Newspapers / The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, … / June 5, 1898, edition 1 / Page 1
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vi. i n . : ' VOL. XI. No. 140. WILMINGTON, N. C, SUNLXtY, JIJNE PRICE 5 CENTS. '. " ' ' "'' " -' ' - - i . - - - - - . .; - : - ' " " "" - ' ' " ' ' v - ' . , r - : : - : : : - 1 I - . 1 4. SPAIN'S SPY Laid Bare by Securing a Letter from Senor Carrraiizato a Friend in Madrid. INGENIOUS DETECTIVE WORK. Treasury f Secret Service Men Watching the Former Naval Attachee of Spain . Ever Since Arriving at Montreal Rewarded by Securing t" his ibtterCarranza Writes of His Spy Work Two of , ; His Men Captured, One of Whom Committed Sui- cide--His Discussion of the Plans of the ; : ' : , -.- i . ,' . . - - War of Both Nations, f " TVfebliingJi&a', June 4. Chief Wilkie, of "the Urii ted States treasury service, toftay made public the letter fwhich vius recently, written by Mr. Carranza, farmer -naval attachee of the Spanish Aeration in Washington, now itv Mon Hreal, to a party in the office 3f the SSpahish minister of marine, at Ha3rid, find 'socured by Mr. Wilkie's opera- Mivefs and brought to Washington. The iHcials here do not know whQ Senor "Iniay is, but believe, he is a high of flcial. The letter was received here jabout one week ago, but for politic "Treasons it has been withheld until to- . ay. Copies this morning were furnish-J-ed to the president, the secretary of the. treasury .and the secretary of -state, and it iis altogether probable that action will be immediately taken to secure the instant departure of the Spanish contingent from Canadian soil. - ' : 1 The letter is oftth'e most sensational character and discloses the very elab orate spy system which has been con ducted in this country in the interest of Spain. Since their departure f rom this city,' Chief Wilkie's agents have been fully -cognizant of every move of the Spaniards and for the last sev eral weeks. he has had agents employ ed in the houses where they lodged and nothtog of. interest has apparent ly escaped their vigilance. Thes letter, however, was secured by an operative who called at the house in the capacity of a health officer while Mr. Carranza was at dinner. The letter wa3 found on his table address-, ed for -mailing. It was handed iy this man to .another in waiting and . from him, to -a1 1 thirds who instantly parted "with it tto Washington. The party un der suspicion in Montreal of having taken the! letter, Chief Wilkie says, is entirely -: innocent,, the man who took the letter - never having been in the house 'before. The officials who have had .knowledge of Chief Wilkie's moves regard it as one of the 'most clever pieces of detective work ever done in this country . The letter is as follows: Montreal, May 26, 1898: "Tupper Street, 42. "To His 'Excellency, Senor Don Jose Gomez 'Imay: "My; Dear Don Jose It was "my be lief that they would have appointed you to command the Cadiz fleet, and it was my intention to have sent you a telegram asking that you take me with you, or to meet you in the An tilles, or wherever you might say. The " case has not' turned out thus, how ever, arid it seems as though God were not' on our side, because the election of Senor Camara, I fear, will "be fatal, although he may have a good chief of staff, i No one could possibly, suit him, because he is 'very capricious, arid be sides, is not a hard worker, on the contrary, he is lazy and would pay no attention to the advice of any one. Toil -will not taTtce this for flattery, but today; no one -tout you and Don Pas ciualei should have command of our fleet, and this i is the belief of the younger element of the personnel. Now there is no-remedy, and may G6d shed . His light upon him and keep him t in His -hands. . . V "J wrote to the minister and with th continence dite to my special au ties, I said to him, on sending -aclip-ping from a newspaper .containing a telegram from ' Cadiz, speaking of our fleet and of its admiral, that it -was not Senor Camara, bat you who shcruld cormnand it; and tJuat we, the lower personnel, ho have traveled abou. a i The peoiple all -over Ws city are re porting that the Aetna JLitha Water ds the finest waiter they hah?e ever used. tEvery many , who Oias toeen using it