The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-11-01

yr. iiodgson and myself. First. he wa
too good an officer 10 have transgresse'
ae such 'ae ssa as sessna q 20 he hs
undertaken II. would not have permit
ted II for a second. That IL n fiction
therc WAS no coloQuy
Before we turned the leading ship wa,
abcam. or little abaft the beam. ans
when we turned about she was ahead Of
all. four ships and the forts were Arms
| AT the same time. and from that moment
the following ten or fifteen minutes were
bat remember very distinctly seeing
from time To time, my attention was
| attracted for moment. the Jets or wa
ter ahead and astern and over and short
| The roar OF projectilcs was one OF ths
things that can be heard only once In .
lifetime. and then never forgotten. II
| appeared az that moment that an fou.
~ these ships were at work upon the
Brooklyn, and up to the moment OF turn
ing. SO far as we could perceive. there
was not The sliEhtesI evidence ,hey "a
through my mind that after all our pre-
cautions and waiting those fellows would
get away. AZ that moment l felt anI !
, thought | remarked 10 Capt. Cook. that
we were alone and would perhaps have
most az the fight upon ourselves because
] did not know then that the battles M %
could possibly keep up their speed. But l
said 20 him: I'VE must stay with this
crowd" | had no idea that We would
escape. OF course II they could have shot
rs wei as our people did they certainty
would have got US When he had COM
pletely turned around on westerly
course the ships appeared 10 have been
broken up little although still In some
scrihlanee OF formation. and Just at that
m0r1ent I saw the oregon breaking
through the cloud envelope. she broke
through on to the starhoard quarter OF
the rag ! hoisted the signal OF CLOSE
up" and then Follow the flag" feeling
that a new disposition was necessary.
repeated Capt Clarke knew. very will
IL was not intended for him. because ne
was following the flag. so he repeated "
raonts after the Oregon broke through the
cloud OF smoke she was perhaps four or
five hundred yards distant. These two
Ships the Oregon and the Brooklyn were
firing in a manner I had never seen be.
fore. 7 never before realized what rapid
gun fire meant. Both ships were at thar
time a sheet OF flame. soon after that |
battered hard. she Jagged astern. saw
SMOKE coming out OF her ports ana oil
81 her matches. and the TACT 'nal m
pressed itself upon me was that the coli
umns We're going straight up IN the arr
7 said TO Capt. Cook who was constant
IL NJ rir side: I'VE have got one. Keen
tie ioy< below informed OF all the move
mcnts They can not see. ana they ought
as know" and he did throughout the
actioE Every few moments rnessaH-s
were sent below 10 the men that Wtre
answered Oftent!mes with cheers winch
we could hear through the ventilatorS. y
appeared 20 be very short interval ~
time after that that / saw second snip
on fire which proved later to be the
OruerdO. She evidently had suffered very
severely. and started Immediately N
shore leaving the Niscaya and the Colon.
The viScaya Immediately took n leading
position on the bow. and ! thought Tor a
little while that she would perhaps out,
foot us The Colon worked inshore and
tho time between the dropping out OF ac-
tion ~ those two ships until the Niscaya
turned inshore was g period or pernaps
thirty minutes. during when she was
ab-cast OF the Brooklyn and the oregon
looked to the eastward and got occa-
sional giimpses OF the Indiana and OF the
what they were doing. owing TO the clouds
n smoke though | knew that both were
ioing admirable work. felt that the mo-
r,,cnt those vessels ran into the beach the
officers Of the 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 a. from their own fire. About |
thirty minutes. as nearly as / can re-
member. was the length Of time from the |
arst vessels until the viscaya went |
ashore She was a little forward OF the |
beam Of the Brooklyn. and do not think |
She was in most excellent target range:
and | remember that marine stationed |
in the top reported that he did not see
BrssoS q ,n and n tbe oregon hitting Ike wa
ter. so I imagined from that they were
striking the ship II was on the trip out
ward after the turn ! was very anxious
the yiscaya and the Colon TO get out OF |
good fighting range Ellis. who was an
Expert with the stadimeter. constantly
xcpt that instrument on those vessels and |
knowing exactly their heights. reported |
~ me that they were maintaining the |
.sme range: but thought my eve was a |
title more sensitive. and said; NO, they |
ire evidently gaining
He went from me the second time. and |
hat was the last ! saw OF him alive. In /
performing this magnificent duty he lost
MS life, He was struck about ten feet
rom where was standing. His brains |
md blood were thrown over a great |
many people. and some of II reached me.
ieck and IL was a shocking sight TO men |
xho had never seen such things before. |
Lieut.. McCauley and DIR. Devaiin got |
ween me and the tower. They picked up |
he body and carried IL TO the side. just /
happened to see them through the open |
hat body overheard. that 7 thought that |
me who had fallen 80 gallantly deserved |
. be buried as a Christian. His body was |
aid under the lee Of the forward turret |
md covered with blanket and there |
xcpt until after the battle.
Just before the Viscaya turned 70 run |
ashore she put her helm starboard APP |
larcntiy starting out for the Brooklyn or |
he Oregon. | don't remember which, and |
.yfdently at that moment got a very |
severe wound. for ! saw quite an explo- |
lson under her bow. and in a moment |
lftcrward she put helm aport turning In |
Ihart. smoke coming from all OF her |
catches
I thought she was going TO capsize she |
,ad such a tremendous list TO port. Just |
hon | saw shell strike her that APP |
,cared TO me 10 rake her fore and aft. 1
ind 7 thought 10 myself she would sink /
n deep water 80 I told the signal officer /
q signal TO the Texas 20 look out for i
YER men and 10 save them. but the Texas |
vas too far astern 10 receive the mes |
rge | made the remark al the time how |
.yer' Phillip IS always sensible He /
reeds no instructions about such things -
During this part ~ the fght 7 noticed l
hat all of the signal halvards Of my 1
hin were cut. ! think possibly with ore \
exception. One Of the speed cones we \
lad hcisted was cut and came very near 4
striking me. " came down in front OF 4
ne and went overheard.
After the Niscaya md turned In afrc. \
YER cciors down the Colon edged in II
horc and appeared 10 be following the |
.ontnur OF the coast and 7 thought Il
hat AZ that time looking as;ern and OBJ
serving what had happened 10 her con-
Orts she was seeking the best place she II
'ould find In order to end the matter at
nee. From Assadcrps. which was be-
lind. some Is miles west of the harbor or