Newspapers / The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, … / May 10, 1898, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
f r r I I I 4 7 itr it Mud 0L. XXXI. :0.38. WILMINGTON, N. C, TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1893. $1.00 PER YEAR. JiyXo t I ,-1 . i A t ? v X j i": 3 8 ! t f i. ' .is r J tt j? ; 1 s 'J it HTTP J u The Subject of Discussion and Praise Among All Nationalities. 7TQ CPRAT QTTPEPTHPTTV PPHVPM iiu vjivin i ou l iivivivi ill lvvy v LjL The Battle of .Manila Planned in Detail Beforehand The Plans Car ried Out in the Utter Annihilation of the Spanish Fleet and Forts. Our Fleet Adjourns the Fight for Breakfast Fearful Ex ecution of Our Guns on the Spanish Vessels. Spanish Treachery Punished A Cool Span ish Officr -Spanish Loss Heavy. (Copyright by the Associated Press.) Hong Kong, May 7. The order of hurtle assumed 'by the Spanish was with all the small craft inside Cavite !hari;r behind stone and timber breakwaters- and the larger ships cruising off Cavite and Manila. No patrol was e.-?t a 'Wished n-or was a searehiligot plac ed at the entrance of the bay. On Saturday night the American hijs crept inside the bay without be Jug su-on until the iMeCulloch's funnel emitted a spark. Then a few shots were exchanged with Corregido Is Jand, but the fleet never stopped or (slowed down opposite the city until dawn. The Spanish ships then opened tfire, supjvorted by the Cavite forts. The "McCulloch remained at some distance and the enemy's shells pased hut did not tVmch her. The cruiser Baltimore suffered the most of any of the Amer ican ships. J'ive or ten shots, took ef Ox't on her, but none of her oflicers or crew was seriously hurt. Onfly a few flight injuries were suffered by the American fleet, the worst of which re sulted fro-m an explosion of ammuni tion on the deck of the Baltimore. The other .ship of the lleet were practically unhurt. One hundred and fifty Spaniards were killed and many were wounded. The cruiser Reina Christina was the worst damaged of the Spanish ships and 'it is believed that she was sunk. The other ships of the Spaniards were quickly riddled by the Americans' tire. Two torped y Wats from Cavite .were quickly driven to return to that place for shelter. The Cavite arsenal exploded and forty Spaniards were kiled. The forts made a nominal resistance. The bat tery has never capitulated and the Spaniards ashore are still defiant. INTENSE SUSPENSE. WathinpXon, May 7. A day of ex citment such as today has not been seen in Washing4 ton since the days when reports came in of great victo ries during the civil war. Official and 'unofficial Washington was in a ferment and few of tho employees in any of the departments could main tain their "composure sufficiently to go on with their routine 'work. They were in an explosive state and at the great state, war and navy department buildings, the least sign of dispatches or the gathering of crowd of reporters were sufficient to cause them to drop 'their woi-k and swarm in the corridors, clamoring for news. The excitement was contagious and senators and rep resentatives mixed in the crowds that gathered around the navy headquar ters and ga2ed wistfully at the Mahog any doors 'of the navigation 'bureau behind -which the cipher experts, un der lock and key, were slowly decipher ing the words that conveyed Dewey's glorious mesage to the American peo ple. Senator Hanna aroused the crowd at one time by leading with a hip, hip fcurraih for Dewey, and, later, a roar of -tentorian cheers from Theodore RooseveltV. room gathered everybody in the vast building to the east wing in time to witness the departure oi the eastern contingent of 'the mounted riflemen. "Mr. Roosevelt had said good nye to the 'boys before they started at L:40 this afternoon for San Antonio and the cheers was the means by which they took their leave. (Mr. iKoosevelt himself will follow tMonday or Tuesday. The state department has the honor of receiving the first news from the fleet. It came in tb shape of a cable gram of three words from the United States Consul Wild-man, at Hong Kong and was as follows: "Hong Kong. TMcCulloch Wildman." That is the usual 'form dn which naval mov-e-arcenta are reported by caile. This dis ILeh was revived by Third Assistant Secretary Cridler. who had been on duty all night, at 4:40 o'clock this morning. The naval officials were firomptly notified and awaited with in tense interest the dispatch whioh was expected to surely follow frosn Commo dore Dewey. , DEWEY'S ItKPORTS. About 9:30 o'clock Manager Marean, of the Western Union Telegraph Com pany appear at the department, bringing with him a sheet comprising four lines of the mysterious jargon which makes up the naval cipher. iHe landed this directly to Secretary liong, who gazed at It for a moment and turned it over tc Lieutenant