The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-05-15

gums aud themselves By t.N everything
was in readiness Tor the battle 90 begin
the second engagement ~ the war AZ
li5 ,amu the rall lo quarters and in'
aMntly every man WAS at his post ana
ready ana eager io strike blow IN
aipnrmrnt for the Maine The object of
tbc attack lay n plain Wow, s,raiEh,
ahead Co the south. The forts and bat
t,rlrs nf Ran Juan do Porto Rico are on
ihr rpr1l reef guarding ihr entrance 90
tho har0pr % WAS a glorious morning,
tho -kS uurloudcd the nir cool and brisk
4 long heavy swell rolled toward the
shore ana broke against the reef whose
forts seemed Go boz aalocp To mark the
line ~ battle the Detroit and the Waum.
ptuiuck steamed routhWard. the Detroit
Goo tho eastward until she was opposite
the Naltrru the Waumpauiurk 90 the
westward unul she was able 90 anchor
her smaii boat 90 ton fAlhom7 ~ water.
Just out ~ range of the great fort Of
2au Juan MORO which rises on the
hlu at the rnd ~ tho eastern arm Of
the harhor Morfu OF course, was 90 De
the center ~ attack In it wcru the
seven G.inch guns which Spain sent over
ss acon ns the var became certain and
which had been hastily mounted and man.
ned with the best Eunners In the Coz
lnnnl army Soon after the Detroit and
wAumpauluck were placed Admiral
aampsnn'u column of floating forIrcsHos
and batteries began 10 move upon the
auc, and seeming Nccplng tnrlrrssea. In
the VAN was the Iowa the flagship with
tho batllrrry of the navy streaming IN
brilliant colnrrd naEs from her mast,
"Rcmemhrr the Malnc'"
Next ramc the huge Indiana, of such
enormous bulk that she rode almost
steady even upon ,ha, heavy sea. Then
followed the New York ar formidable as
"a hattlrrhIp then tho lov.lNIug monitors
lAmphitrltc and Terror They bore
btrnigh, for the shore IN single nle.
LONG hrforr the flagship was in range
/ there came Hash cloud of smoke. a
roar and % shell from the wallis or Morro
Tho she'll fcl far short Tho roar dicd
away and Tor l5 minutes the scene was
as peaceful AZ before.
Suddenly the Iowa turned sharply To
/ tho east She came around peacefully
until her starboard battery WAS pointing
| full ni MORO ono Of her great i3.incf
gums burst Into flame and a she'd sailed
I toward Morrn II fcll short, but the re-
| Nponrc Cnmc-a roar from all the batter
les and forts along the shore. 4 trc'
mcndous burst NJ sound and smoke an,
flame. shower or shells that wasted
thcmnclvcs In the sea So Wild was th'
vnllcy that even had the Iowa been II
range none of tho shots would have hi
her The Iowa was now nearer and th'
entire line ~ wRrshlps was In position
to attack tho Spanish shore line Each
ship was now firing and each shore gur
was answering, nut while the Spanish
aim was Wild, the American gunners nrcd
with the calmncss and precision ~ eX'
Ipcrcncc In target practice The fleet was
soon cnvclnpcd In smoke and also th'
shore, only outlines could he made out
but II was apparent that while the span
lsh shells issued from the smoke ot th
shore to fall into the sea, the American
shells rushed from the fleets envelope o
smoke to hurry themselves In the smok
on shore And now and then as III,
wind drIftcd the thick grny curtain asld
Il could be seen that the American ship
were unniurcd and that on shore the lin'
Of tortlhc0tons that had been unhrokcn
was ruined In many places. When III,
Iowa came up to the Wnumpuutuck
isakcboat she turned and came bach
lagan across the line OF nrc, The Zee
was now nearer and the Spanish sheIl
fell around the ships Some s,rucl
against the armor ot the hattlcship-hil
G.Inch shclls-hut they bounded on, leav
Ing hardly dent behind, one Spans
she'll struck a boat on the Iowa posse
through II and entered the superstruc
turc, scattering spntcrs In every dircc
ton Three men were injured.
Admiral Sampson and Captain Evan
were on the lower bridge and narrowl
escaped the flying fragments, In all IN
Iowa was hit nine times,
Later she'll burst on the New Norl
killing one man, miuring another Sc
vcrcly and several slightly
At Z o'clock the day had become fur
= ously hot, so that men were fointlng b,
: low the decks, and at the guns the gul
ncrs were streaming sweat as no ma
ever swcats even In the hot room OF
a Turkish bath. one man, gunner's ma
y ON the Amphitritc was overcome al
h died In a few hours But the battle wei
l. on The fleet was now steamlng aero
q the fortified front Of the island for q
d third time. The firing from the ships WI
h unabatod but many of the Spanish gu
y were sllenced and while the shower
IL shells seemed az thick as ever, the thl
ncr cloud of smoke, the leapng nam
from burning houses close to the sho
hut behind the fortihcauons made I
Americans know their work was not
n vain as the frenzed firing of the spa
lards In the old part Of the town
In San Juan adjoining the fortitlcatlo
OF whole blocks were blazing, The swelli
f. sea made It difficult for the Americans
re connne their fire to the batteries, Ma
lip of the shells flew over and burst amo
as the ancient buildings from which
Mr. population had fed at dawn So hel