The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-06
From the Age-H Herald of July 5, 1898.

From the Age-Herald of July 5, 1898. TYEN miles west of the entrance of the harbor of Santiago de cuba' Sun A day July 3, 4 p. m., by the Asso- ciated Press dispatch boat Wanda, to
 Port Antonio, Jamaica, Monday morning, July 4, via Kingston, Jamaica, July 4, 4:45
 a. m.)-Admiral Cervera's fleet consist ing of the armored cruisers Christobal Colon, Almirante O'Quendo, Infante Ma ria Teresa and Vizcaya and two torpedo boat destroyers, the Furor and Fulton, which had been held in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba for six weeks past by the combined squadrons of Rear Admiral Sampson and Commodore Schley, lies to- day at the bottom of the Caribbean sea off the southern coast of Cuba. The Spanish admiral is prisoner of war on the auxiliary gunboat Gloucester for-
 merly MT. J. Pierpont Morgan's yacht Corsair) and 1000 to 1500 other Spanish officers and sailors all who escaped the frightful carnage caused by the shells from the American warships, are also held as prisoners of war by the United States navy.
 The American victory is complete, and, according to the best information obtain able at this time, the American vessels were practically untouched and only one man killed, though the ships were sub jected to heavy fire from the Spaniards the whole time the battle lasted. | Admiral Cervera made as gallant rush I md ha his ships this morning as has ever oc- cured in the history of naval warfare. 1 In the face of overwhelming odds. with nothing before him but inevitable de- struction or surrender if he remained any longer in the trap in which the American fleet held him, be made bold dash from the harbor at the time the Americans least expected him to do so and fought every inch of his way. Even when his ship was ablaze and sinking he tried to escape the doom which was writ | ten on the muzzle of every American gun trained upon his vessels.
 | The Americans saw him the moment he | left the harbor and commenced their work
 of destruction immediately. For an hour
 or two they followed the flying Spaniards
 to the westward along the shore line,
 sending shot after shot into their blazing
 huls, tearing great holes in their steel | sides, and covering their decks with the
 blood of those killed and wounded
 | At no time did the Spaniards show any
 indication that they intended to do other
 wise than fight to the last. They showed no signals to surrender even when their | r;,, 1v,I clouds of smoke pouring from their sides
 showed they were on fire. But they turned their heads toward the shore. less
 than mile away, and ran them on the
 beach on rocks where their destruction
 was soon completed. The officers and
 men on board them escaped to the shore
 as well as they could, with the assist
 ance of boats sent from the American
 ships and threw themselves upon the
 mercy of their captors, who not only ex-
 tended to them the gracious hand of American chivalry, but sent them a guard to protect them from the murderous
 bands of Cuban soldiers hiding in the bush on the hillside eager to rush down
 and attack the unarmed, defeated but
 valorous foe One after the other Span | is ships became the victims of the awful
 rain of shells which the American battle
 ships, cruisers and gunboats poured upon l them, and two hours after the first vessel went out of the harbor three cruisers were destroyed, smoke and flames pour ing from every part of them and cover ing the entire coast line with a mist (which could be seen for miles. Heavy ex-
 plosions of ammunition occurred every
 few minutes, sending curls of dense.
 white smoke hundred feet in the air and causing shower of broken iron
 and steel to fall in the water on either side.
 The bluffs on the coast line echoed with the roar of every explosion and the Span- ish ships sank deeper and deeper into the sand.
 I Washington, July 1.-The Secretary of the Navy has received the following:
 Il Playa, via Hayti. S:15 a. m., July 4.-
 Sibony, July S.-To the Secretary of the