The Washington times., 1901-10-26

During the turn Mr.. Hodgson mad
one allusion to look out, perhaps 10.
he Texas; but there was never any col
,quy of any character between Mr.
iCdEson and myself. first because n was
90 good an officer to have transSresSl"
I that time one Of the pialnest duties o.
n CiiiCtr. ana secondly, If he had unCei-
AIKEN it, | would not for moment have
efInitted it. AS | say, that is fiction;
Before we turned. the leading ship
as aheam or little abaft ah am
hen we turned about, she was ahead Of
s.. that is, on the StarhOaTd bow, and al
pJr ships and the forts were firing al
he same time. l looked over and saw
he first firing. From that moment for
n To fifteen minutes was the most fu-
ious naTt of this entire combat. ! re
lelnher. very distinctly, seeing from
me 30 time, as my attention was at
-actod for a moment. the jets Of water
head and astern, and over and short.
nd the roar Of Droiectiles was one of
hosc things that a man hears but once
. "A lifetime, and it is never forgotten.
1t appeared To me at that moment
bat all four of these ships were at work
iDan the Brooklyn. and up to the moment
the turn. so far as we could perceive.
here was not the slightest evidence th9t
hey had even been injured 4 thought
Gssed through my mind that after all
Gr precaution and waiting. these fellows
vould get away. At that moment ! re
-arEcd to Captain Cook that we were
lone, ana would perhaps have the most
'yrow then that the hattleships could keep
up their speed but | said to him, We
viii stay in this crowd. l had no ide1
hat we would escape. ] thought, of
IS our people did they certainly would
get US.
The Oregon Appears.
when We had got completely turned
7round on our westerly course, the ships
appeared to have been broken up little.
'lthough still in some semblance of
formation. Just at that moment I saw
he Oregon breaking in through this
cioud. She broke through on to the star
board quarter OF the flagship. / had
hoisted the signal Close up. and then
Follow the flag. feeling that a new dis
position was necessary. That signal was
replied to and 1 saw it repeated. Captain
Clark knew very well that il was not in
ended for him, because he was following
he flag. and 50 he repeated it to the other
ships.
IN a very few moments after the Ore
son broke through this cloud of smoke
she being at that time perhaps four or
i've hundred yards distant-apparently not
much farther-theSe two ships. the Brook
ytt and the Oregon were a sheet of flame
1 never saw such a fire, never realized
what rapid gun fire really meant before.
4 very few moments after that | saw
that the leading jSpanishI ship was evil
IDENTIFY badly hurt, FOR she Jagged astern.
1 saw the smoke coming out of her ports,
and iii a very little while out of her
hatches, and the fact impressed itself
tp7n me that the columns were going al
most straight in the air.
said 10 Captain Cook, who was con-
stantly AT my side and always in my con-
.idence. We have got one, keep the boys
below informed Of all the movements;
they cant see and they want to know,
ana he did SO throughout the action.
Every few moments messages were sent
To the men below. and We're oftcntimes
answered with cheers that we could hear
through the Ventilators.
1t appeared to be a very short interval
after that when l saw second vessel on
fire, which proved later to be the Oqueu-
do. She evidently had suffered very Sc
verely, and she started. Of course imme-
diately inshore, leaving the NiZcaya and
the Colon.
THE Vizcaya Immediately took lead
ing position on the bow, and | thought
for a little while that perhaps she would
outfoot us The Colon worked inshore.
and from the time of the disappearance
at least the dropping out of action-of
these two ships until the Vizcaya turned
inward, was period OF perhaps thirty
minutes. during which she was abreast
of the Brooklyn aud the Oregon. | looked
TO the eastward just before those ships
turned in, and l got an occasional glimpse
OF the Indiana and of the GlqneIji,,,,d az cio,,ds
c3siIt .tit tIt. iiot So SO Ing, though knew that
= ,Ii!. lia' smitesrs &oinG admirable work
felt that the moment these vessels ran
on the beach the commanding officers,
who could not keep up the pace with
the leader, would take care Of the pris-
oners and would save them from the in
surgents as well as from their own fires.
which had been started by our gun IRE.
| should say. as nearly as ] can remem-
Der. that about thirty minutes elapsed
from the turning in or these two vessels
until the Nizcaya followed their exam
pie The NiZcaya was a little forward of
The beam Of the Brooklyn. and ! do not
think over about 200 or 2,4oJ yards dis
taut at any time. She was in most tN-
ceilcnt target range. and l remember on
the way Oul eHquriuE from a man in the
top, one Of the marines. who was under
this heavy fire of the two ships. He re-
ported that he did not see any of the
shots striking the water; 80 / Imagined
from that that he meant they were strik-
ing the ship.
Death of Ellis.
.On the trip outward. after the turn,
/ was very anxious about the ranges. be
cause ! did not want the Vizcaya and the
Colon to get out Of good fighting range.
Ellis who was an expert with the stadi-
meter. constantly kept this stadimeter on
these vessels. and. knowing exactly their
heights. he reported TO me that they were
thought my eye was a little bit more
sensitive and I said to him: No; they
are evidently gaining.
He went ont from me the second time,
and that was the last / saw Of him. In
performing this magnificent duty he lost
his life I do not think he was distant
from where I stood at the time more than
eight or ten feet. His brains and blood
6eTe thrown over a great many people,
oh. q fa.. dot. al
f.it To the deck. and IL was shocking
zfzht to men who had never before seen
such Il thing. lieutenant McCaulcy and
Dr. DeValin were Standing between me
ANA the tower and they picked up the
body and trricd il 10 the side. / Just hap
peBcd to see them through the opening.
and J called out 10 them: No: do not
throw that body overheard! j said 10
them that l. Thought one who had fallen
50 gallantly deserved 20 be buried as a
Christian t'is body was laid under the
lee of the forward turret, covered over
with a blanket and there kept until after
the battle was over.
Just before IN, zc9-a turned To rua
ashore she IUl n,r helm astarh0dru. ap-
plIeutly starting ont Tor The Hr""Alyn or
the Oregon. ] do not know which. At thIt
Iaom' Mt she evidently sut Nory severe
wound for ! saw quite AN explosion uu-
der her bow A moment rlt'rWiiG sh,
UGt hCr helm uJrI 1naIi- turning lu<hoTt,
with smoke coming from an hor matches.
! thought she was going 60 uaP-iz". as
size made such % tremendous list tp port.
Al hat moment / -a3. a shell strike her
which app.aI,i 20 ..e 20 IaA, htr FORE
aud afr and Thought tu myself nat she
Wouid sink in deep water 50 told th-
signal officer tp =iggai the ItN1S ty iOrA
o.t for hcr p'"H'. and 10 save in'm- Ih,
T,.as. however. was too far as,,ru 10 r..
e.iy, Tho message. aul i made Iua .. mark
lt the time Wei. Philip is aiv-E= -rI-l-
be. he ucccs ug JlsrIcCou about such
things
'I1 this tremendous part of Inr Irht
to the eastward ai. the sEn#l hal ards
ar my ship were cot. with } tEiaA. pJG-
sshIv one exception. ono oI the spCCG
cones that we had hoisted Iu order tu IT.
dicatc suofd Tes cut. aui CAM" v-ry
-.L.L1. tril.ln.. me- ON tn. ltTLnn-.- n nLInl