Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-09-19
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SHELL GOES LONG DISTANCE
Interesting History of 12-inch Projec>
tile Used in Spanish War
Travelled Four Miles.

Screaming out its defiant message
Of possible death and disaster, a 12-
inch 1,000-pound shell was sent across
the Bay of Santiago on the fatefuI
morning of July 8, 1898, from one Of
the battleships-Te Iowa or IN
diana. The shell travelled a distance
of between three and four miles and
found Judgment in the side of a rocky
hill Just behind MORO castle, the
charge being unexploded 1t now re-
poses peacefully on the sidewalk In
/ front of store in Carson street,
Southside, near Twenty street.
but minus the charge.
Thousands Of people pass the spot
daily, but little or no heed is given by
them to this interesting relic of I'm
| Gle Sans encounter with the one-time
great power Of Spain.
The shell was shipped on October
20, 1899, by Capt. Surgeon James Nc
Kay, United States navy, to his father.
Stephen Mckay, of this city, and is
much priced by the latter as a reE1
and souvenir.
Capt. Mckay gave an interesting de-
/ scription of the circumstances attend
ing the firing and finding of the she'll
/ He states: 1.-The shell was fired from
/ the Indiana or Texas from a distance
/ of between three or four miles, and
1t was doubtless fired at the eastern
/ battery, a concealed battery of several
| old bronze cannon situated in a hol-
/ low in the bluff, and only visible from
| several miles at sea. Our ships paid
! great attention to this particular bat
| terry from noticing that, while the
! muzzles of the cannon were visible
over the embankment before firing.
/ they disappeared simultaneously with
! that operation. Now from the excel
/ lent habit drilled into the men of the
navy of overestimating rather than
/ doubling the strength of the enemy,
| they decided the battery must be COM
! posed Of modern rified disappearing
guns, and acted accordingly. Every
| now and again, and when the ships
seemed most quiet, one or another
| would drop a carefully calculated she'll
in such close proximity as to keep the
artillerists working the guns in a state
Of constant terror. This shell from
! its position, must have flown over the
! guns and men at just sufficient hight
to clear the ridge and plunge into the
hill beyond. It missed it's mark by a
very small margin. However, the hum
| dreds of holes, some large enough to.
| form a cellar for a large dwelling,
scattered all about and within the
battery. the dismounted, crippled and
half-buried pieces, and the general
wreck made Of nature in the entire
vicinity, speak only too eloquently of
| the excellent craftsmanship of our
gunners, and the splendid conduct of
our ships in general.
when Admiral Sampson visited the
above-mentioned battery some months
after the surrender, he smilingly told
how they had been fooled by the
strange disappearing qualities of the
old guns. Many Of thes old pieces
dated back to 1718 and were masses
Of most wonderful and beautiful hand
carving. but the gun carriages were
not more than 100 years old, hence the
parts did not fit and the recon mech
anism (great buffer springs) being
useless the piece on being discharged
would bound back into the air the
full length of the carriage Us feet)-
The muzzles were visible over the
cement before firing, but their re-
bound flight carried them far out of
sight, hence the disappearing guns
which deceived our men for while"
The shell, singular to relate, shows
but slight marks of it's impact with
its rocky billet another proof Of the
care with which American projectiles
are Pittsburgh Dispatch.