Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1933-03-23

The Sinking of the Collier Merrinac
E-pnaa Contemporax1 DRAWING

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tearing into the Merrimae. crashing clear
through, while the plungIng shots from the fort
broke through her decks.
mot man must novel said and 1t was
only owing to the splendid discipline of the
men that we were not all killed. We must lie
there till daylight, told Them Now and again
one or the other OF the men lying With his face
glued to the deck and wondering whether the
next shell would not come our way would say
Hadn't we better drop eff now SIR but said
Wait till daylight Ii would have been impos
#sible to get the eatamaran anywhere but on to
the shore, where the soldiers stood shooting, and
/ hoped that-hy daylight we might be reeog
: nlzed and saved
ut was splendid the way those men behaved
The fire Of the soldiers the batteries and the
Vizcaya was awful. When the water came UP on
the MerrImae,s- decks the eatamaran 1oated
amid the wreckage, but she was still made fast
= to the BOOM and we caught hold of the edges
and clung on, our heads only being above water.
AT daylight the fire ceased ind Spanish
launch came toward the wreck. We agreed to
try capturing her and running for the open sen
but as she drew near dozen Spanish marines
aimed their Mausers at us and / saw that, In
western parlanee they had the drop. on us. rs
there any officer In that boat to receive sur
render of prisoners of war;? / shouted An old
man leaned out under the awning and waved
his hand. 1t was Admiral Cervera. The marines
lowered their rifles and we were helped into
the launch.
tThen we were put in cells In Moro castle
It was grand sight few days later to see
the bombardment the shells striking and burst
ing around Ell Morro Then we were taken into
C.r r bo5 fha o.y~t tio1 In thp
barracks My men were kept prisoners In the
hospital"
In his prison Hobson was visited by Spanish
officers who asked permission to shake his hand
and congratulate him for his courage. At his
request message was sent to Admiral Samp
son. telling the commander that he and his
men were safe and except for minor wounds
of two, Kelly and Murphy, that they had come
through their terrible experience unscathed.
At first the Spanish authorities refused to ex
change the prisoners. But at last on July 9
Hobson and his men were marched bllndfolded
through the Spanish lines to place halfway
between the Spanish trenches and the Amer
lean lines and the formallties of exchange were
completed by Spanish and American officers I'M
der a big ceiba tree.
Even before Hobson's release from prison the
news Of his deed had made him the man OF the
hour In America So when he was sent up to
New York with instructions to report to tho sec
rotary Of the navy at Washington on the con-
diton of the Spanish ships wrecked In the bat
tie OF Santiago which followed soon after his
exploit he was given such an ovation as no
man, since his time, except Colonel LIndbergh,
has known.
Next followed the kissing bee' which made
: him almost as famous as hts deed In Santiago
harbor. At Long Beach In August, 1893, st.
Louis girl asked permission to kiss the Merrimac
hero and he, blushIngly, gave permission After
that-the delugel Wherever he went, hundreds
of women mohbed him for the privilege of pay
Ing their osculatory respects.
Other honors came to him rapidly. Alabama,
his native state, was the first to propose giving
him jeweled sword He was raised ten num-
berS In the ranks of naval constructors and was
made captain. For more than year he en-
joyed the hero Worship of the nation, Then the
tickle public began to forget him when the news
papers ceased to chronicle his every movement
He was put In charge Of raising the wrecks
OF Spanish ships and in the course of this duty
he went to China to superintend the repairing
Of the Spanish ships sunk by Dewey at Manila
While there he began having trouble with his
eyesght and he asked to be retired from active
service BY this time the newspapers and the
public had definitely turned against him. His
heroism at Santiago was either forgotten or min
imized. His request to be retired was denied
and In 1903 he resigned his commission.
After his retirement he began making speeches
throughout the country advocating a large navy
and as early as 1902 he predicted the World
war which came Il years later In 1906 he was
elected to congress from his home district In
Alabama and during his eight years In congress
he served on the committee on naval affairs
Since his retirement from congress he has de-
voted his time to the cause OF prohibition and to
lighting the spread of the use Of narcotics
90 by Western Newspaper Union,