Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-06-06

csbannelS EnJrduC0- i no AK
;stv of the Crews of All the Ships
rn+ense-How the Forlorn Hope
set Out
santiago de Cuba, via Port Antonio.
lung 4-lDelayed in transmission.)-
The full moon had disappeared behind
HACK cloud bank in the west, leav-
;,g only a gray mark of heaving wa
.r. and the dim outline of the Cuban
ans showing against the unstarred sky
.bs watchers on board the chips of
aest Il was that calm hour before
3.rn when life is at its lowest ebb and
.La Tide runs out, carrying the lives Of
MORALS with it.
Slowly the seconds of fate licked on,
and for an hour three thousand strained
syes stroye to pierce the deep veil OF
Suddenly several blood red tongues
- Aama shot down from the rocky
srinence on which MORO Castle is sit
nated They were followed by jets and
.-reams of fire from the batteries OPP
oos;fe The Merrimac had reached the
snfrance of the harbOr. She must have
nssspd so close that stone lOOSened
from the frowning parapet OF the cas-
fe would have fallen on her deck
Tnro the murderous hail showered
down on her, the Merrimac passed and
moved On full quarter of mile en-
fIaded from sides, rear and front with
n'unging fire from the batteries that
surrounded her.
IT SEEMS A MIRACLE
that her apparently riddled hull could
have reached the goal.
After five minutes the firing ceased
and all Lecame dark again.
Then. among the watchers of the
feet, rose the question as to whether
those five minutes Of murder had left
grief-stricken mothers or widows or
orphans
in this latitude dawn is very brief
md day comes like a flare in the east.
When the curtain of the night was at
last lifted. the light disclosed tiny
steam launch riding the waves at the
very throat of the entrance of the har-
Dor. In an instant the guns Of the
shore batteries were turned upon her,
and with a last, lingering, vain look
for the crew of the Merrimac, Ensign
Powell headed his launch close along
shore to the westward. In this lay sal
yati0n The guns of the batteries to
the westward could not be depressed
enough to hit the little launch and the
OIL 10 hpa
upon her But the Spaniards, never
theless, fred wildly, overshoOting the
launch until the latter was fully two
miles up the coast.
u to the time the Associated Press
dispatch boat left the fleet this morn
ing the Admiral had not given any or
ders for the Commandment of Santiago
de Cubas forts, but
THE SPIRIT OF REVENGE
semed to hang over the fleet and by
this time MORO Castle and the Span
lsa batteries may be in ruins.
The American sailors would think it
Nribution or justice if part of the
score owed by Spain was wiped out at
Santiago de Cuba, where twenty-seven
yeas ago, thirty-nine Americans of
the Nirginus, were shot to death.
knowing Hobson's desperate plan in
the harbor, the dispatch boat Dauntless
look up position at sunset opposite
Inc narrow harbor entrance and just
outside the line of the blockading ships.
Now and then signal light of the
1eet winked ard was answered by an
6Aer up or down the coast. Then
mole darkness, silence ana waiting.
Inc centre of interest, the moon, re-
NAMED black.
knowing that one tentative plan was
OI the fleet to chase the Merrimac in
as pseudo blockade runner, using
Qank cartridges on her and search
nights to point out to Hobson the har-
Dor entrance, every one waited for this
pNotechnical display. But it did not
-ome Hobson had apparently chosen
Inc less spectacular but equally desper-
ale plan Of quietly stalking the forts
dlohe and in darkness.
Back cloud banks to the westward
+da hidden the moon for two hours be-
ioFe It's setting, depriving Hobson of
Ills cwn wish for just a bit of light
guns
Fate could
SCARCELY HAVE BEEN HARDER.
AZ 'nFee the moon showed for a few mo-
'7DtS blood red, in a hands breadth
1V''1S OF the clouds just on the horizon,
N.a 'neh 1t was eXtinguished in the sea.
100 late said every one. He will
'p nave time to run in by that
almost at the same moment dawn broke
- '1e east as quietly at night had fallen
d. previous evening. To the eastward,
N.Y. where the Merrimac lay last night,
.,leq up the black shadow of vessel.
remark
the collier lay, spread in the
a,"efn brilliancy Morros deep red
~, showed against the blue hills and
pal clouds.
,.., MY a dazzling flash, like a hello
igla '4y leaped from the battlements,
NH. 'D ny a slow spreading cloud of
fsr N"ioAe. There was no report. but
eao.5 me coast a white jet of spray
ssl from the sea. The battleships were
sSsSes were trained where the Merri-
Yaa 'N oeen. She was gone. The Vixen
'aa ben mistaken for her in the uncer-
lion mig light. Glasses swept the no.
sb e"rehing for the Merrimac
ma MAS nowhere visible. Bright flashes
Np. o"lng smoke rose from point to
sts5 "uere the harbor batteries were To-
son., me Spaniards were awake. sure
IN ana buzzing like an upset hive.
Is soh has run in on them and fooled
WI was said. but" it was added,