vhktle 5ey, one of 'the eipher experts of the (navigation bureau, for translation into Snglish. Then 'the secretary made a pretense ot sitting djwn at his desk to transact other business, but it was nlain to be seen that in spirit he had Joined the anxious throng of news paper men and officials who thronged rthe recepton room and the corrdors waiting for the news. The naval cipher is one of the most complex in the world. The messages come In words of strange formation, taken from all languages. These words re.Uurn-ed "by the translating clerk fiyto groups of figures, -and these in dum are resolved into their equivolent A'orde in English. All Xhs takeg time. NAVAL FORCE In alttout half an hour Secretary Long appeared with a copy of the translat ed cipher in his hand. There was a great rush toward him, but th- secre tary good na.turedly made allowance for the excitement of the crowd and smiilingly read from the corner of the room into which he had been forced, the following cablegram: Manila, May 1. The squadron ar rived at Manila at daybreak ithis morning. It immediately engaged the enemy and destroyed the following Spanish vessels: Tleina Christina, Castilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa, Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba, general Lezo, Marques de Duero, Oorreo, Velasco, Isla de Mindanao, 'a. transport and the water battery at Cavite. The squadron is uninjured and only a few men are slightly wounded. The only means of telegraphing ii to the American consul at Hong Kong. I shall communicate with him. (S.igned) DEWEY." 'Before this a 1)rief summary of the cablegram, as far as received, had been given out 'by prominent officers, in which it was stated that Dewey cut the caTile himself, but was unable to take possession of the town of 'Ma nilla for lack of men; also that he had the bay and everything else complete ly at his mercy. It was noticed that the cablegram, as officially promulgat ed, did not entirely agree with this 'brief summary and the presumption was that in the short time accorded for consideration, the officials had con cluded that it was public policy to ex purgate the dispatch. A second dispatch was received from Commodore Dewey before noon. It was as follows: IN POSSESSION OF CAVITE. "Cavite, May 4. I have .taken poses sion of the naval station at Cavite, Philippine islands and destroyed its fortifications. I have destroyed the fortifications at the bay's entrance, paro'lling the garrison. I control the bay completely and can take the city at any time. The squadron is in excel lent health and spirits. The Spanish loss is not fully known, fbut is very heavy. One hundred and fifty were killed, including the captain of the Reina 'Maria. I am assisting in pro tecting the Spanish sick and wrounded. Two hundred and fifty sick and wound ed are in the hospital within our lines. There is much excitement at Manila. Will protect the foreign residents. (Signed) DEWEiY." A close study of Admiral Dewey's two cablegrams during" the day only increased the wonder felt early in the day by the naval experts at the extra ordinary results achieved by the ad miral with'oult injury. The reports that came (before the cutting of the cable were of a character to indicate that Dewey was roing to make quick and thorough work of the seizure of Manila, burt it was feared that in the fierce engagement against the Spanish fleet combined with the shore defenses the American fleet must surely have sustained a rd deal of damage, loss of life and other injuries. Yet In the destruction of the entire Spanish fleet and the silencing of their forfs, not an American life was lost and not an American ship was injured. There are all sorts of theories among the officials to account for this, tout in the ah sence of facts, it is hard to form a rea sonable hypothesis. Probably the true explanation will not "be forthcoming until mail advices are at hand, but the Spanish naval presitige has received a blow from the battle of Manila which it cannot recover in very many years. .".VIIY DEWEY CUT TILE CAlBLE. Admiral Dewey cut the caole him self and, though he offers no explana tion for so doing, it is believed that has purpose was not only to prevent "the Spanish governor general from com municating with his own government, "but also to prevent the foreign consuls at Manila from interfering with his plans by. cabling protests to their gov ernments. He made it impossible for them to summon any war vessels to enforce the protest .they were expected to make against the seige of Manila. A closer examinaJtion of the two cablegrams show that in the new as originally given out the names of two Spanish vesels had leen omitted from the list of those destroyed. They were the Don Juan de Austria and the Isla de Luzon. The Austria was a 1,130 ton vessel, 14 knots, carrying 4.7 