The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-19
WHERE SPAIN'S FLAG FELL
sANTIAGO's MORRo AND SAN JUAN
AS THEY NOW APPEAR.
Sears of the Famous Battle Nearly
HeaIcd-Merrimac's Spnrs sim Vis-
ible-The Peak-Lined Harbor.
From the New York Times.

Observation-Disclosures Spnrs StilI Wis
ible-The Peak-Lined Harbor.
From the New York Times.
Santiago, Cuba.-Approaching Santiago
by water from the east one is hushed by
the feeling which historic spots inspire.
The entrance to Guantanamo is passed
long before thereDis any other sign of
habitation. 1t looks like a dent in the
mountain range which borders the south
coast all the way from Cape Masi Noun
tains meet the sea in this region, and the
waves break against precipices of rock,
but at Guantanamo a border of foot hills
appears, which promise roads or trails to
a less lonesome interior. The hope of
reaching such passage to Santiago led
30 the landing of the marines at this
point, and the discovery of easier ways
at Daiquiri and Siboney left the marines
here to hold out against odds while the
! troops went forward for greater work
| The settlement of bleach-out dwellings
looks forsaken enough in peace, and sug-
gests how utterly deselate Ii must have
seemed to the little band who held it when
| rain and fever, as well as an numbered
enemy laid siege to it,
| Sailing past Daiquiri and Siboney one
| is in waters where the troopships how
| cred on the lookout for landing places
Here the soldiers took 10 small boats,
which were rowed inshore in the face of
| a peppering fire from te Spaniards and
with the guns from American warsSps
| laundering behind them-a shivering ex-
| perience even for men loaded with over
coats and blankets on a July day in the
tropics One may easily see the landing
spots along shore and the bridges which
| the naval guns shot partly away in driv-
ing off the enemy. Here the foot hills
| spread further inland than happens east
ward, and from the waters hereabout the
first glimpse is had of Santiago's Moro
Castle white pile crouching against the
! horizon.
Under a canopy of softest blue the ship
plows its way through indigo waters,
shading to purple where cloud shadows
| rest. and to bright emerald over patches
of shoals. Moro grows as it draws near,
as If, reused from sleep, 1t had raised is
grim head to see who approached. Slowly
| its recumbent bulk gets into sitting pos
| ture, and then, as slowly rises until, on
| close approach. it stands overhead its vel
low battlements bulging skyward like
| giant sinews. With its SCARED breast
| blotched with crimson, its olnstretched
arms scanned with thick gray muscles AMI
| its monStrouS frownng brow it stands q
peaks pierce the blue along the coast in
either direction, and stretch landward in
| capacious areas of green, brown and red
| surface to the furthermost limit of space
Where the sea breaks at Morro's feet
great caves appear in the rock, showing
how the Vesuvus tried with her dynamite
guns TO knock from under the fort the
foundations nature built for It. and let the
mass above plunge into the depths. The
passage is so narrow that it would utterly
| have disappeared had this occurred. Hap
| PLY, for arts sake If not for wars the
havoc worked by dynamite but added de-
tail to the finest scenic picture in the An
titles, and to-day from Norro's embras-
ures explosives dropped downward, with
slight aim save that of gravitation, would
bring disaster on the sternest craft that
might try that passage. Along the pas-
sage for 1868 yards the Ranking hills are
thick with fortflcations none massive like
Morro's, and some mere crumb ing ruins
of pale yellow stone, others upheayals of
/ earth where batteries might be masked
( but all so well placed as TO make 1t Sc an
impossible that an enemy could ever pen
citrate.
How the Merrimac got within would be
| not short of marvellous, but for the infinite
capacity for laundering which the Span
iards displayed throughout the war. Tween
~ feet"of red spar and a shorter length
! of implanted yard arm show where tn ,
Merrimac lies, at the inner end of the pas-
] sage, well-past the Nero and her chief
land supports She is not quite out of The
channel, but along one side, the broken
rudder that prevented Hobson from throw
ing her across that passage having let
her so close TO the track of travel that
from the deck of an entering vessel one
may flip coin to the surface under which
she is buried.
The harbor basin begins near where the
Merrimac sank, the water line spreading
Ia E-A1 - ft.
viding a course in that direction for YES
sells of moderate draught around a fisher
mems island, known as Cayo Smith
The main channel continues straight on
ward, with Cayo Smith along the left
bank and a continuation of the hills back
of MORO to the right. Straw-roofed huts
that moderate northern storm might
blow over. showing what is meant by
habitat tons that tropical hurricanes de-
stroy, are strewn plentifuly over Cayo
Smith, where 1000 people live. The main
land bank, steep and thick with stubble
and underground, is dotted here and there
with Spanish blockhouses-small, circular.
f1imsy affairs of wood, fit only for shell
ter from a blazing sun or stiff rain-and
with small dwellings, nearly all occupied
by soldiers. Beyond Cayo Smith the
banks approach each other again. The
water sweeps inland like a widening,
slightly tortuous river with hilly banks
in many shades of green, and uplands
swelling into mountains not far distant
At a turn in the channel about four
miles inland the river energies into on
oval basin and against a hill at the north
ern end of the basin, with the mountain
range stretching beyond until the further
peaks are dim. is the town, a mass OF
glowing color. Blue boats, with yellow
sails and copper-hued occupants, make
lazy Roadway toward various piers or
headlands. Tugs and steam barges bus
tie about. u American fashion, mainly on
government business. The broad thor
oughfare at the water front attests the
towns readiness for business whenever
Il may come along. All the other roads
lead up hill through narrow streets, lined
with blue and yellow houses. Hollow
tube terra Gotta tiled roofs, set of with
the green of court yard trees, complete