The age-herald., 1900-02-26

preparations in Spain prior to the war, and also to condemnfng the political party in Spain which was responsible for offering up the crippled squadron as a sacrifice on the altar of an historic Ideal. All this has been covered more fully in Admiral Ger vera's report.
 The vital section of the narrative begins with the exodus of the Spanish squadron from Santiago harbor. Captain Concas says in accordance with previous instructions the Teresa was headed toward the Brooklyn hoping to ram her. This was frustrated by the Brooklyn's frequently discussed Hoop" ito starboard, which Concas says brought the Texas and the Iowa between her and the Teresa"
 this point reads:
 "The turn was made to starboard though it would seem reasonable for 1t to have been made to port"
 There Is nothing In the bureaus publica- tion ito indicate whether this footnote is by Captain Concas or not.
 Sinking of the Vessels
 Continuing his story, Captain Concas tells of the successive sinking of the Te- resa and the other vessels of the squad ron. He dweHs strongly on a point Whfcn he declares all other critics have overlook ed, namely. that owing to the narrow and tortuous channel past the Morro, the Span ish vessels had to come out so far apart that they were each attacked by the com bined force of the American squadron and g,, series of combats, each time single ship against a squadron. He calls attention also to the probability that the American esti- mate that per cent of the shots aimed at Cervera's fleet were effective is too low. He says the most horrible mortality in every case was in the upperworks, where the shots left no marks except those wiped out by fire. He says per cent. of hits probably would not be too high. dn defense of the Spanish gunnery the writer says that Cervera's ships fought either bow or stern on nearly throughout the battle. This reduced the number of guns they could bring to bear. But he points out that the Brooklyn, which was the only vessel keeping up a parallel broadside fight at close range for any length of time, was struck forty-one times. AS she was under fire of only the Vizcaya, the Teresa and for a short time the best guns of the Colon, Captain Concas says the Spaniards gave very good proof of their ability as marks men. He credits the Iowa with landing the two twelve or thirteen-inch shells which burst the Teresa's main steam pipe and put her out of action when her com mander thought sine had fair chance to escape
 Shots Game From the Iowa
 These shots. he says, have been claimed both by the Oregon and the Indiana, but he adduces considerable evidence that they came from the Iowa.
 Another peculiar incident brought out ir the narrative. and a striking example oi Yankee luck, was the Oregon in her pursuit of the Colon remained unconsciously "ir the dead angles between the only guns on the Colon powerful enough to reach her The Colon, 1t will be remembered, did not have her big 9O-ton guns, and in the long stern chase the Oregon happened always to keep just in the spot where the upper deck guns could not be trained bn her, and the Colon coud not fire without heaving to and losing valuable time. The author indignantly denies that the Colon was wrecked by her crew after she had surren. dered. He says she was run ashore an6 her sea valves were opened before her flag was hauled down. Regarding this incident the writer says:
 'aThe Christobal Colon was less fortuna tt than any of the others for, although going at a speed of thirteen knots. she ran ashore on sand; and if Admiral Sampson. with 8 more seamanlike spirit had ordered the divers to close the valves he could most certainly have saved the cruiser. but with feverish impatience, he lowed her off with his own flagship, the New York. Hardly had the ship been floated when she began to list at which moment, with great dex- terity he pushed the Colon back again with the ram of his ship toward the sandy shoal but 1t was too late and, turning over, tha noble and ill-fated cruiser went to the bot tom of the sea for ever. The few Ameri cans and Spaniards who were still on boart hastily saved themselves"
 Wounds Were Horrible
 Speaking of the nature of the wounds in f1icted by modern naval shell fire Captail Ccncas declares them more horrible thai can be described. A boatswain of the Tere sa had fourteen wounds. None of the mel injured at al escaped with less than two Many he says were blown into unrecogndz able fragments. Captain Larzaza of tn Oquendo was killed. his executive office Lola, cut in two. the third officer, Mates