anch guns and also machine guns. The Luzon was a 1,000 ton gunboat similar ly armed. That makes eleven Span ish ships destroyed by Dewey in the short space of two hours. As he left the navy department this afternoon. Secretary Long said in an swer to a question,-that he had noth ing further to communicate to the pub lic; lie had given already all of the news that the McCulloch ibrought, save a trifling detail, not of general inter est and of importance to the depart rnen The receipt of advices at the state department, however, from com mercial sources indicate that further news may be cominc' !by commercial steamers. If congress does not prematurely act, as i?t did in the case of Worden when he achieved his famous victory over the fMerrimac. Acting Admiral Dewey will 'become an actual admiral in a few days. The law of July 18, 1882, provides that naval officers who, upon the recommendation of the presiaent. receive the thanks of congress may be advanced one grade. The president wall do this in Dewey's case, which will put 1,000 additional in his pocket and jump him over three commodores, as well as over Acting Admiral Sampson. ANOTHER BOAT BOUGHT. Tha navy department today Hxmght another boat, the big steam yacht Dor othy, no.v at Cramp's yard at Phila delphia and built for McKean. She will be sent to Admiral Sampson's squadron or to Havana, on blockade duty. At the embassies and legations Com modore Dewey's reports were read with great interest and servea to re new the high tributes of the foreign authorities to the gallant American commander. The remarkable dispar ity probably was 'without a parallel In history. How the Spaniards could have lost 150 killed and 250 wounded, while the American loss was confined to a few jmen slightly injured, is re garded by the foreign observers as clearly disclosing the utter worthless ness of Spanish arms. The ambassa dor of one of the great powers said it showed that the guns of the Spanish forts, as well as those on their ships were worthless, otherwise they would have inflicted at least some mortality upon the American sailors. "It recalls Solferino," said ha "At that time France and Austria were at wr. The range of the French guns was longer than that of the Austrians. That brought them together on unequal term and the simple difference in the length of range of the French guns determin ed the outcome of that ibattle. So it was With Dewey. He not only had the guns, but they had the modern strength and destructiveness while the Spanish guns evidently were antiquated and guns only in name. It serves to show that in the warfare of today a nation must have weapons of the most mod ern patitern, else it is at a terrible dis advantage and its men ere left prac tically at the mercy of an enemy hav ing all the latest appliances of destruc tive warfare. It is the lesson of Sol ferino over again and ;this time Spain learns it." It was thought th'a't the Eritish em bassy would receive direct advices but none came. The French, German and other foreign establishments were also lacking in direct advices. In all foreign quarters much concern was shown as to the effect of these reports upon the temper of the people of Madrid. It was believed it would add fuel to the flames already existing there and that little more was needed to overthrow the government. Sir Julian Pauncefor'te called at the state department during the day, "but it was not in connection with the war. He came as dean of the .diplomatic corps to meet Secretary Day on hi's return. Official notice Was sent "by the state department today to the ambas sadors and ministers that Judge Day had assumed the duties of secretary of state, and the foreign officials will take early occasion to pay a formal call of respect to the new secretary. PiRJESI D BNT'S CONGRATULATIONS TO DEWtBY. Formal announcement of the bril liant achievement at Manila was made to the -president at 11 o'clock today by Secretary of the Navy Long. There was a large number of visitors during the day and to all the president either read or announced the substance of the cablegrams. There was mutual con gratulations in the great victory which all declared the most remorka'ble in the history of naval warfare. Secretary Long by direction of the president sent the following reply to Dewey. "Washington, May 7th, 1898. "Dewey, Manila. "The president, in the name of the American people, thank you and your officeirs and men for your splendid achievement and overwhelming vic tory. In recognition he has appointed you acting admiral, and will recom mend a vote of thanks to you .by con gress. LONG." Chicaga, May 7. The Chronicle has the following: Hong Kong, May 7. Commodore Dewty's flag lieutenant, Thomas M. Brumby, arrived at Hong Kong this morning on the United States revenue cutter Hugh McCulloch, with the first official news of the