Rocky Ford enterprise., 1901-10-18

thing was happening.
when ] first arrived on the forecas-
lie there were two In sight. The third
one was Just Inside the entrance ana
ttc fourth appeared Immediately after
ward"
what did they do when they cane
outI Which way did they hcadY'
I'VE We're to the westward. The en-
trance To us was about northeast by
north. The fleet came out south and
turned ns they left the entrance to
four points southwest. 10 that they
turned In our direction. When I first
got on deck the helm had been star
boarded. heading little To tho north
ward. When ! saw the fiect they wer"
heading southwest and seemed to Ia
coming straight for tho interval br-
tween the Texas and the brooklyn.
I went into the coming tower and Ill
rcctcd the hcimsmnn. I told him what
I wanted To do was To keep straight
for the fleet. They waycrcd n little.
Sometimes they turned one way and
then another. We shifted helm once
or twic-. hut very little indeed. ani o.
nnlly. when we were getting up fairly
close. say between 40 and 1000
yards. II seemed To me- clear that they
wanted To pass between the Texas
and the Brooklyn. The Texas was well
on our sinrloarl and sh. was headed
To the norihwnri and westward. All
ships We're carrying out the ins'rus-
tions Of the commnn,lcr-In-chicf. AMI
that was To head In for the entrance.
We Were well To the westward aDd
headed TO the northeast.
"whcn I saw that. I ported the helm
perhaps half way over. SHE was
swinging starbonri very rapidly. Tho
Spanish fleet was coming straight for
this Interval. stepped out of tho
tower ON III" port side To get u good
look ut this nect. To sec Just what they
were going to do rs TO our relative pc-
sitions. and saw they evidently put
helms hard n.port aud were turning to
the westward. We were then turn
ing very rapidly To s'nrl.aari with port
helm. nnd we Ind turned. I think. ai-
most to the east. The Texas was we'll
ON our staripoard side. ] then gave tho
order Hard apost 10 the hcitnsinab.
aud ran through tho opening between
the shield nnd the coming tower on
purpose TO sec our own nc-f and our
relative positions. Quicker Than
could tell II the commodore called 10
me: Cook. hard arori' or Is your helm
1 aIortY ! answered: The helm IL hard
aparf: turning ns rapidly Ms possible
As I watched the Texas the how of
the Hrookiyn seemed first To point TO
her port bow. ! never saw the star
board side Of the Texas. and changing
her hearing very rapidly. the how of
the brooklyn passed along the port
side Of the Texas until th-r- WAS n
clear opening between les and the stern
Of the Texas. W. ma,ic complete
turn. q very quick turn. with hciri
hard aport until we cnmc around nnd
parIllcicd the iic-t on the other siic.
A we paraiiclcd the Spanish ilcci 'h"
visrnyn-"
Admiral Dewey: "Aiay I interrupt 2
How near did you pass TO the TcSasr'
II never thought Of collision. u
never entered my head. ! never for
a moment had one idea OF sicissitttio
In that respect. We passed. judge.
about 100 yards. I had handsd tho
ship under all circumstances and got
so I could judge pretty correctly and
my impression was that we were
about the distance we sailed from the
squadron.
but n collision never thought OF.
| She turned perfectly clear OF the
Texas. turned around. and then we
had the vizcaya on our sinrboard how
and about abcam was the OpucnJo
and then the Colon. At the time
thought IL was sic Teresa. hut ! soon
discovered this vessel was dropping
out and heading FOR the beach. That
was about the hottest time of the ne
tIon. II was a critical time. There
was not any time for indiscrctiob
/ and I do not think there was any. !
have always felt IN my mind. In study
| ing the positions. that the chances
would have been for disaster had
we shifted helm at such time.
However. We got around AMI We
had those three vessels. looked AMI
could sec nothing hut smoke n-iern
and vessels seemed cnvclopcd In this
| smoke. could not understand II. j
could not understand exactly how we
got there. They were all three firing
on the Brooklyn. when almost inmcdi-
a,cly, faster than I couli tell II. saw
| n large white bone In the water and
through this smoke ! saw the bow OF
n vessel. exclaimed at the time:
| What was thatr The navigator. who
was near me. said II was the Mnssn-
chusctts. or something 60 that effect.
I said she was away. and he then said
that II was the Oregon. l felt perfect
| Is assured from that moment.
: <-s.<..<!.<.:<-:-<.:<.-<.s.<-'<-:<-f<
Georgetown. Black Hawk. Silver
Plume and Idaho Springs are the prin-
cipal points the company proposes To
reach. An effort will be made to eI-
tend the wires To the Ward and Eldora
mining camps. a feature of the dam
will be that IL will save the spring
waste OF water and hold II back until
the summer and fall, when there is n
scarcity Of II for irrigation purposes.
This greatly Increases the value OF
farming lands below the reservoir. NJ
Il will insure at all seasons n sufficient
supply of water for all irrigation pur-
poses.