The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-03-19

wreck of the pluton, few hundred
yards away. and he also told me that
! there was Il wounded sailor from the
| l'luton there With him He asked me if
| | could not get Il litter or something
| from the Wanda So that they could get
| this wounded man off To the Gloucester.
| sent my Goat'S crew back 10 the Wanda
with instructions TO report the circum-
stances To Captain Miller and see if he
could do anything to help the wounded
man. | then climbed over the rocks in
search of the Gloucester officer, and af-
| ter Il great deal of difficulty found him
| near the wreck of the Pluton with a
navy rifle in his hand standing guard
| over an officer of the Pluton. who was
| almost naked and had his feet tied MP
| in burlap to protect them from the
sharp rocks. | have forgotten the name
of the American officer. but he was a
! young Ensign or naval cadet. The
| Spanish officer was very pleasant fell
low but he was most pitiahlc specimen.
! had evidently concluded that he had
been mp against it, sufficiently and he
could not surrender quickly enough. All
| that he wanted then was a boat to get
! him out TO the Gloucester as a prisoner.
| He could speak little English and with
my mongrel Spanish we could understand
| each other very well In the next few
minutes | did some very rapid fire in
| tervicwing with both the American and
| Spanish officer. Then | asked the
| Gloucester officer about the wounded
man. bur he had lost him for the time
| being and the three of us commenced
4 4, e. IL, I, 4
nor Vegetation of any kind whore we
| were. 1t was bluff covered with
rocks. so hot from the Scorching sun
that they blistcred the feet in walking
over them and here and there were de-
pressionS in which few inches of stag
nant water remained frGm the last rain
| fail. We wandered over these rocks
| for fully FIFTEEN Minutes searching for the
wounded man. The heat was almost in
tolerable and all of us were nearly fam
| iShed from thirst. The Spanish officer
gave mp the search aud sank on the
rocks exhausted. The Gloucester officer
and myself finally came upon the wound
cd man lying in u pool of stagnant wa
ter, which had turned red from his
own blood. He was Il common sailor
or fireman from the Pluton and he had
a hole in him large enough to have been
made by a six inch she'll He was
plainly dying though he was conscious
! but he was too weak to speak plainly
and all that | could get from him WAS
"A cry for aqua. aqua twater) and
| | had none TO give him. He kept NOV
| ing his. hands about i'll the pool and
washing the bloody Stagnant water
over his wounds. The Gloucester Off
Ger remained with him and | returned
| to the beach to see if my boat had
come back from the Wanda | found
| it waiting for me aud that Captain
Miller had sent with it a wicker steamer
chair which hnd been used ON our
after deck. This was the nearest APP
preach to n litter that could be found on
| the Wanda. The few CLIQUE stcr sail
| ors who were present said that they
could take care of the wounded man and
would take him to the Gloucester if they
could. as soon as their launch should
come for them.
Accordingly | turned the chair over
| 10 them. got into my boat and returned
TO the Wanda.
II do not know what became of the
wounded Spanish sailor. | never heard
| of him afterwards; but ] believe that
he must have died in The pool where |
left him before the sailors on shore could
| get him in the chair and take him to
| the Gloucester. If he did die in the pool,
which | cannot doubt, owing to his
| frghtful wounds, and the fact that he
| lay in the burning sun 50 long without
| surgical attention, it is not likely that
he found any other tomb for ii was no
| time nor occasion TO be over particular
about n dead man, as dead men We're
rather numerous in that locality then
and the unfortunate sailor whose gan
| gled body was left lying in his own
| blood on the sun-bliStrred rocks of Cuba
shared no worse fate than scores of
others whose bodies saw that day
| floating in the sea. either to become food
| for sharks or to be ground to pieces
when the incoming tide should throw
| them against the rock-bound shore.
when the Gloucester sailors finally
| returned to their own vesSl they UNI
| doubleday left the Wanda's chair on
| the shore. and | believe there is not the
slightest doubt that that chair after
wards became the death couch and then
| the tomb Of Admiral Nilamil. He was
! doubtless lying near rs nj the time
was on shore. but none of the Americans
found him, which was not remarkable
| aS there We're very few Americans on
shore and he could easily have been con
cealcd behind the rocks along the beach
or in the thick brush back of them. If
the Spanish sailors who had been cap
tured knew the Admiral's hiding place
| they did not divuge ii TO the Americans.
| 1t may be that il was by the officers
| own orders that his men had carried
| him to some lonely spot IN the thIckct
whora he preferred to have the spirit
| leave him while he was still free sol
der of Spain rather than die prisoner
| in the hands of his country enemies.
Whether he was placed in the chalr b.
| fore or after he was dead can he told
only by the Spanish sailors who placed
| him there and they only also can tell
whether they left him alone to die or
| waited beside him unt.l after the breath
left his body 1t seems hardly possible
| that General Wood and the other Ameri-
can officers can b. mistaken in their
| Identification of the body. but If they
are there can he but one theory IN re-
| gard to ii and that is that the body
was that of the sailor whom l leff lying
| in the pool and for whom the chair was
sent ashore. He may have blen placed
| =. ,Io ,bo;r ib,. tho American Sa lOrS