greatest naval bat tle of modern times, hat of Manila harbor. The official dispatches were at once forwarded by cable to the Unit ed States government at Washington. The first connected story of the en gagement was told by the officers of the McCulloch, who saw it and parti cipated in it. They said that Spain's fleet of ten vessels was wholly de stroyed. The Reina Maria Christina flagship of the Spanish squadron, was the centre of attack at the 'beginning of the action and under the hot fire poured in on her from the American ships, she was soon burning from stem to stern. Admiral Montejo, the Spanteh ad miral, was compelled to escape in a small boat to the Isla de Cufak, another of the Spanish vessels, and as soon as his flag was hoisted the guns of the American fleet were turned on it and in a few minutes it was destroyed. The admiral was again forced to escape in a small 'boat. The defenses of "Manila and its bat teries, as well as those at Cavite, were silenced and beaten to the ground toy the rain of shbt and shell. The American battle Unz was led by the flagship Olympia and the cruiser Raleigh. The Boston, Baltimore, Con cord and Petrel and the revenue cutter McCulloch followed. The American fleet in easy speed approached the Spanish ships, which were drawn out in two lines, the Reina Maria Chris tina, the flagship, in the center. As the dawn .broke and the position of the American squadron was dis covered the Spanish fleet immediately opened fire supported toy the Cavite forts The Spaniards fired the first shot. The challenge was given by the Reina Maria Christina. The Olympia replied and at once the entire Ameri can fleet was in action. The Spanish ships did not hesitate in their fire and the Cavite batteries let loose their heavy, guns . The best gunners in the American fleet manned the most de structive weapons on tiieir ehips and the havoc wrought was frightful. The Hugh McCulloch remained at some dis tance from the brunt of the encounter and thyenemy's shell passed but did not touch her. The marksmanship of the Spanish gunners seemed to te wild from the outset and, meanwhile, the main ships of the American squadron were pouring in a deadly tirv. doing great execution both in the Spanish fleet and in the Cavite fortifications on j land. j The American cruiser Baltimore, at j one period of the engagement received the brunt of the enemy's lire and suf fered the most of any vessel in the American squadron. From Ave to ten tons of the enemy's shot took effect on the Baltimore, but none of her crew , wa3 seriously hurt. j As soon as the Spanish admiral left : the vueina Maria Christina and boarded the Isle de Cuba, the fire was directed at th later mercilessly, every 8 inch , gun on every ehlp joining those of the flagship. The Isla de Cuba was riddl ed. After aa few rounds she was put out of action and almost before Admiral Montejo had had time to get his bear ings he was driven out a second time. The Spanish cruiser Castilla burst in to flames under the remarkable gun- knery of Dewey's men. The American cotmnrodoTe then directed a hot fire against the batteries. Thi3 ww a sur prise to Admiral Montejo, who appar ently thought himself secure under the guns of the Cavite fortifications. Hong Kong, May 7. When the American ships were nearing Baker bay a sudden upheaval of the waters occurred a little distance in front of the leading ship and quickly following this a second water spout denoted that the Spaniards had fired a couple of mines or torpedoes, but their efforts to blow up the ships were unsuccessful. A torpedo boat tried to creep along the shore, round the offing and attack the non-combatants Zaflro, Nanshaw and McCulloch, but was driven off and ! shot into bits. The Mindanao was run on to the beach and the other small craft retired behind the Mole. The fight started at 5:30 o'clock, was ad journed at 8:30 o'clock and resumed about noon. The finishing touches were given to Cavite by the Petrel and Concord at 2 o'clock. The Raleigh grounded twice in shallow water dur ing the engagement. The Spanish ships caught fire one after another, or were driven to grounding to save their crews. Com ..modore Dewey continued the fighting until the last vessel of the enemy had been destroyed. By that time the shore batteries were silenced and the American fleet had won a most re markable victory. The American ships were kept under way to manoeuvre about the Spanish fleet. By this means much of the enemy's fire was rendered harmless. The spectacle of the Amer ican warships manoeuvring as if on parade, and at the same time direct ing terriffic fire at the enemy's shi(is and forts was a magnificent tribute to the skill and discipline of modern na val warfare. The terms of capitulation are still unsettled; Commodore Dewey fears rioting by the rebels if he attempts a bombardment. The