The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-02-01

ment of the Morro on May 81 On July
the armament was increased by the addi-
tion of two muZZle-loading howitZers. On
the Socapa battery the total armament on
May Is was two S-centimetre muzzle-load
ers. To these were added later one 16
centimetre Hontoria naval gun and two
muzzle-l loading howitzers.
On the Punto Gorda battery there were
two 15-centimetre Hontoria howitZers.
muzzle leaders. On June there was
added 16-centimetre Hontoria naval gun.
Some of these old muzZle-loaders were OF
ancient pattern. The naval guns were
added to the defences from the cruiser
Reina Mercedes. after the arrival of Ger
vera's squadron.
Snmpson's Terrible "Morro."
The German commander speaks of MORO
Castle proper as IAN old fort consisting OF
heavy masonry standing close to the
waters edge east of the harbor's entrance,
which was not armed at all. 1t was used
as barracks for the Spanish garrison.
The outside walls had suffered consdera-
bly, from the bombardment. The upper
story had been completely destroyed, and
in different places pieces had been shot
away The inner walls showed large and
small shot holes, made by shells of differ
ent caibres, the largest of thirty cent?
metres"
Commander Jacobsen thus speaks OF
some of the antique cannon which held
Admiral Sampson at bay SO long: "TGe
five 16-centimetre Lluzzle-loaders are
bronZed guns dating from the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. One of these
bore the dates 1868, 17lS, 1863. All the
guns were adapted TO be trained directly.
Near some of the guns when the Amer
leans took possession. cartridges were iy-
In ahn fay f.a nf ha iuf14
wing gun and a little to the rear was an
uncovered pile of projectiles for the 10
centimetre guns. They were iron p.ojec-
tiles. with centring studs. The point,
which was spherical in shape, contained
perforation for the fuse. which had been
stopped up with cotton waste The fuses
themselves could net be found. Near this
pile of projectiles stood several cartridge
boxes. Judging from the cartridge bag
material lying about and the powder scat
tered around, it may be assumed that the
cartridges were being made right there.
In summing up the final results of the
numerous bombardments of the defences
OF Santiago, Commander Jacobsen says
that but one gun was placed out of action
in the Morro and in the Socapa batteries
The loss of human life was "a few killed
and wounded"
Punta Gordu Ininjured.
"Punta Gorda battery" he adds, the
only important position in Il question in
forcing a harbor entrance, remained unin-
jured. | am unable to state the total
number OF projectiles which the American
ships fired in order TO attain this modest
result. In any event, the number is out
of proportion to the result, and has proved
once more a fact well established by the
history of naval wars namely. that coast
extremely n
place out of action even with an eXpendi-
ture of large quantities of ammunition"
The German commander relates an
amusing incident which occurred during
the bombardment of the Morro battery at
night. The Spanish proiectile aimed at
enc American vessel missed the target but
struck the battieshp Iowa, which was
lying quite a distance away in the dark
Referring TO this he says: But what
more could be expected OF the kind CT
guns the Spanish had at their disposal?
1t must surely have given the American
officers who took charge of the battery Il
slight shock when they saw the dates
1868 HIS, etc. on the guns which they
had been fighting Part of the medieval
lowitzers still had charges in them when
the American officers took possession of
The MORO battery. He, therefore decided
TO fire them, which gave him an OppOr-
tunity of establishing the fact that even
with the greatest elevation their range
was only 500 yards. One thousand metres
was not a bad performance for guns of
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
No wonder that the Spanish could not
reach the hostile ships with these guns.
This Will also explain why the Spanish
garrisons. seeing the uselessness of their
efforts. often stopped firing during the
bombardment, and withdrew to the
trenches. 1t was on these occasions that
the newspaper reports stated that the
battery had been silenced, when as a mat
ter of fact, they were uninjured and in
condition to resume their unbloody work
at any time.
Foolish Waste of Powder.
"But now, another question, Did the
American fleet really allow itself to be
deceived by these batteries? In the be-