El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-08-09

quite a number of big she'll that had
not exploded were gathered up and put
together by the Spsniards. The
majority of the shell landed in earth
works just below the crest of the hill,
showing that Americans fired we'll,
but outside of blowing up the earth
there was no result.
When the projectiles hit any build
ing they created great havoc and
traces of many were visible on the
Moro and some of the officers quar-
tiers. where immense gaping holes
were torn in the stone work. The
drawbridge was shot away and one
tower was crumblipg to pieces from
the effects of q thirteen-inch shell
from the Oregon.
Coming down from Moro. which at
the best is crumbling. dirty ruin,
with no touch of the modern upon it,
the party stopped at the Estrella and
Catalina batteries, which had been
east. It was discovered that Catalina
was q crumbling ruin without gun,
and that Estrella, an Old-time brick
fort, had two mortars, only one
of which was fully in place. A large
amount of ammunition, however, filled
q house in this battery. A large she'll
bad struck tie rock just above this
place and had knocked down big Sec
ton that almost filled the magazine
and otherwise wrecked the building.
The second day was devoted to An iu-
spection of the western battery, which
had mainly been attended to by the
Brooklyn. Texas and Vixen. While
these ships did no more damage to the
earthwOrks on the west than did the
other ships on the east, it was quite ap-
parent where the vigorous answers
came from, one of which hit and killed
man on the Texas and wounded many
\ and kept up fusillade against the
Brooklyn. The esrthworks on this bat
terry are very similar to those on the
east, but there were two 6-inch and four
ten-inch Hontoria rifles with breech-
loading mechanism and steel shields.
These guns are quick-fire and easily
trained and very formidable. They are
supposed to be part of the main battery
of the Reina Mercedes. There were
also two large mortars similar to those
on the eastern battery. There were
over 800 rounds of ammunition for the
big modern guns.
Just below this battery on the hill
side was twelve-pounder rapid-fire
gun with plenty of ammunition for it.
Punta Gorda, directly to the north of
this western battery, had two large
ship guns which, in addition to firing
in the harbor, could fire directly over
the western battery at the ships.
Going down the side of the hill to-
wards the bay, q newly made cemetery
was found, enclosed in a barbed wire
fence and with a dozen or more newly
made graves in it, surmounted by q
la rye black wooden cross. The graves
we're evidently those of sailors killed
on the Mercedes.
In every war for the last two cen.
tur les it has been demonstrated thai
shil Vs. guns cannot effectually destroy
cart b works unless in conjunction with
an tTmed land force. Three of the
four ombsrdments of the land bat
teries on Santiago heights took place
before the army came, and, even il
successful, would not have forced al
opening, as long as the mines were IL
the hsr.bor.
A letter found by one of the officers
in q tent near the western battery says
that the order when the ships began t(
fire was to get in the trenches and stay
there. The shooting at the western
battery was exceptionally good, Capt
Philips twelve-inch shell and the
Brooklyn's eight inch being much il
evidence on the hilltop.