eely is today advising Ws Ifriends to ftry -it hecatise he is getting each .relief rom it. People who use one bottle arid quit have nothing to -say for it etause ithat one botitle did not make a fiBiil cure. This is not Justice, prink ireely of Aetna Lithia Water and "we wrlll guarantee it will relieve yon of all we claim for it, or your money will 1g refunded. ' R. E. WARD. Agent, BUI1TIHGS PMRDACY. ran inn MR fleina little, know you very w4ll. It may be that this action may have made a bad impression on him, but I don't care, because if I .can do so, I shall leave the service when this war is finished. "I have beenlef t here to receive and send telegrams and to look after the spy service which I have organized, or,, I had better say, am establishing here, because until a very little while ago I was not permitted to do as I pleased. TWO BEST SPIES CAPTURED. ; "We have had bad luck because they have captured our two best spies, one in Washington, .who hanged himself or else they did it for him and the other day before yesterday in Tampa. The ; Americans are showing the most .extraordinary vigilance. I do not wish to remain here without taking an ac tive part in the war, and I desire duty in which I. can take the initiative and do something. I shall be extremely gratified to have a ship, in order to run the blockade, or a torpedo boat anything rather than playing second fiddle. However, if there is ho other remedy, I -would go perfectly willingly on board a large ship.. I am very sorry that this war finds me so low in rank, for it offers opportunities for any one who wishes to work and to risk him self. ' CERVERA'S PLANS. "I" cannot believe that Don Pasquale could be in Santiago as reported by the American press. He entered it on the l'Sth, and if he had gone immedi ately to Havana he would have met only twro monitors in front of it. v I make, it out that he entered, that place only to coal, and for the moral effect; it would produce lh Spain. Suppose he. went out Friday, the 20th, if he tiad gone to . the north and through the Province channel, he would have pass ed into Havana right under the noses of the Americans, who had only small cruisers; for Schley was at sea on the night of Thursday, Sampson on that of Friday, and on that of Sunday, the 22rid, he took he lower channel, for the east, and on Wednesday turned to wards Havana.1 Schley's squadron has oeen reinforced "by the Iowa, and Sampson's "by the Oregon. I believe that in war one has to tempt fortune. If it " had not been "because Sampson was afraid that Don Pasquale might go to Havana and' that Schley would not be there, or our confidence' is well errounded that he found himself very short of ammunition after the bom bardment 'through the stealing in the ordnance department, the fact remains that it wjas logical for his' to remain near Santiago and Cienfuegos and if he could prevent the entrance of our squadron, to shut.it np, and thus close its campaign as those people over there already believe, it closed. But I cannot believe such a stupid thing possible. I suppose that Tie went to the south or Porto Rico and that he had " ordered a cruiser or two there to cover the JTerror and that he will appear at San Juan on the 27th and 28th. He. will coal, there and will then return to delay and annoy them and delay the invasion. Th "Vizcaya and the O'Quendo at least need go Into dry- "Qock. -: . . 'f- GIVING CERVERA INFORMATION. "I telegraphed to Don Pasquale on the morning of the 20tIT"'when I knew he was in Santiago, saying that the squadrons wer at" Key West. He did not answer me. 'That afternoon there was another telegram from Madrid saying he had left Santiago. I con tinued sending messages to General Blanco in respect to all the movements and now, so far as I know, Don Pas quale has arrived Porto Rico, where I shfc.ll' try to conmrunicate with him. "If he should hav-e set out for Mar tinique, .or Havana, ' having twenty four hour's advantage, he would hav arriveti before now. I "am very much afraid Jest they attack Porto , Rico by sea and land and put off the attack on Havana. They are not going to do .tnore than try to take the latter and fthey think then, if they destroy our fleet, of taking thenar into Spain with -Havana already in tfeeir power