The Tupelo journal., 1903-01-30
FORT SIN CARLOS AFFAIR.
The Bombardment Resumed at Day.
break, Thursday, and Con-
tinued Fiercely.
GARRISON MAKES A SPIRITED DEFENSE.
Killed and Wounded and the Fort Ter
ribly Battered-The Village of San Car
los Suffered Severely From the Contin-
nous Fire

M~aracaibo, Jan. 23.-The lombard
ment of Fort San Carlos by the Ger
man cruisers Vineta, Panther and
Fake was continued Wednesday aft
ernoon until six o'clock. 1t was re-
sumed Thursday morning at day
break. The first shells were hurled
at the fort at Jour o'clock at long
range.
At six o'clock the Panther, being of
light draught, closed in and again be-
came actively engaged. The fort re-
piled. At eight o'clock the engage
ment was proceeding as f%iercely al on
Wednesday.
Twelve dead and Is badly wounded
Venezuelan soldiers were counted in
the fort at seven o'clock Wednesday
night.
The Panther left her position close
in to Fort San Carlos which she took
up earlier in the day, Wednesday aft
moo at three o'clock, and joined
the Fake. This ship was half a mile
outside the bar and about five miles
from the fort.
Darkness stopped the Firing.
At three o'clock a correspondent in
a rowboat approached side of the
fort, out of range, and from this
point witnessed the long-range fire of
H. x-I.l
tinued from three until six o'clock.
The Vineta and the Fake were close
together and nearer the fort than the
Panther. The first two vessels, at a
range of four and a half miles, poured
in a continuous rain of shell upon the
fort, and only stopped firing with the
advent of dusk at six o'clock. AT this
hour the German vessels retired sea-
ward after having made a second in
effectual attempt to land troops in
the village of San Carlos, situated at
the base of the fort.
Twelve Dead Venexuelans.
At seven o'clock Wednesday after
companied by a government tele-
grapher. bearing a telegram from
President Castro to the commandant
of the San Carlos, landed on the ISL
and and entered the fort. The walls
of the fort are terribly battered, and
there were many evidences of the
fierce engagement. Twelve dead Vene-
zuelan soldiers were counted behind
the ramparts, and fifteen other men,
seriously wounded, were lying on a
low platform.
The fort is literally covered with
pieces of broken shell. It was seen
that a great many of the German
shells had not exploded. The maya
zine had a very narrow escape, two
shells having come within an ace of
penetrating it. The walls of the fort
which face towards the entrance of
the lake suffered particularly, and
were greatly damaged.
The Village Suffered.
It is estimated by the commandant,
Gen. Bello, that the German ships
fired more than sixteen hundred shells
at Fort San Carlos. Although the
damage inflicted upon the fort by the
sustained fire of the German cruisers
is very great, it is not all that could
be expected from such a continuous
fire from modern h~igh-power guns.
The village of San Carlos suffered
greatly. The aim of the German gun
ners appears to have been accurate,
for more than sixty per cent. of their
shells exploded in the village before
reaching the fort.
Gen. Bello is a soldier of remarkable
courage and daring. He has shown
great bravery, and is in no way in
Inundated. He will not abandon the
fort, but will resist as long as it is
possible for him to do so. He swears
that on January II, the occasion of
the occasion of the first lombard
ment, the Panther fired upon him
first without reason and without
provocation.
The report that the biggest of the
three attacking vessels was either an
English Or Italian ship is untrue. 1t
is known that all three vessels are
German.
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