forts at the entrance to the bay capitulated, and were dismantled- on Wednesday. The Americans cut the cable because the Spaniards refused to permit them to use it pending the surrender of the city, and it is, there fore, not known what is transpiring on shore. (Copyright by Associated Press.) Hong Kong, May 8. Among naval men, military men and civilians, Eu ropeans and natives here today, there is only one subject of discussion, the brilliant, dashing, annihilating victorv ! of the American fleet under Commo dore Dewey over the Spanish fleet com manded by Admiral Montejo, in Ma nila bay, on Sunday last. Owing to the fact that the cable be tween this port and the Philippine is lands was not in working order, having been cut, it is said, some distance from the capital of the islands, there has been delay in obtaining a detailed ac count of the battle and facts in the case were only available when the Uni ted States gunboat Hugh McCulloh ar rived here yesterday and even then the tremendous pressure of business, suddenly thrown upon the cable com pany necessarily made the earlier ac counts of the engagement somewhat brief. Commodore Dewey's orders were to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet, and never were instructions executed in se complete a fashion. At the end of seven hours there was absolutely nothing left of the Spanish fleet but a few relics. EVERY DETAIL PREARRANGED. The American commander had most skilfully arranged every detail of the action, and even the apparently most insignificant features were carried out with perfect punctuality and in rail road time table order. At the end of the action Commodore Dewey anchored his fleet in the bay, before Manila, and sent a message to Governor General August!, announc ing the inauguration of the blockade and adding that if a shot was fired against his ships, he would destroy ev ery battery about Manila. The positions occupied by the Span iards, the support which their ships re ceived from land batteries and the big guns they had ashore gave them an enormous advantage. Therefore, when it is considered that the Spaniards lost over 600 men in killed and wounded; that all their ships, amounting to about fourteen, were destroyed and that their naval arsenal. at Cavite was also destroyed, with its defences, it will become apparent that the victory of the American commodore is one of the most complete and wonderful acheievements in the history of naval warfare. Not a man on board the American fleet was killed, not a ship was damaged to any extent, and only six men were Injured slightly on board the Baltimore. This grand achievement is quite as much due to the generalship of Commodore Dewey as to the fact i that the American gunners, ships and guns are superior to anything in the same line afloat anywhere. Credit must also be given to the fullest ex tent to the officers under Commodore Dewey, for, to a man. they seconded their gallant commander In every way possible and thus helped him earn the laurels which are so justly his. When the squadron left here it touch ed first at a point In the Philippine islands,1 near Bolinao, as Commodore Dewey wished the insurgents agents to disembark there, to ascertain the strength and disposition of the insur gent forces; to arrange to prevent needless bloodshed and to inform the insurgents of his intention to change the government of the Philippine is lands. The commodore strongly ob jected to giving the rebels a chance to commit excesses. The insurgent, lead ers, however, refused to disembark un der any consideration and the Ameri can ships coasted in search of the Spanish ships, but failed to find them. Commodore Dewey arirved at Siblg bay, about thirty miles north of Manila bay, on Saturday, April 30th, and sent the Baltimore and the Concord to re connoitre the enemy. They found no Spanish ships at the entrance of the bay. and so the commodore decided to risk the mines and proceed that same night after dark Into the bay of Ma nila, which he did. The order of battle taken up by the Spaniards was with all the small craft Inside the stone and timber break waters of Cavite harbor. The larger ships of Spain cruised off Cavite and Manila. ENTERING THE BAY AT NIGHT. The American fleet entered Manila bay on Saturday night with the great est of ease. The Spaniards had not es tablished a patrol and there were no searchlights at the entrance of the bay. In fact, the American ships would probably have passed inside the bay without any challenge had it not been that some sparks flew from the Mc culloch's funnel. Thereupon a few shots were exchanged with the batter ies on Corregidor island, but the fleet did not slow down, and soon took up a position near Cavite, awaiting dawn in order to commence hostilities. The early hours of the morning re vealed the opposing ships to each oth er, and the Spanish flagship opened fire. Her action was followed by some of the larger Spanish wi rcVi no o ml then the Cavite forts opened up and j J"J.