They have no confidence in their arrhy, but they have in their navy and they are afraid or -our army and of yellow fe ver, because if the men should begin to die in Cuba; there wcmld be a tremendous row, as they are not like our people. Anyway, we shall see when there, is news of the fleet. I ex pect it tomorrow with them cleaning their trulls at he Keys, itve should he able to clean something in three days at Porto'. Rico. Each day that passes is worse for us on accunot of the t al most total lack of preparations. If the Cadiz squadron is to come to. bombard Boston, Portland, Long Island, they can do it now, but after a few months it will be too late, URGES PEACE. '-Ii think if we are to h&.ve any suc cess in this matter! it will be through treating; for peace by yielding Cuba and having1 'them recognize the debt.sIf we do not do this soon it will tje too late and we ishall lose Cuba 'and Pcrto Rico and all that this war 'has 'cost us, arid in addition, we shall be charged with the Cuban debt, for which our treasury is responsible. There is no doubt here that we cannot continue this war in which we have nothing to gain and may lose our tljree colonies and -be ruined for fifty years. THE MATTER OF MONET. "In the matter of money, there is, no patriotism here. Proof is given by the bank which ought to have bought gold, although at a premium of 100 per cent., and issued notes against it in the same or a slightly greater quantity. With" 150,000 it has made 1,300,000,000. This is the moment of the year -at which instead of returning 23 or 24 per cent., it returns only 12 of 15. As re Igards its buying gold, exchange has igone down, and if in buying 400,000,000 jit issues 500,000,000, ' paying 600 or 700, inasmuch as to the state subscribes at the rate of jper cent., this would represent to the bank an interest of about 3 per cent., and its dividend would have gone down very little. The bank is the nation, and with the nationN it has grown rich by offering to pay money, which it did' not have in its treasury, and by. getting interest on that which it really never had given out. But whatever the bank does, no body dares object, except those who have no money in their pants if they should call for it. "I have written to the minister, but I did not give him so much news of the fleets as to you, because I had other thinks to speak of. If you should see him you might give him some hews. We shall see when they relieve me and send , some one here , to work and not .amuse himself. I can imagine your anxiety for Francisco and the rest, an anxiety that we share. .Their terrible ships do not go as fast as ours by -perhaps two and a half miles. As for the monitors, they don't count for much, they can be used only to bom-, bard in a smooth sea and, besides, cannot go fast and carry very litle coal. ; They have delayed Sampson the whole voyage. . ! "My regards to Rafael and his daughters, . and you know how, much your kinsman and subordinate loves you, . (Signed) "RAMON CARRANZA." "1 should be, glad to have you write me your opinions. Tou know how much I apreciate them. If the squad- r IHPOETANT EVENTS OF TfiE BAT . The Merrimac was Sent . Into Santiland Snnk by Ji Crew, to Close the Channel. , 11 1 ' i When Volunteers Were Called, to ?Mn1'th3ierimac, 4,6V-. Men Volunteered. - "v .. ' . - I . ' : -;;fiv-v r ; Tne Man wno Commaudcd therripc is a Grand SqiS? the Late Chief Justice Pearson of North Carolina. 1 . Rumor Says the President of San Domingo has Been Assas sinated. , " y f"-V; ': ' 'W' ' All the Cables Leading from Cuba Have Been Cut. . j i" No Credit is Given the Spanish? Report that the Wreck of' te Merrimac has Been Removed. 5t? - - v ' ' There is Further Cannonading at Santiago. v-' l There is Report of the Assassination of the President f San Domingo and the Defeat of the Insurgents is Denied. ' J Reports are Made of Firing off Martinique. 