Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-10-26

edge in SO that we could finish those fell
lows cuiekerg and he REPLIED that we
had them IN the most excellent target
range and that the guns OF the two shlps
seemed to be doing most admirable work'
We were pointing at that time for TAR
quino Point. under Cape Cruz, az .ne
point extending to the southwark. NJ
, idea was that in steering that course II
the Colon kept her course she would be
obliged to come out. / then Eaid woulu
get up q lot Of extra ammunition so that
when she came out into close quarters, il
would be "A question Of but u few minutes
before
We Knocked Her Out.
As we were going ont to head her OF
there were various signals between the
Oregon and myself OF a pleasing charac-
ter. Some were official gave the or
der to Captain Clarke 10 open ire with
his thirtern-.nch guns. Captain Clarke
has testified that he did not receive II,
and / always had been under the impress
sion until ! heard him say otherWlSe,
that the order had been transmitted
However We continued to advance. the
Oregon and the Brooklyn. [ do not think
the Oregon was further astern than ND
yards. do not believe the proiongauoh
of her course at any time would nave
pessed within 800 yards Of the BROOKLYN.
We were practically and relatively at the
same distances; perhaps the Brooklyn was
a little nearer at times. and then the
oregon
this position until about ESQ when We
realized that We were within range OF
this vessel and VIC tried the thirteen-inch
aud cight-fnch guns on her Several OF
them fell short. but ! remember that one
of the Orcgou,s thirteen-inch shots passed
entirely Over > re Colon and that one o.
the eiGht-ins snots OF the Brooklyn
passed over her also. | saw with my OWL
eyes the Jet of water beyond. ] thought
at first il had gone through her but IL
appears that il did not strike her. me
position Of the Colon being directly un-
der the fire of the Two ships, there was
no question in tho mind of the captain of
the Colon saying that II would be fatal
/ think he did exactly right. sacrifce
of l'fe would have been unnecessary. 50
he fired a gun to the leeward and hauled
his flag down and ran onto the bar at
the mouth Of the Rio Tarquino. l sig
nailed at once to cease firing. that the
enemy had surrendered. We hauled up
and Immediately passed into position.
We had some difficulty in getting out a
boat on account of the steam being turn
ed off and the cranes having been struck.
They were more or less jammed. We
steamed into a position of thousand
yards. / remember distinctly Captain
Cook asking II we should slow up. ! said
No, continue in Captain Cook changed
his coat.
We Were All in Fighting Rig.
We arrived in the Nicitity of the Colon,
certainly at 100 At the time she hauled
her colors down / did not think she was
over four miles from us. We were run
ming then in the neighborhood OF htteen
knots u hen this surrender took place
| naturally felt Interested in the vessels
that were following. ! was then ON the
bridge and with glasses I saw three yes
sels astcrn [ could see the masts Of two:
! could only sec the smoke of the thlrd
one. W. lowered the boat and Captain
cook went aboard lie said to me COM
madore. WHIT are the terms of surrender?
/ said to nm. Unconditional Those are
matters that the commander-in-chiet
must arrange. W" can oily receive an UNI
conditional surrender AT > O'Clock and
% minutes. about the New York came
up. / had made signals to her. / think
she was quite half an hour In answering
one of them. OF course there was not
very much breeze in under the land. When
she came M ! made the signal to her
that it was glorious day for our coun-
try, and as soon as ! could ! went aboard
to pay my respects. In the meantime,
Captain Cook. who had been detained
some little time. started off to make his
report and went on hoard the flagship;
When he returned l took the boat and
went on board myself There l reported
substantially what had occurred, the
incidents and events of the battle, in
hurried way. After having stated them
to the Commander-in-chief, a group of
officers who were standing on the oppo-
site side came up to me and asked me
of course everybody was iutereSted-for
the details of this battle, and | rehearsed
them i'm a haSty way. Chaplain Royce, OF
the New York, came UP and said: Com
modorc. your work is not over yet. The
Resolutc has Just arrived. Captain Ea-
ton reports that there is q Spanish bat
tleship on the coast and the admiral
wants to see YOU. ] went over and there
found Captain Clarke in the presence of
the commander-in-chtef. made some
suggestion to him about hosting the
flag on the Colon and said TO him that
was prepared if he had not come up, 10
have sent a force of fifty or sixty men
mechanics and marines, on board to take
possession TO avoid anything like-my i'm
preston IS that | used the words
'MonkeyinG With Her
] said that because they We're throwing
something overheard which proved AFTER
wards to be breech blocks, and | thought
that there might be some possibility OF
injuring her piping below. woundlng her
and so on. AS soon as he mentioned to
me to take the Oregon and go eastward
and met this ship. which had been seen
by the Resolute, / must say | felt some
little delight, because | thought that at
ter the admirable work of the squadron
on that day and the part that the Brook
Ign and Oregon had in it. there was moth
ing that carried Spanish colors that we
would have hesitated to meet.
After this story of the battle told by
the senior officer who had participated i'll
it. the vast audience, which had listened
for an hour in almost GREATNESS quiet
appeared to shift tbout slightly, and then
to settle down for the remainder OF the
narrative. The admiral told of the pur-
suit of the strange vessel, how he had
met the Vixen and been informed that
ii was the battlcship Pelayo, and how
when it was ultimately run down, 1t
proved to be the Austrian cruiser Maria
Theresa which was bound for Santiago
to carry away neutrals before the city
was attacked by the American forces;
Returning from this chase Admiral
Schley told of passing the Iowa, when he
was hailed by Captain Evans, who in-
formed him that Admiral Cervera was on
board and would like very much to see
him. Admiral Schley said that when he
went on board the Iowa, having in the
meantime directed his men not to cheer
as he did not think it would be proper
to eNult over foe who had fought and
behaved so calamity.
Il said TO him l knew he had lost eN-
erythng. clothing we'll as money, and
informed him that my wardrobe as well
as my purse as far as 1t would go, was
ut his service"
Admiral CerVera. the witness said,
thanked him for his courtesy, saying he
had never met d sailor who was not n
gentleman but declined the proffer, only