Omaha daily bee., 1899-04-30

big headland that forms the northern side
OF Mrs bay looked nat and purplish blue"
In the morning papers OF April % this
brlet dispatch appeared: THE American
heet, headed by the flagship Olympia. sailed
at 2 o'clock this "wednesday afternoon direct
Tor Manila" The succeeding three days were
days Of anxiety for the American people.
Few were acquainted with the naval strength
of the enemy. The American fleet was on
the high seas, and in event Of defeat the
nearest friendly port, Honolulu, was 1000
miles away. Seeking the enemy in its
chosen position, supported by land batteries
and in unfamiliar waters, gave the enter
prise a hazardous flavor at long range. But
beneath the natural anxiety of the people
was rock-rooted confidence in American sea-
manship and American craftsmanship. 1t
was only necessary to recall the thrilling
triumphs Of Jones, Barry, Perry, Decatur,
Stewart, Farragut and Porter to Danish
gloomy thoughts. Dewey was trained under
Farragut, and the pupil proved worthy Of
the teacher.
The first intimation of what struck the
Spanish feet came from Lisbon late on the
afternoon Of May l. The dispatch read:
Reliable news received here that Spanish
fleet completely destroyed off Cavlte."
Popular eagerness for confirmation had to
be restrained until the Spanish authorities
at Manila consented to the use of the cable
by American correspondents, and on May 2
the country received the astounding news
in detail.
The First shot Fired.
I'VE held our last consultation at the
dinner hour the night before the fight" re-
lated Captain Coghlan of the Raleigh, in a
speech in New York, land the admiral said
that ua - noi,, a., 4bat pIobt I don't
think any of us ate much dinner. We went
in in a calm sea, although we were not so
calm ourselves. About midnight we became
a little anxious, because we had arrived at
a point where we had been informed there
were lots of torpedoes anchored for us.
Now, the torpedo Is all very we'll in the
storehouse, but They've bad things to have
floating around a ship. I've shot SOM my
self and they sometimes show an inclination
to turn around and come back after you've
started them. They're a loving sort of an
animal and seem to hate to leave you. But
when we got to the entrance and the Olym-
pia went through without being blown up
VIC felt better; we felt positively brave
when the Baltimore went through all right,
and were ready to go right through a grave
yard ourselves then. You see the men at
the batteries were sleeping some four miles
away that night and they didn't get to their
posts until the poor old Raleigh came along.
l saw a flash, and turning to an officer l
said: Hello, what's that?' He told me
that was the second time he had noticed
1t, and asked If he should fire. l told him
not to, as it was probably our friends, the
insurgents, signalling to us, but when a shot
came along a moment later l knew better.
Then a second shot came, and it was in
response to this that the Raleigh fired her
first gun. 1t was the first shot fired by an
American ship at Manila, and the man who
fired 1t was Ensign Provost Balm. l tell
you we were all on the qui vive that night;
our orders were to go in and anchor, eat
breakfast at daylight, and wipe the Spanish
fleet off the face Of the earth; but in the
darkness we overran our reckoning, and at
daylight we found ourselves right under the
batteries of Manila