1J Troops Leave Atlanta for San Francisco, ;to gQ to lanila:1 ' J.W.Moody, of Atlanta, of been Arrested. . The Marietta Arrives at Key General Lee Appoints Harrison and Ilobart on His Staff.; 0 rpn is in Cuba, they are going to de stroy its -wretched , fortification and sink a couple of steamers in the mouth.' They have already (telegraphed to Key West for them to see if they have got them there, and the inventor, I Holland, offers his submarine boat to destroy the mines." I The Cuban question and political is sues sink into insignificance with the man who "suffers from piles. What he most desires, 'is relief. For sale by R. It. Bellamy. Xne-Marietta Beaches Key West. Key West, June 4: Tfhe United States gunxat Marietta; Commander F. M. Simnuons, arrived here at 7:30 o'clock this morning from San 'Francisco, Oal., which port she lef t on March 16th. The itrip was uneventfuil ancE there was not even a case of . sickness a'board. (Much of the voy age was made in company with the bat tleship Oregon, and, the first question of the Marietta's officers was as to the Ore-' gon's wherealbouts. After the Marietta passed Cape Horn she qe$t a stoarp lookout for the Spanish torpedo gunboat Temerario, wOiich . was spposed to be hunting for the Oregon. The iMarie'fcta's' officers were very anxious to meet the Spaniards, and they say thai if a meeting- had itakeni place they Wouldn surely hawse sunk fher. 'Doiring- the entire voyage they sighted only half a dozen vessels- Negro Woman Snot at a Festival. . (Sineclaul to The Messenger.) Goldsoiboro, N. C, Juhe 4. 'Lizzie .Malm, a negro woman who Was shot at a negro festival- Tlrusrsday night, Sed this afternoon 'An5drew jLane and Lee MaHone were fighting and Lane fired a pistol at tMalone, and struck thf woman in the aibdtomeh. Lane and MaJone, are in jail. - H"norable F. M. Simmons, was re commended for state chairman at a meeting of county dem'ocratic executive committee her this afternoon. i - - . On General Lee's Staff. 'JackiKivHle, Fla., June-4. (Major Gen eral Fftzhligh Jjee, In. command' of the Seventh army copra, headquarters for wfliieh halwe been definitely estaWihed in this city, "has appoinred on his staff Rus sell Harris'osa, son of ex-PreBident Har rison, ami a son of Vice' President Ho "bart. Mr. Hsotnart will, be assistant adju tant igeneral a?wi Dir. ; Harrison probabJy inspector generai. ' Traops Leave Atlanto for San Fran" ' . - -. ciaco Atlanta, Ga., June 4 The recruits from "Port McPherson intemZed for service in the Philippines, left tonight in, two spe cial trains for San Francisco by way of iNew Orleans. They are a fine looking set of men and-fully equippesj. . j 1- Seiit to Conference : :.r.;jl:J$.;ENATE. :. ' Washhtgn; June 4.4-Wfthi ; evi- J den.ee of xcment and witlKyt incin rr."' dent wbthy of special note,' with. manifestations of deep interest, the war revenue measure was passed in the senate, this evening atv7gf clock. The ;bill a under considerati eight hours today. ' A score S Or morfof at tempts were made to amend Itpiailt in ' only three or four instances wre .she ttenisrXafifccessjrul. - IA particular ef fort was made to amend the'toofwf pro vision, fbuit jt was futile in-evvfry in stance.' "gX' -I''.''. ' f . 4- ' ..; fThe most notahle amendment fKade to the measure- was that Offered ?b Sena tor Tillmah-, t democraft, of Sout Caro lina, placing a duty of 10 cents 0 pound on all tea imsported intfa the United States. The amen'dment createmo de bate and. was adopted J iby a vw i& of 38 to 32, It ia calculated by the senate ex perts fhati; vtbe duty, If it- teefinaily enacted into law,! will raise, 'ii- least $10,000,000 ayear and profeaJbly fifiore. 'Ant" amendment., offered Iby Jyenator ChStQn, democrat, of Texas,, a erhher of the. finance committee, provides for a: tax graduate'd according -.tJ price uon all iartrdles sold "under a:atent ri,ght, trade mark or natae not Upen to general use . and which are nofoother wise taxed y the bill. . ; Through X an! .amendmerft - offflred by Senator - lAndsay,y democrat;: Ken tucky, the senate decided not lplace a stamp taxi upon bundles of wspa pers, wnouy. or . partly pnnted nicn. weigh legs than100 pounds. -: A tax, opEI Jcenits . a 'barrel 'alaced on adulterated flour and aistap tax of 1 cent6n every ticket erititlpg the holder, tof a seat in a palace otijjparlor car or feeh-!in the sleeping 0, the cumpanyvfeltirig the seat or. lbefiJh be ing requifekl. to affix the stamp.; -1 . On the passage of the arieasureevery republieaji'i voted in the aifirmalt'e. By parties- the vote. in favor of thSgjmeas ure was, las follows: Republican's 39,. Democraff'7, Popul'ist 1, and.s:iier re- publicans! 