Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-13
that Admiral Cervera complied with the
wishes Of his government?
0GO Ont tn Death.O


'The fleet received definite orders from
the captain general to leave the harbor,
which. in spite of the admirars protests.
were reiterated. After that what was to
be done? Only one thing. Go out to death,
| as, indeed, they did, those heroes, for they
deserve no other name. calm and serene.
Calm and serene they We're and / shall
repent it always, for only by men in that
condition can ships be Unanswered, without
any of them running aground, in so dan
gerous and narrow a channel. The sortie
of these ships, under the circumstances in
which it was effected, l do not hesitate to
call the greatest act of valor, fearlessness,
skill. intelligence and practical experience
IN seamanship that can be conceived. This
statement is borne out by the officers of
the English corvette Alert and the Austrian
cruiser Maria Teresa, who, it may be said,
witnessed the battle.
But there is much more to be added in
order to explain what happened in the bat
Tie at Santiago, the greater part of which
is not known to the people in Spain.
Il have already said that the Colon the
only really protected ship of the four. did
not have her turret guns. Of the Hem.
guns of the Teresa, Oquendo and Vizcaya
which are the ones that did most of the
firing, six had been declared useless; and,
while the Teresa could change hers, the
Oquendo and Vizcaya could not do so, and
had to fight, the 1ormer with one the lat
ter with two useless guns.
Ships in BAD Shape.
Moreover, the supply of ammunition for
the ships was inadequate. the Teresa hav-
ing seventy useless charges. The greater
part OF the primers were no good and con-
sequentiy the guns did not go off; the
preech plugs were imperfect, so that after
the second or third shot they no longer
cioseo' me hrig pms blew out, and from
,ii',iiS " me SUI Hi'ors nave learned that
their own pieces.
The majority of the shells did not have
the required diameter, and in the Maria
Teresa it so happened that seven had to he
thrown aside before one good one could be
found.
After what / have written can the re-
suit of the battle of Santiago he wondered
at? Certainly not The only thing tbat
may appear strange is that under such
conditions feet should have heen sent
out to the scene of war
Lieutenant Tejeiro comnares the hattie
OF Santiago to the one of -rrafaIcor IN ISo-
He says: Al i'''
we are nroua Of +ho s;,.o..,,, &c ,r.oe,,
gar on account of the bnraiS,, v vi n,,,.
navy showed Tba - oi e q " mn oui
Cuba is much more aIorious to nc 80 H.,
the one of 1895. In the latter battle 80
,,t,tu % shlps OF ID, 80 and 12O guns fought
GA guns In The hattia Of Santio ~ al" ,'i,,
ships IF the Pluton and Juror NAV he
called such) had to fight against twenty
Spanish Merrimac.
According to Lieut.. Tejeiro, the Reina
Mercedes was sunk by its own crew. This
was done in order 10 close the mouth of the
harbor which had been Ieft omen b., The
removal Of six torne1oas AN ~ -.
and tho 1,aI,,ob1, -, - 'iiS "0oiiuet
an INC Naiua"ie papers and instruments
were removed from the doomed ship to the
steamer MEXICO
The Mercedes left the harbor at baIf-nast
Iiu',h on me hisht OF July t. She was
n.biob utsooeeieu by the American fleet,
Ias- :, -, SCI d terIlnc hre. NeVerthe-
AZ Inc Ge.,1rat auti r' thg SNIP went down
Shot fror ,7it 7h no 'ru pIace. Chlof' unateiy
80 - otii .he enemy severed one of her
ii' on 'ta ciidlhs, anu she swung around to
ing bar s aeaHiLis ehe port open and MAX
t th teh sacllice useless one However,
f,,, f h,i,, VI .iie HtrceGeS prevented her
Tha a,I.tS. III ii ,tis ndlius OF the enemy.
Of III uetali the battles
tuer,r-fo,,r Iii anu can Juan IN chapter
b; 80 u iluei TIE ud'e OF july IN
a. ~ Sas -
n,,Stetr, er;,,nr .iie SpuilGs OF cannon and
"a On III ING were heard IN the direction
..r,,,
mas captiVe palioon, from
"llien II 10 oose, Wig our movements The
f>'iie mean meet mas opened ire. The ma
Joii's u 'ie proJectles clear the city.
- v - IL iN'ii'eu III inc CITY,
lie" without exploding. A 20-centimeter
shell, which fell In the house of the chief
pilot of the harbor. did NOT exnIoda Saw
eraI nersons have baa,, ,,o,,,as -, =
houses injured rrbe sbins 49, anu Liany
from Aeuadoras 90 H. 81 "iiI " ar iiiiiIs
oregon The streats Of H. -, vi anu .ne
All deseriaI occasfnpoiI, wv IL ar lieaiIS
,oluntearS ara Soo, :s eSuiaiS anu
MANY shells arc faIiips in ~ 20 ',,eir posts.
al II o'c1ork The fro FL 80 naS .,.
ceased i 'iic 'hips
sAt - o,clooL . +r.n,o,,,.,.. e.,,,.- -
heard in tho direction of ~ 800 M ii,s ~" as
The firing Of cannon ~ n 80 al LOU
al :; o,cloci iba fr;n,, 49, u, H.,
lonred ,1,r IN ~ ft, I ti, d pro,
oc.3si,noIi, b. Ii'.; -, ttS ny Noii.S couli
the firinar Joono, IL u1'ieu' al cloch
al r. o,IoaI, ~ .
ro,t " ,t IN tiie lorhlhS ,ne larger
~ ~ VI ny Nv eieuiis ioice' Which Is IN
Uilr. - " zen. .ohdlter' ana "nich. at the
Nh. 'oNeee estiiiate NUMBERS l,'cto men.
WIN liIany .iousrh aTuliery pieces. not
Cou ~, me ihsuISehts' attacked our lines
- "a S"iieS. "hitl were ueiehaeu Dy Cen
Nara de Key with go men and two field
prs. ana san Juan was occupied by 30
soiuleFs.
"Fought With Admirable Canrn-c-