The times., 1899-10-01
STORY OF A WITNESS.
a Graphic Description of the Great
Sea Right.

Sea Fight.
Col. George A. Loud, who witnessed the
battle from the revenue cutter Hugh Nc
Culloch tells the following story of the
fight: g-
''on Sunday, Apfil II, the Hugh Mccul-
loeh, a revenue cutter, Capt. Daniel 3.
Hodgson, reported. in accordance with or-
ders received at Singapore. 10 Commodore
George Dewey commanding the Asiatic
squadron at Hongkong We found there
assembled the Olympia, Raleigh, Boston.
Concord, and Petrol; also the supply trans
ports Nanshan and Zafiro. The first five,
or the fighting ships, made a beautiful
stSht grouped together in their snow White
dress, trim and in perfect order, ready for
active service. On the 18th this appear
an2e was suddenly changed In response
to an order issued by the Admiral, all the
lighting ships including The MeCnIoeh,
We're quickly changed to 4 slate or drab,
their fighting color, which gave them
grim and business-like appearance. This
complete change CT color only required
from three to six hours.
The baltimore at Hongkong.
''On Friday, April %, the Bal irnore ar
rived from Yokohama. ana in forty-eigh.
hours was docked, bottom seraped and re-
TPired, panied, coaled, aud Trovisioned,
and read, Tor further service 1t was re-
markabie cespazeh, but a declaration OF
war was expected every moment, Captain
L3er did not lose an instant, and his snp
was scene of busy, bustl.ng life, sur
rounded by swarm of coal junks, water
boats, provision junks, and sampans all
pouring their loads aboard the Baltimore,
the painting going on at the same time
The Squadron Lenyes HongkonE.
The squadron was ordered to leave
Hongkong Harbor Sunday, April "a, the
English Colonial Secretary, Mr.. Joseph
Chamberlain, stating that a state of war
existed between the United States and
! Spain, to which Commodore Dewey replied
| that he would leave the harbor, as request
! ed although he had as yet received no
news from his country that war existed.
The Boston, Concord, Petrel MeCulloch,
Nanshan. and Zaffro left Hongkong Harbor
at p. m. Sunday the Olympia, Baltimore.
and Raleigh following at 10 a. m. Monday,
! to reassemble at Mrs Bay, thirty miles
distant. The departure of our feet made
no little stir at Honglong. the sympathy
| Of the English there being with As
! the Olympia, cn which the writer happened
| to be temporarily, passed the English hos
! pital ships. they gave us three hearty
! cheers, which were unexpected. but which
i were most heartily returned. Three steam
launches filled with enthusiastic Americans
! followed US down the iiarbor, waving flags
and wishing us God-speed. Owing to our
! being Obliged to wait for the arrival of Mr..
/ Williams, our Consul at Manila, we did
/ net get away from Mrs Bay until Wednes-
! day, April 27. The Consul arrived a: IL
/ a WeHnpsIax, nd al nr<-,l mir,
at once signaleJs to come OF bosrd the
| flagship. Orders then came by signal, All
ships prepare to leave anchorage at 2 p.
M We were off promptly to the minute,
the Olympia leading, her band sending out
/ the inspiring strains lof the 'El Captain
march. The order of squadron forma-
tion was in two parallel lines, the Olym-
pia, Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel Concord
and Boston in the order given; and the
McCulloch, abreast ana half mile distant
from the Olympia, followed by her wards
the Nanshan and the Zafiro The purchase
of these last two SHIPS by Admiral Dewey
1 just before the declaration of war was a
shrewd and WELL timed move The Nam
shan had on b1ard 5000 tons of coal, and
| the zafiro 600 tons additional, besides six
months stores for the deet.
Point BoIfnao Sighted.
! Iue fO5dS6 Ol Tue meet, WHICH presented
a beautiful sight, was uneventful, and we
were off Point Bolinao. on the Island of
Luzon, the largest of the Philippine group
| at daybreak, Saturday morning April 30
| At this point there is cable landing
station, from which advice of our coming
| as we expected, and as we afterward
/ learned. was telegraphed to Manila To
economize coal we were. as usual, steam
| ing at eight knots per hour. but at this
point the Admiral ordered the Concord
and Boston ahead at full speed to re-
connoiter Subig Bay, and by II o'clock
| they were out of sight ahead, and at 10
o'clock the Baltimore was also sent ahead
at full speed to assist the Concord and
Boston, if necessary, should the enemy's
fleet be found in force. as was quite proba-
BILE. in Subig Bay.
Looking for the Enemy.
"At D. m the entire feet was in Subig
Bay, but none of the enemy was found
| there, and our commanders were called
on board the Olympia for final orders. At
p. IN. we were off again, steaming at
six knots per hour, the Admirals orders
being to pass the Corregidor forts, forty
miles farther on, at midnight The
squadron formation was changed, the sec
ond line lead by the McCulloch falling
| in behind the Boston, which continued to
occupy the last place in the first line.
| No exposed lights were permitted on any
| of the ships except a hooded stern light
on each to guide the following ship, and
we went forward. like silent spectres, to-
ward the dangerous pass guarded by forts
and supposed to be planted with mines
| and torpedoes.
| The First Shot Fired.
"Cerregidor Island is at the entrance to
Manila Bay and thirty miles distant from
the city of Manila. On one side of the
island the pass, or channel, is one mile in
| width, and on the other side five miles
The crews were all called to quarters at
II o'clock. AS we passed by the island
| at midnight, steering toward the wide
| channel, we saw rockets shooting skyward
from the summit of Cerregidor, and an
| sWerng rockets from the mainland oppo-
| SITE and also signal lights flashing along
| the shore, and we feared we were discov-
| cred and in for a serious fight before we
could gain entrance into the bay. We con-
| tinued, however, silently forward up to the
| contre Of the channel, and all the six fight
ing ships were past the fort. but by this
| time exposing their Stern lights TO the enc
my as well as to- the following ships AS
the McCulloch arrived opposite the fort
on the mainland (El Fralle battery. on a
| small island) binding flash showed from
| there in the darkness, and we heard the
scream Of a shot near US. and the resound-
! ing report of heavy gun. 1t showed that
! we were at last discovered. second and
a third shot were fired by the fort and an
| swered by three shots from the 6-pound
| rifles and two from tiie guns of the Con-
cord and the Boston, which seemed to sat
| isfy the fort, for we heard and saw no