Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-01-19
REPULSE ATTACK
German Cruiser Baked in At.
tempt to Force venez-
uIa Harbor.
BATTERIES sHELLED FOR AN HoUF
When Hostile Ship is Forced to Re-
tire BY San Carlos
Forts.

the German navy begun open HOSTILE
ties against the Nenezuelans, and this
time to their sorrow. Apparently
without provocation the German gun
boat Panther opened fire on Fort San
Carlos, which commands the entrance
to the inner bay on which Maracaibo
lies. This happened Saturday. In
Maracaibo lake several Venezuelan
gunboats were lying. The fort re-
turned the fire of the hostile cruiser
with four guns and fierce cannOnad-
ing was the result. The fort itself
escaped injury, but three men of the
garrison were wounded by German
shells. Unable either to force an en-
trance to the lake or to silence the
guns of the fort commanding the in
let to the lake. the Panther withdrew
and steamed off toward Curacao.
Attempted Another Capture
1t is believed the Panther intended
to attempt the capture of the Nene-
zuelan gunboats in the lake. but the
men at the fort rs well as the resi-
dents of this city are not certain on,
that point. The Panther is one of the
allied powers war vessels doing block
AIDE duty. Her trip up the gulf of
Mara caibO was unheralded and when
she attempted to pass the bar and
enter the narrow strait that leads to
Lake Maracaibo she began to hurl
shells at the fort commanding the
passage.
Fort Carlos is 30 miles from Mara
caibo. Its commander is Gen. Bello.
who sent the following letter to the
correspondent of the Associated
Press in Mora Carlos:
Yesterday afternoon at 1890
o'clock Fort San Carlos was attacked
and Shelled. without any provocation
on our part. without previous Motif
cation or the delivering of an ultima
tum. by the German cruiser Panther,
which tried to force the entrance.
after fight lasting an hour. dur
ing which the fort used only four
guns. the Panther was obliged to
abandon the fight and retreated in
the direction of Curacao. The fort
has suffered no damage and only
three men were wounded"
People of Maracaibo Rejoice.
Sounds of the cannonading were
distinctly heard in Maracaibo and for
time the population was alarmed.
Ignorance of the real state of affairs
| led to all sorts of wild rumoFs, some
of them To the effect that the allies
had begun actual war on Venezuela.
When the truth became known there
was great rejoicing. Popular demon
strations were got up in hurry and
the people shot off fireworks and
bands marched up and down the
streets. the musicians playing patri-
otto airs.
On all sides il is felt that Gen. Bello
was justified in returning the unpr"-
voked fire of the German ship. What
ever right the allies may have on the
outer coast line. Nenezuclans believe
they cannot assume to enter the
country's inner waters except at their
own peril
Lake Maracaibo is Il body of fresh
water, almost lantl-locked, in the eN-
Itreme western part Nof Venezuela. 1t
is 1877 miles long by ~ in width. 1t is
very deep. but the narrow strait at
the entrance is rendered shallow by
sandbars. Small gunboats are able ia
pass these bars, but ocean-going war
ships are of too deep draught to per
nit of passage even if it were not for
Fort San Carlos, which stands on Il
point jutting out into the strait.
An Inner Bay.
Lake MarGcaibo is sometimes called
the inner bay, being connected with
the gulf of Maracaibo, which is an i'm,
mcnse body of water extending from
the marrow strait for IS miles before
it reaches the Caribbean sea on the
northern coast of Venezuela.