Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1917-05-04

From the battleShip came the signal
for the gunbont 10 close in. Now the
Gloucester was not a gunboat. hut
Wainwright with no plan but a fight
plan in his head, was wiling that ii
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.
Tie cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa
( came out ahead of the destroyers Plu
/ ton and Furor. for which Wainwright
was watching. Not willing TO lose
chance at any enemy, great or small,
1 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 and the
| 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 rhree-pOunders
pumping out shells as fast as the men
could feed them.
The destroyers opened terrific fire
on the yacht. If the dons had been
better marksmen. the Gloucester in
| less than five minutes would have been
4 i'm Davy Jones' locker. and all its crew
with if. But the froth of the sea APP
parently had got into the eyes of the
gunners of the Pluton and the Juror,
and while the missiles from their guns
! clipped the waves all about the
Gloucester, only few took effect.
In Maclay's history of the Santiago
! fight il is said that Lieutenant Cabal-
lero of the Pluton declared somewhat
navely, after the battle was over, that
| the Americans Continued to fire very
rapidly, which made it extremely diff
| ficult for US To serve our guns" The
| truth was that Wainwrights gunnerS
not only were firing rapidly, but We're
simply peppcring the Puton and the
Furor with shot.
Here was a mere pleasure craft en-
gagged ia d fight with two steel-armored
deStroyers armed with guns and tor
pedo 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 enemy's
vessels as though they were mill-pOnd
boats Of playing boys.
Destroyed Both Destroyers.
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 heaG of the vessel was turned
( sharply and she was run ashore, full
of ho,es and sinking as Il result of less
than naf an hours conflict with a
yacht whose crew knew how to shoot.
When the Pluton was disposed of
W,4fHwright tGrned his whole attention
3 4
steel The Spaniards were 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 10 limp and then
! 10 sfagger. Smoke burst from her and
! then her fire slacllened. In a few
minutes a white flag went up from the
/ deck OF the Spaniard and Wainwright
knew he had won 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 Jurors
! GO officers and men only 10 survived
/ the ship. In the Pluton a lieutenant
] commander, one lieutenant and 81 pet
/ " 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
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 volunteer can enter the
| regular service or the National Guard
/ today. There has been a considerable
response to the volunteer call, but it
/ is not as great as the authorities de-
sire, nor is it anything like as great
as one would expect it TO be If 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-