Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1917-05-11

Gloucester was not gunbOat, but
| Wainwright, with no plan but fight
| plan in his head, was willing that it
should pose as one for the time being.
He felt that it was his duty to look
after the torpedo destroyers of the
enemy, which, he feared, because of
their speed and comparatively small
size, might get within striking distance
unseen of the great battleships, the
attention of whose commander was in
large part directed TO the greater craft
| Of the Spaniards.
| His Exploit at Santiago.
| The cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa
came out ahead Of the destroyers Plu-
| Ton and Furor, for which Wainwright
was watching. Not willing to lose a
chance at any enemy, great or small,
| the American commander opened on
the Maria Teresa, and, as later exam
| ination showed, he succeeded in hitting
that vessel several times before it got
out Of range. The Pluton apd the
FurOr, when they did come out, made
straight for the Gloucester, and the
Gloucester was there, not waiting for
| them, but making for them, with Vain
wright on the bridge and the six
Founders and the three-pounders
pumping out shells as fast as the men
could feed them.
The destroyers opened a terrific fire
| on the yacht. If the dons had been
better marksmen, the Gloucester III
/ ho hoof1
In Davy Jones' locker. and all it's crew
with it. But the froth of the sea ap-
parently had got into the eyes of the
gunners Of the Pluton and the Furor,
and while the missiles from their guns
| clipped the waves all about the
gloucester, only fow took effect.
In Maclay's history of the Santiago
fight it is said that Lieutenant Cabal-
lero of the Pluton declared somewhat
naively, after the battle was over, that
the Americans continued to fire very
rapidly, which made it extremely diff
fcult for us to serve our guns" The
truth was that Wainwright's gunners
mot only were firing rapidly, but were
simply peppering the Pluton and the
| FurOr with shot.
Here was a mere pleasure craft en-
gagged in a fight with two steel-armored
destroyers armed with guns and tor
pedc tubes, the projectiles from any
one Of which properly planted would
have put the puny antagonist out Of
the fight. Wainwright knew all this
and his crew knew all this, and yet
the Gloucester bore in on the enenly's
vessels as though they were mill-pOnd
boats of playing boys.
Destroyed Both Destroyens.
1t was not long before Wainwright
from the bridge saw that the Pluton
was in trouble She began to limp,
| then actually to stagger, and finally
the head of the vessel was turned
sharply and she was run ashore, full
of holes and sinking as result of less
| than half an hours conflict with
yacht whose crew knew how@to shoot.
When the Pluton was disposed of
wainwright turned his whole attention
to the Furor He smashed her with
steel The Spaniards We're cut down
at the guns. each crew being succeeded
quickly by another, for the Spaniards
were game in the face of destruction.
The Furor also began to limp and then
to stagger. Smoke burst from her and
| then her fire slackened. In a few
minutes white flag went up from the
deck of the Spaniard and Wainwright
knew he had won a second victory.
The slaughter on the two torpedo
boat destroyers was nothing short Of
horrifying. From the official report Of
Lieutenant Huse, one of Wainwright's
officers, it appears that of the Furor's
81 officers and men only 10 survived
the ship. In the Pluton a lieutenant
commander, one lieutenant and "a pet
| ty officers and men were saved. \, All
the remaining Al men, including the
! commanding officer. Captain Villaamil,
persisted
Volunteers More Than Welcome.
Every opportunity exists today for
a man to volunteer in his country's
cause The sharp debate in congress
as between the measure calling for
volunteers and the measure for con-
scription affects the additional army
which is to be raised and has little or
nothing to do with the methods of Sc
curing recruits for the regular army
the navy and the marine corps.
Any young american who really
wants to be a volunteer can enter the
regular service or the National Guard
today. There has been considerable
response to the volunteer call, but 1t
Is not as great as the authorities de-
sire, nor is it anything like as great
as one would expect it to be II the
young men of the country are so bent
on volunteering that they dislike to
enter what some people will call a
conscripted army.
Today the capital city, like other
cities of the country, resembles Lon
don in the early days Of the war be-
fore Great Britain had adopted con-
scription. The parallel is somewhat