The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-11


 time since last I had the felicity of seeing you, but much has happened since that happy day and so perhaps you will forgive me for being your debtor so long.
 You will notice that am on the Yankee off Cuban soil, and to explain matters will state that I enlisted in the United States navy reserves on April 26, and we are now manning the aux Hilary cruiser Yankee, formerly the Fl Norte of the Morgan line running to New Orleans. She is 0 splendid ship about APO feet long mounting battery of IS guns, including ten 5-inch rapid fire, and having a speed of 16 knots an hour.
 After leaving the navy yard we were presented with a set of flags and some patriotic oratory by the Sons of the Revolution" and then headed for Provincetown, Mass. After patrolling the coast for a couple of weeks to get us in fighting trim, we were sent south to join Admiral Sampson's fleet off Santiago de Cuba.
 We arrived on the day that Hobson sank the Merrimac in the channel, and took an active part in the Lombard ment on the 9th of June, off Santiago de Cuba, having the inside position next to the New York, the flagship, and so being the second ship In the fir ing line, and right under the guns of Morro Castle. At one time we were less than 500 yards from the forts. We fired some 450 shells, and were especial ly complimented by the admiral, so you can see what hot stuff we are.
 The following day we were sent to Guantanamo, about thirty miles from Santiago de Cuba, with the Marble head to protect the St Louis while she cut the cable lines. We had pretty warm time of it, fighting the Spanish from 5 D. m. until p. m., when the St. Louis finished cutting the cables and we withdrew, having put gunboat out of business, and quietus on the Spanish gunners to withdraw; inci- dentally we burnt blockhouse, and small town on shore.
 From Santiago de Cuba we were sent to Cienfuegos, the third largest city in Cuba, to capture ship headed for there from Jamaica. We arrived off Cienfuegos about II p. m. on the 18th of June, and immediately started in to have a merry time of it. A Span ish gunboat started out of the harbor to do us, and when we got near enough to suit us, we ran up our bat tie flags, one at each masthead, and let her have our full broadside, being ready cleared for action. She replied with her guns, and for a while the shell and shot were whistling through the air like mosquitoes on the Jersey coast.
 We compelled the Spaniards to turn and run in under the Spanish forts and shore battery, so that we had the plea- sure of engaging all three at the same time. Unfortunately the gun boat sank before we could capture her, as we fol- lowed her into the harbor. One of the exploding shells carried away the shoulder of one of our men, iniuring another slightly. On rejoining the fleet off Santiago we sent our injured men on the hospital ship Solace which is down here. You have probably notic- ed that we have taken Guantanamo and we are using it as coaling station at the present time.
 Our next fight was at Trinidad, the capital of Santa Clara province, where we ran into two Spanish gun boats protected by fort on shore and SCOT ed another victory. The gun boats got away from us as they ran into shallow water where we could not follow them. We do not know whether they sank or not We communicated with the in surgents on shore about five miles from Trinidad, having three of them on board the ship, part of the force of Gomez, and learned that we had killed some thirty Spaniards and wounded large number of others in the en- gagement.
 We have also been to Mole St Nicholas, Hayti, and to several ports on the island of Jamaica, so that we are seeing quite a little of the Carb- bean Sea and of life in the tropics and of the two, I must say that l prefer the gay rialto of New York to the hot times in these other places. We have no time for rsight seeing as we are busy holding up'' ships and fighting
 
 fortune however to be made stroke oar in the Captains Gig, and so get ashore frequently as his orderly.
 Yesterday we captured five Spanish sloops, which were carrying provisions to the city of Havana from the Isle of Pines and set fire to them all, des- troying them, but allowing the crews to go ashore in their small boats, as we did not want to bother with them.
 We shall probaly start for Key West to lay in a stock of ammunition and coal and shall then return to Santiago de Cuba, or wherever the fleet is at that time This living on hard tack and salt water is doubtless the patrio- tic thing, but I think there are $50 men on the ship who would give a months pay to get one square meal at the present time. If we had eggs we could boil them in our drinking water, so have given up dringing, all for my country.
 You can address me U. s. S. Yankee, care of the Brookly navy yard Brook lyn, N. Y.
 Yours very faithfully xxx