-rom estimates place the mini -the smaller Spanish vessels brought bor of Danish wounded during the rn- Spanish vessels b rough their guns Into play. The American squadron which had been led into the bay and through the channel by the flagship Olympia, did not reply, though the shells of the Spaniards began to strike the water around them. The ships moved majestically onward. When nearing Baker bay. a sudden un heaval of water a short distance ahead of the Olympia showed that the Span iards had exploded a mine or a tor pedo. This was followed by a second ! and similar explosion. They were both t-iv r,ecef.ii Th Amr-riran utterly unsuccessful. The American fleet was then drawing nearer and nearer to the Spaniards, whose gunnery was very poor, the shots from the Ca vite batteries and from the Spanish ships being equally badly aimed, eith er falling short or going wide of the mark. When the American fleet entered the bay, coming through the southern channel between the Caballo Fiile islets, the following was their order: The flagship Olj'mpia, , Baltimore, Ra leigh, Concord, Boston, Petrel and Mc Culloch, with the two store ships, the Nanshan and Zafiro, bringing up the rear. And in that order they swept grandly before the city and faced the enemy in column line. Though the Spaniards had opened fire at 6,000 yards, the Americans re served their fire "until wltnln'4,000 yards of the enemy, when the real battle be gan. The Reina Christina, Castilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa, Isle de Cuba, Isla de Luzon, and the Mindanao were in line of battle outside of Cavite at that time, with four gunboats and the torpedo boats inside the harbor. A HAIL OF SHOT AND SHELL. The American ships then passed backward and forward six times across the front of the Spaniards, pouring In upon the latter a perfect hall of shot and sViaII Rvprv Amprlran ehrt coAm ed to tell, while almost every Spanish j shot missed the mark. After having thus scattered death and demoraliza- tlon among the Spanish fleet and In the Spanish batteries, the American fleet I retired for breakfast and. Incidentally, a council of war was held on board the Olympia. WENT DOWN WITH COLORS FLY ING, j By this time'the Spanish ships were in a desperate condition. The flagship Reina Christina was riddled with shot and shell, one of her .steam pipes had bursted and she was believed to be on fire. The Castilla was certainly on fire, and soon afterwards they were entirely burned to the water's edge. The Don Antonio de Ulloa made a mag nificant show of desperate bravery. When her commander found she was so torn by the American shells that he could not keep her afloat, he nailed her colors to the mast and she went down with all hands fighting to the last. Her hull was completely riddled and her upper deck had been swept clean by the awful fire of the American guns, but the Spaniards, though their vessels were sinking beneath them, continued working the guns on her lower deck until she sank. During the engagement a Spanish torpedo boat crept along the shore and around the offing, in an attempt to at tack the American storeshlps, but she was promptly discovered, was driven ashore and shot to pieces. The Mindanao had In the meanwhile been run ashore to save her from sink ing and the Spanish small craft had sought shelter from the steel storm behind the breakwater. THE FINISHING TOUCHES. The battle, which was started at about 5:20 o'clock a. m., and adjourned at 8:30 o'clock a. m., was resumed about noon, when Commodore Dewey started in to put on the finishing touches of his glorious work. There was not much fight left in the Span iards by that time and at 2 o'clock p. m., the Petrel and the Concord had shot the Cavite batteries into silence, leaving tlsem heaps of ruins and float ing the vhite flag. The Spanish gun boats were then scuttled, the arsenal was on fire and the explosion of a Spanish magazine caused further mor tality among the defenders of Spain cn shore. THE ONLY INJURY TO THE AMER ICANS. On the water the burnirg, sunken or destroyed Spanish vessels could be seen while only the cruiser Baltimore had suffered in any way from the fire of the enemy. A shot which struck her exploded some ammunition near one of her guns and slightly injured half a dozen of the crew. Several shots passed dangerously close to Commo dore Dewey, but little or no damage was done on board the flagship. The I Olympia was struck five times about I her upper works and a whaleboat of j the Raleigh was smashed. TTm to tWtojfct rMfeMttof , MX. ActMl Imu ttmm h M mm Absolutely Pure CU fcAK FCwMfl CO., Of . SPANISH LOSSES. 