Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-11-11

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ing men was: public opinion should be suspended until
further report"
The Maine was sent to Havana harbor on a pecul-
iarly delicate mission. In reality the vessel was there to
protect American residents against the Spaniards in the
city. who were becoming ugly. 1t was necessary, how
ever, that Capt. Sigsbee should make it appear that the
visit of the Maine was entirely friendly. After the
Maine was destroyed the commander of the ship, instead
"of losing time in attempting to cast the blame for the
disaster upon others than himself, and instead of follow
ing what would seem to be the natural course of max
ing it appear that it was a Spanish act of treachery,
wrote the words which made him famous, and gave
every chance for the cause of the explosion to be
traced-to his own negligence, or to that of his officers,
If such prove to be the case-in his efforts to avert war"
1t is always a tremendous misfortune for a naval off
Ger to lose his ship, no matter what the cause. There is
always a feeling existing, regardless of the odds against
which a vessel has to contend, whether of the fury Of
the storm or of the overweight of the enemys shot and
shell, that if handled by somebody else the vessel might
have survived the conflict.
1t undoubtedly was a sad blow to Capt. sigsbee when
war was declared against Spain that he was not given
command of a b~attleship. The naval department, how
ever, did the next best thing that it could do for him
in ordering him to the deck of the st. Paul, which was
a transatlantic liner, fast and mounting fairly heavy
guns, and which had been pressed into the service as a
scout cruiser.
1t fell to Capt. Sigsbee's lot, however, to command
his ship in one of the most notable engagements of the
Spanish war. 1t is very possible that as much glory
came to Sigsbee from this encounter as came to the COM
mander of any battleship which was engaged in the
fight off Santiago harbor with Cerveras Spanish squad.
ron. &
The st. Paul had an encounter with the Spanish tor
nedo boat Terror. The fight was of tremendous impor-
lance and of supreme interest to the naval authorities
OF the world, for it was the first time practically that a
torpedo boat of this kind, and of which much was ex-
pected. went into battle against a practically unarmored
vessel. but a vessel carrying serviceable guns and a crew
of expert gunners. N
The st. Paul was in the vicinity of San Juan, Porto
Rico. June 22, 1898. 1t was there in the hope of discov-
ering certain Spanish menof-war which were thought
to be in the vicinity. A little past noon on the twenty
second. Lieut.. Patterson Of the st. Paul saw a cruiser
leaving the harbor of San Juan. Instantly the men Of
the st. Paul were called to quarters, Capt. Sigsbee TAX
ing the bridge. The cruiser turned out to be the Infanta
Isabel, a Spanish man-ofwar.
The st. Paul prepared to meet the Spaniard, but the
enemy persisted in keeping under the protection Of the
shore batteries, though Sigsbee ran his vessel in 30
close that she was exposed for a long time to the mis-
siles Of the eight and 10 inch guns of the Spanish fort.
If the spaniards had been better marksmen 1t might
have Jared i'll with the st. Paul, but Sigsbee knew with
whom he had to deal and he took chances, as does every
brave commander.
While attempting to draw the Infanta Isabel into
battle the captain of the American ship saw the torpedo
boat destroyer Terror come out of the harbor under full
steam and head for his ship, The Terror was making
a dash for the st. Paul with the intention Of sending q