The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-10-26

Oregon broke through, the cloud Of
smoke sh" was perhaps 400 or 800
yards Gi>tHnt. Thrsn two ships, the
I.rnoklyn and the Oregon. We're tirin.
III Il manner | had never seen before.
| never before realized what rapid
gun fire meant. Both ships were at
that time sheet Of hnmr. Soon after
| saw that the leading ship was rvi-
IDENTIFY battered hard. She Jagged
aStern. saw smoke coming out OF
her ports and out of her matches, and
the fact that impressed itself upon me
was that the columns were going
straight up in the air. ! said to Cap
tain Cook. who was constantly at my
side and always in my confidence:
We have got one. Keep the boys be-
low Informed of all the movements.
They cannot see. and they ought to
know And he did so throughout the
action. Every few moments messages
We're sent below to the men that were
answered Ortcntimps with cheers
WHICH We 'oulu Ht;I lilouS! ihc NSi'
1i!atOrs.
1T appeared to be a very short III
trINal If time after that that ! saw a
second ship on fire. which proved later
to be the Oqupudo. she evidcntl! had
suffered very severely and started i'm
mcdiatcIy inshorr, leaving the Niscaya
and the Colon. The NiSraya immcdl
at"iy took II leading position on tn"
bow. and | thought for Il little while
that she would perhaps outfAot us
The Colon worked inShorr. and the
time between the dropping out OF ac-
tiOn Of those two ships until the Wis
cnyA turned inshurc WAS period OF
perhaps thirty minutes. during which
time she WAS abreast of the Brooklyn
and the Oregon. | looked to the east
ward and got occasional glmpscs Of
the Indiana and Of the Gloucester. |
could not see very well what they
were doing. owing to the clouds Or
smoke. though knew that both were
doing admirable work. felt that the
moment those vessels ran into the
beach the commanding officers of til"
ships which could not keep up the
pace with the two leaders would take
care OF the prisoners and would save
them from the insurgents as well as
from their own fire
"About thirty minutes. as nearly as
can remember. was the length of time
from the turning in or the wounding OF
those two first vessels until the Wis.
caya went ashore. She was n little for
ward of the beam of the Brooklyn and
do not think at any time over 2.300 or
2.4OO yards away. She was in most ex'
cellent target range. and | remember
that a marine stationed In the top re-
ported that he did not see any Of the
shots of the two ships, the Brooklyn
and the Oregon. hitting the water, SC
| imagine from that that they were
| striking the ship. II was on the triT
outward after the turn. ! was very
! anxious about the ranges, because
| did not want the Niscaya and the Co
lon to get out of good hghting range
Ellis. who was an expert with the sta
dimeter. constantly kept that instru
ment on those vessels and, knowing
exactly their heights, reported to mt
that they were maintaining the same
range. but thought my eye was lit
tie more sensitive, and | said, Nov
they are evidently gaining
He went from me the second time
and that was the last ! saw of hin
alive. In performing this lnagniticen
duty he lost his life. He was strucl
about ten feet from where | was stand
Ing. His brains and blood were thrOwr
over a great many people. and some O.
it reached me. He Immediately fell, o.
| co,lrsa to tho dark-. and II WIS shock