1 1 On the other hand, ithout 1W mert are said to have been killed on Uvird the Reina Christina, which whs total ly destroyed. Admiral Montejo. tin Spanish commander, tranferrd ht flag to the Isla de Cuba, when bin snlj caught fire, but the latter was destmy od also In due course of time. Th Reina Christina lost her captain. it lieutenant, her chaplain and a mid shipman by one shot which struck her bridge. About 100 men wen kllb-d .ml 1 iftm.!,..! . till. ' 1 A " i'uii-u iiii in Willi i II" a-Miu;v gageniejU at over 1,000. Although the Krupp guns on tb' es planade of Manila wen fird continu ously during the engagement. Commo dore Dewey did not reply to them rind the battery afterward hoisted n white flag In token of surrender. The term of the capitulation were still unset t bit when the McCulloch left Manila ami it was said Commodore Dewey feared rioting upon the part of the insurgent ,f he attempted a bombardment of t!ir ralnf,n; f,'rt Rations at Manih, Tne forts a the entrance of the bay were dismantled on uednchday. after they hail capitulated. It Is Faid the American commndore ordered the cable cut because thf? Spaniards refused to penult him to :c it pending the complete surrender of the city. ., It is said that the Spanish ships ditl not get under steam until after the alarm was given. It is ald also that the Spanish commander Informed thir governor general that It was advisable to surrender In the interests of hu manity, as It was Impossible to resist successfully, but that he and Ids men were willing enough to flKht and die. Even when the Spanish flagship wa shot half away her commander, though wounded, refused to leave the bridge till the ship was burning und Fluk ing, her ntern shattered by n common shell and her steam plpehurst. As yet. there are no further detaH. of the fighting. After It was over, Com modore Dewey sent an ultimatum t the city battery, ordering It to cea.se firing or he would bombard. SPANISH COOLNESS. The Petrel chased a gunboat up th river Pasig. and the Spanish captu came in a loat to negotiate condition of surrender. The American captum replied: "Unconditional surrender r fight." To this the Spaniard answered: "W are willing to fight. Please allow m to send for ammunition, because- oar store is exhausted." On a proposal to the existing au thorities to continue temporarily un der the American flag, pending the ter mination of the war, the Spaniard delayed their decision and kept ulrinc to Madrid. The Americans requested the privilege of using the wire nut when this was refused they cut tr.? cable. The Esmeralda, from Hong Kong, ar rived right in the middle or the battk. During the adjournment for breakfast an American cruiser was detached to meet her, as It was believed she might be a Spaniard. When It was fourwl that the new arrival was a Brltisbf -e-pel, she was warned to keep aw Th Esmeralda, therefore, moved up tbc bay ten or fifteen miles. There are still two or three Hparittt gunboats about the Philippines, but no resistance from them Is probable.. One recently captured an Americai bark. MANILA EVACUATED. Madrid, May 8. 11 a. m. It is claim ed that a message has been received here from Manila, anouncing that ttwr Spanish troops have retired, from Ma nila, taking with them all ti. -rinrv -ammunition and stores. " Z London, May 9. The Hong Kong cor- respondent of The Dally Mail gives th following additional details: "There was an act of treachery in the part of a Spanish ship which low ered her flag and then fired at a boat's crew sent to take possession of l;rr She did not hit the boat, but our guns were turned on her and tore her ti pieces. 8he went to the bottom with alt on board. Several vessels close In shorts behaved In the same way and shared . her fate. "The Spaniard had fought to tbef last gasp and now surrendered,. Thex had been anonunclng that the Ameri cans would kill every one In Cavite anA when we landed a long procession rT priests and sisters of mercy met tj boat from the Petrel and begged wir taen not to injure the wounded in the hospitals. As a matter of fact, the Americans rescued some 200 Spanlaiite and sent them ashore. "All the Spanish vessels are destroy ed, with 2.000 men. The Spanish esti mate gives their loss at 1,000 killed aitf wounded. In the Reina Maria Christ in 200 men are believed to have been kill ed or drowned. "The officers of the McCulloch, "witli whom I conversed today, bear testi mony to the bravery of the Spaniard. They particularly praised the gallant: crew of the Castilla, whom they de scribe as 'the bravest men ever sack ed In battle. They consider the resxilfc of the fight a remarkable Instance fT the advantage of long range firing ta the side which Is better In artillery: and marksmanship. "Private papers captured af Carite- (Contlnued on Eighth Page.) 0 f
The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 10, 1898, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75