The Lamar register., 1898-07-06

remain aud blow up hts own ships In
| thu harbor OF the beleaguered city.
Cerrera's dag was hidden for time
Us he lied westward. his port broad
side emitting flashes and tongues OF
| flames which marked ais progress
For the next five minutes be ran a
gauntlet such as no ship ever run In
history. and when his conSorts wcr.
bnrning and he surrendered his ship
he stiil had gun or two capable of
action
The Indiana feii on the oluenda.
paying no hes-d to the Morro battery.
whose gunnerS tried hard 10 protect
the cruiser as she moved 10 the west
ward. The Iowa let Cs.rvrra 20 on
into the hands OF the Oregon. Nas~a-
chuSetts and Rrooklyn. and then turn.
ID With The Texas To pound the
oqneRdo-
Then every American ship WAS IN
action and smoke shrpu,is,i the coas;
and blsw laEily. revealing esyseTs
about the Shirs where the spanish
shells from tho cruisers aud the Moro
tore the wafer. A ship moved from
she hartor. II was the yizrtya com.
ing at fun spsAed. smoke curling over
her how as she took hcr course 80 the
westward and brought ber guns Into
play.
Behind her came the fntaata Maria
TsFrst aud Spain's two much drSsadc,i
torpedo boat des;rpyerS. perhaps $40
yards apart The Maria Teresa was
received with n terrific sinFui Of striir
Smashed aud on firs,. sha was besrhest
clase 20 the Morre
The Iowa sicaEfs-i foF titie for
ward with the olasndo. and the In
diana did the same with the NizcSya.
bat a. ihe hzht thus moved westward
Il ls-camc clear that the Amerlcans
wcrr willing that the spanish ships
should run far enough from Morro to
lose the AID OF the guns there and Ia
twenty minutes this wns dome.
This was hit af strategy which
WAS developed uii.leF tirss, and sEbieh
WIS adopted AT onsrr by all the Amer
lean ships without orsierss In fact. the
smoke often made Il Impossible 20 ~ec
the signals uh hii-h CumunasinFc Sehl~y
WIS making from thr Rrcokiyn. ~
tremendous was the nfinz all along The
line. Both the ouuensio ana Sizcaya
were sometimes within \ thousa nj
yards OF the Indiana. The rnaSe var.
led. but rs rule Il was shcrt and
extremely deHdiy: nevertheless the
hizh sfeed and thick arfaar of their
class stood the Spauish IN good stead
as they followed In thv path u honor
marked out by ADMIRAL Cegvcra
ThreS-arnTier- Of an hour after 'hs
action began Il was evident the span
ish had many guns disabled and
would have 10 suTueuder. Therv were
terrible casualties ON the enemy's
ships
As the smoke cleared a ilttie one
could eee the spanish ragsAip. her
port broadSlde SI,nntinz smoke. st.ll
holding on 10 the westward. The Tex
as and Massachusetts Joined the la.
diana and the Iowa. The oqucndo and
tho Sizeaya huEsssl the shpre and
steamed after CsTyeTE, pledged 10 so
with him 10 defeat and death.
Shells burst on the dcck Of the Span.
Ish cruisers at short intervals Often
they were on firp. but again and again
they eStinguished the flames and nsn-
ned again and again the guns from
which they had been driven.
The green coast ON their siarboard
smoked with the shells which new
over, and crashing sounds heard amid
the thunder OF great rifles told Of arm
or piercing shells driven into and
through their protected sides.
Two destroyers coming on after the
ylzcaya were headed OF and perfor.H
aied by the guns Of the Indiana and
Gloucester They ran upon the shore
and blew up.
The New York was six miles away
when the destroycrs saw her. The
Morro numbered at Sampson as he
came within range. but the admiral
never needed. seeing only In the dis
tanee the dim forms OF the yizeayn
and oquendo. hopeiessly hemmed in
by circle OF fire, and IN the fore
ground the Gloucester fighting two
destroyers al short range.
The Spanish admiral was lost In
smoke to the westward, when. AZ
quarter before eleven o'clock. the
vizcayn hclsted n white flag. This
was followed by the Oquendo's go-
ing ashore with flames bursting from
her decks
The Iowa, Indiana, Texas and Mas
snchusetts ceased firing. the Massa-
chusetts going NJ once to join the or
egon and the Brooklyn in pounding
up and smashing Ceryera's ship.
Once headed off, the Oquendo
turned into a small bay four or FIVE
miles west Of Santiago. where she
lay close TO land.
With an everSwealSening broadside
the yizcaya followed. first heading
out as II to break through the line OF
battle. The Indiana and Iowa cloyed
ia and tbpir formation made ber %