almost fmpos-
Z sible to plant them. They would shoot
into the cir, encircling the batteries.
swing to the high elevation. and fall
!, far over the Notifications. The effect
" Of th. reduced charges was marvellous
In fifteen minutes one western bat
terry was completely wrecked. The
+ | Massachusetts, tore gaping hole in the
.mplacement with thousand pound
q projectile and the Texas dropped q
9 she'll into the powder magazine. The
t explosion wrought terrible havoc. The
: frame was lifted. the sides were blown
n gut and a shower OF debris few in
very direction. One timber. carried
: out of the side of the battery, went
Y tumbling down the hill The loss of life
must have been great.
IL The batteries on the east of Morro
l. we're harder to get at. but the New Or
J. cans cropped the bows OF the New
York to within 500 yards OF shore and
,layed a tattoo with her long eight
nch rifles. hitting them repeatedly.
striking a gun square muzzle on. hit
ng 1t off its trunnions and sending IL
al m tipping somersaults high IN the ar.
la Several times Admiral Sampson Sig
= ,alled the ships temporarily to cease
~ iring, in order to allow the smoke to
ar lear from the batteries. When the or
i'd Ter cameHat $50 to cease firing every
~ gun OF the enemy had been silenced fol
~ en- minutes but as the ships drew of
MS ,ome of the Spanish courage returned
IN md a half dozen shots were fired spite
IN -uly at the Massachusetts, and Oregon
IL 'aIling in their wakes.
Throughout the bombardment TIT
dynamite cruiser Nesuvius and tn
Porter, by direction Of the admiral. la!
outside of the right flank. The steam
~ iaunch of the flagship scurried among
~ ! The ships carrying messages.
At the close Of the action stream
ne 4 multi-colored flags foated from tn
" New York, generally complimenttng TIM
re hips and especially commencing thu
d. work of the Texas and New Orleans
" 'rhe men of the New Orleans raised
ne 7heer, which was passed quickly OF
by 'oA ''p - - i ID
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