The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-09-11
THE GLOUCESTER'S
BRILLIANT WORK.
Continued from First Page.)

| i|OHbihhtu ifbIu IAlhr 1-'+f
|
morning Of July the Third that pufi OF
| smoLc was seen behind MORO. me
American ships to the westward discover
| OF doubt as to whether the smoke came
| from some Of Cefvera's ships or from
| sefne tug CT other small craft IN the har-
| bor A few moments settled all doubt.
| however and no sooner had tho Maria
| Teresa stuck her nose out OF the hsr-
| Dor than the entire American feet was IN
| action. The oregon, Iowa. and Texas
| opened the fire. and II was hot one
| too on came The Spanish shiIs on
! dash for westward. The Indiana was
| very glow. but she steamed Ia past Nor
| 70 and joined In the chase with heaYy
! FIRE Such a belchlnS OF smoke ana oedf-
| crire roar from the big guns was never
! hoard before. The brief intervals were
filled w with n constant firing from the
smaller guns and the rapid IRE machines
| Even The popping OF TIE niue on Eulih
| sending a rain OF small bullets 10 sweep
| the decks where the Spaniards were pour
| Ing hot shot into Us with their ranld l,ie
and automatic guns. could be occeslohaily
heard From the dense clouds OK smoke
rnSeIoning eyervthing n was hard some
times 10 get clear views OF the retreatinS
! enemy. Hut seen the men behind the
runs would get the range and the1 the
| deadly Ere Of the Americans coulS oe eas-
! ilv seen II was not two hours oeiore ~
was clearly seen that AL wac w wi.h
the Maria Teresa. OquenuO' ana Niscas y.
The heaviest part OF the oregon nIe
and that of the Iowa and TEXAS was con.
centrated upon these snils. so0, e ebi.S
the explosions and then the great shi-s
which had been the pride or the osansn
navy were burning on the Deac1 a ~
rorfS on went the chase for the Coon
Tho oregon crowded on LUZ ~, ~ e'r'1 a.
mado the squirt Of her me- het sps.t . az
founded the officers on Inc olneI fHl-,.
The Brooklyn was also N Ao' puI9, 49,
and was receiving n neavy nTe rom ~
eyinr shin. The Colon was nuGeius. VIC
Western coast, and II was not very ignss
| hefore II was seen that the bIo9h.y-
| md OREGON would oNerto ke heI., 10
seemed to he gaining on ner' ana 'nen
fire was SOM thing terrific, ven y Us
know the result Of the chase. II "
n 49, verv long before The last OF us
| squadron was destroyed. ~ o,rcrcrr-P
THE FIGHT Or THE GLOCCbS IN,
.'Rut the part OF the fight In whlch
the Gloucester took the most proIii'ii -n'
part was the battle win the W. 'O-
100 hoat destroyers. Furor and Fluioh'
1rh,,, Iee, IN. harbor last and we're only
sbont four or FIVE hundred yards ap@l l.
VIC Immediately received orders 70 attack
tban IL was a case Of two TO one 4He
Gloucester had absolutely no proLecuon
above tho water line except thin steel
shield around two OF her six pound guns
,rnora uyas no armament. and nothing
mi the thin. unprotected hull 80 built by
NJ Morgan for his pleasure yacht. Her
batteries consisted of one thTee-pound
gun in the bow. two six-pounoefs eSch
on the port and star-board sloes' ana
three three-pOunaers aft. Besioes thete
there were two colt guns that fired small
bullets about the size of those used in the
snringaeld rifles All these Guns were
ranid fire models. Tho six-popnd guns
and the eo-poundsr in the bow used
cannon powder, while the others usea
smokelasI.
"Our opponents. the Furor and Pluton
used each two one-p0und Maxim auto
matte guns. two Contemporaries TWO
six-pounders. besides several TORPEDO
tubes. So you see they had the odas
against US. Those one-pcund automatic
runs fred at the rate Of about 20 or ~
shells per minute. while CUR rsp!d-hre
guns had a capacity OF only four or I'VE
Der minute. During the faint the Glou-
cester nred 800 shots from her rapid
fire guns. and more than 400 shots from
her Colt guns. All this was within the
course Of two hours.
A BOLD DASH.
mo soner had the b1uor ana flutoh
gotten out Of tie karbOr tD2n the Glou-
cester made a bold dash for them. we
had every pound OF steam possiole
crowded on and were under forced oIdlt.
The speed OF the Spanish des-royeIs mao
been reported twenty-elght knots. "hle
that of the Gloucester was only seven
teen. The dsstroyers struck out IN
western course sticking close to shore
and following tho bigger ships Nearer
and nearer came the Gloucester. All our
guns were hard at work and we poured
terrific IRE into them. ! had the seconu
six-pound gun on the port side. The can
non powder made a dense smoke ana
worried me considerably. but soon IL
moved clear away and then the hrlns
was resumed. There was one constant
roar from the time the nght with the
destroyers commenced until we mad them
breaking up on the rocks and sinking 10
the bottom of the sea.
Down on the western coast short
distance beyond the mouth Of the haTbor
is a sharp point jutting out into the wa
ter and a kind Of little bay short dis
lance further on. There is where the
battle was finished. The destroyers tried
20 get beyond that point, but the Giou-
cester closed IN on them and got within
two hundred yards. The Furor was no.
ticed 10 be acting very peculiarly. she
turned around and around in circle
and we thought she was trying 10 use
her torpedOs on US. This was true. sew
cral efforts were made to briug her
could be done along this line ne men
operating them would be swept away by
the deadly fire Of our guns. II was az
forwards learned that the Jurors en-
gines were disabled and her helm was
TANNED, which caused those In command
TO lose control OF her.
KILLED ALL THEIR GUNNERS.
both boats kept up a continual FIRE on
us. We were In exceedingly dangerous
quarters, and why those automatic one
pound guns did not make q sitter or rs
was due 70 ono thins only: whenever
their gunners commenced TO get our
range they keeied over dead. Half .
dozen times a stream OF one-pOund shells
skipped along the water nearer and near
er TO us. We could follow the line. as 10
apprcac hed us by the water spOuting up.
| In every single instance just as II locked
as If their gunners had gotten the range
down they WOulo fan dead on the decks.
Nothing but the best OF luck saved us.
| a perfect shower Of shells burst AL over
and around Us. and ! thought We would
| a dozen OF those onc-pounders INTO us
we would have been sent down 20 tie
| bottom OF the sea. The skill IF our gum
| ners was something remarkable In less
| than an hour and a half after the ncht
commenced We had the Pluton frcakinc
/ Up on the rocks and the FurOr AZ the
| bottom. The Gloucester was practically
! unhurt Both the dcstroyers were on fro
some time before We reached them. and
| were burning from stem 10 stern. When
! they ceased firing we saw they were
| helpless No white flag was run up that
, we could see. but we knew al was over