1, total 48. ; J " : k Againslt the .(bill. the. vote was: demo crats 20, Populists 7, and silver iepub j lican 1, otai 28. The ! democrat" w ho : voted for the tbill were Messrs. ' (?arJery, CoTman, Lindsay, CMcfEnery, M;,tlqhell, Murphy, mdTurpie. The popuit was Senator Kyle" and (the silver reiwi-iblican if 1 s n firm of Moody & Brewster, hs . : r West. A"' h: V, was Sena'tbr Mantle. Senator Allison moved that tie sen ate insist upon its amendment 'and that conferees, be appointed,. mo tion was iagBeed to' and Messrs' lljson," Aldrich and Jones (Arkansasf were mimed aatJohf erees. ( ' ::'-:-:Wt '-' The seiCala then at 7:12 (p; m. ailatira- IICStElCiF1-; REPRteSE'NTAfES. Upon request of MrJ DfngSV the hkDuse ordered the sprinting- of 5.) cop. ies- 'c:.i4jrfevenu:elb'ill as h 3h pass the senate. . '" -.l--''--:- Mr. Payne, repnibii!can; of WtfTork,1 called n'p. the senate bill ",ltb "gnt an calling up the senate bill to gnt .an II wls passed. '.....'( ', ' The house adjourned at 12:47 J''clcck p ta. Troops Leave Mobile on Tra:ortg, (Mobile, Ala.',- June The .fleet e trans 5Krts left f this morning between' u 80 and 10 o'clock - wi th, the Third .and Twentieth infantry reglnienits. and a part of ifjie Sec ond cavalry. ;. 'Four vessels, ithesMatte wan,. (the Breakwater, the Sti11wajer, and the Morgan, carried' the- troops a?d. were accompanied, by the Aransas wTfV wag ons, trains, etc. All the steam Ohistles on tihe river- frint were set goinHfihlle thousankis(;of 1 eptators gathere.' along the whaTve$, 1 raised a continuouy cheer ing as the. vessels passed. Theajflotma made the passage of the channetWtaiouit detention anywhere and I on. arriving at Fort Morgan1- the- fort fired a saite and the transport's dipped' their fia.' The vessels put -to sea at once. ' - f The Nineteenth infantry and tFfifh.; cav alry left by rail 'this 'mornintg for2amp The only r -regjuJar troops ini 'caifp here now are the Eleventh infantry. ' Tne Atlanta Pail lire. Atlanta, Ga., June 4. John T.oody, senior "member of the . (failed df j goods firm of Moody & Brewster, was . rrested today on the charge off cheatir? and swindling. 3Ioody at once gave amond of 11,000, signed by five bankers. iMa" iy new creditorsi ap?peajredl during the dpr and filed interventions. One half mMto dol lars sis the estimate -now imadepf the w - r - I iters. It was! learned today that Brews- ter, the missing member of he,nwdrew if Vhk iardTwiTl fe- to from ArtJantaitoanks the -day ' besore n iprotoatole that theSpaniarOs Will Jtr xo left about $16,000 in cash; wrote ut the : tolow up the Merrimac, tout it is im checks, made -them payable to cssh and pTotoatole that they will suceed. Specu drew 'the j-nrohey ' himself . - The Checks were taken- from tthe mlM3e of th check ixyok with '-nothing on the stub t show the amount taken. .t!T- . : : -A ' 2flrs Atkinson Again Indict? d. GIennvilIe W. Va., June 4. TbM grand Jury itodayHrefturnedi a. true bill gainst OovenTor Atkinson's wife, chargjpg- her with forgery. She was at once -' wrought into court and held to appear jider a J3,0CK : boildV. :, . r ',v-w. ..c U'.t-JLI i OF Of Lieutenant Hobson and the Volunteer drew of the ESCAPE THEIR They Take the Merrimac Into the Channel of Santiago and Explode & Mine in Her, Under Terrific Fire From the Enemy-Unable to Keturn, ljiey flake ioat and burrender to the Enemy ' On Call for Volunteers to Man the Merrimac, ' Four Thousand Men Offer Cervera's Ack nowledgement of their Bravery. Weshington, June 4. The navy de partment has posted the t ollowing bul letin: - ." The navy'.deDaxtment at 3 o'clock received the folowing dispatch: 'Mole, Hayti, June 4. i succeeded in sinking the MerrimaJc in the channel of Santiago at 4 o'clock a. m., JTune Srd. This was carierd out most gallantly un der the command of Naval Constructor Jlotson and seven; men. By a flag of truce from the Spanish 'Admiral Cer vcra, sent in recognition of their hrav ery, I am informed all are pri5iers of war, two sllghtly wounded. I request authority to approve exchange if pos sible between these and the prisoners at Atlanta. :Six of .the Spanish squacj ron are in tte harhor of Santiago de Cuba, unable to avod Ibeng captiured or destroyed. ' .y ' -- "SAMPSON." ' SINKING THE MERRIMAC (Copyright by Associated Press.) - On Board the Associated Press Dis patch Boat 'Dauntless, Off Santiago de Cuba, June 4th (Via Kingston, Ja,, June 4.) Hear Admiral Sampson, dur ing Friday mornirig decided to close.the narroNv harbor entrance of Santiago de Cuba -by sinking the' collier Merrimac, loaded with coal, in the channel,. He called for. volunteers to go- to almost certain-death and 4,000 men! offered themselves. iLieutenant Hofbson and seven men were chosen and at 3 O'clock a. m., Friday morning, the Merrimac, under her own steam entered the chan nel under a terrible Spanish lire. The vessel Was riddled with projectiles, but she ancnored ana swung tuvuua xoiuionisii Univimin than off an, in ternal torpedo with an electric attach ment, there was an explosion, the Mer ramato sank, the . channel was , closed and, apparently, Admiral Cervera will be unable to escape. HOW THE HEROES WERE SAVED. Kingston, Ja., June -4. 'Hobson and the hero crew of the Merrimac were saved in the folowing manner. TJnaJble after 'the " sinking of their vessel, to make their way back through the storm of shot and shell, they rowed in to the harbor .to the Spanish flagship and were taken on board, unharmed, The Spanish admiral, under 'a flag of truce on Friday sent word to 4.be Amer ican admiral that he offered, to ex change the prisoners, adding' that in th meanwhile Hobson and his party would be treated with the greatest kindness. Lieutenant Hobson appears to have carried out his plan to the Bmallest details, except as regartls the method of escape. The row -boat in which the crew were to attemipt to escape was either blown up cr shot to (pieces; for Lieutenant Hobson and his men drift ed ashore on an old oaitamaran' which was slung over the ships Side at the last .moment as an extra precaution Upon reaching shore the men) were taken prisoners and' sent to Santiago city tinder guard. Later "they were taken to 'Morro castle where the now are. . Captain Oviedo,, Admiral; ' Cervera' s chief of staff, who (boarded the New" York under a flag" of truce, did not give further details of the capture, ADMIRATION FOR THE AMERI CAN'S QBRAVEZRY. The bravery of the Americans evi dently excited) : as . much' admiration among- the Spanfards as it did among the men of the American' fleet. The prisoners will toe perfectly safe and will probably toe well treated While they remain in Morro castle, fine fleet is wild with delight tonight Over the (ter mination of the most daring- expedition since, the destruction of the confederate ironclad Altoemarle toy Lieutenant Cushing - in 1864. , The Admiral is just as glad as the youngest jackie. Captain Chad wick, of the flagship (New York, who is usually most conserva tive in speaking of the incident, , said: "Splendid! Splendid! too much cannot, be said about it." 7 ; The general opinion 'is that no man ever deserved recognition toy congress for personal toravery more than does Lieutenant Hobson. His!' work was well done and his men are safe. When he started cm' 'tflie expedition, few thought he could, accomplish his object. Officers of the fleet, when questioned as to whether. Captain, Ovideo could have had any ulterior design in visit ing the New York under a flajg of truce, scouted the 'suggestion, saying tWat the visit Was promtpted toy- pure chivalry on the part of Spaniards and was noble, of them. , . WENT AGAINST ORDERS. Clausen, the New York's coxswain, - went on the "Merrimac against orders.' XSOTmn& CUUIU Bfv limn uvu i u. iomq vf vVi: la I lation Is rife -as to tne exaci uexaaia of how Lieutenant Hotoson managed to blow himself and ship up and live to tell the tale. His "heroism has clear ed us the' situation well. The Span lards are now doutoly "hemmed In. At quarters on the New York this evening Chaplain Royce, praying, toe fore' the toare-headedl crew on deck, thanked GouV for having preserved Lieutenant Hobson and the men uncjer DARING Merrimac. MIRACULOUS 7 him. Last night Chaplain TRoyce In- ' voke'dVthis protection tout few then toe-i lieved' it possible that his prayer coul3 toe granted. - j . CADET. POWELL'S STORY. p. Cadet Powell, who was the last man to see Lieutenant , Hobson toef ore Ma " start and who had charge of the launch! during its perilous ( trip; after mncb needed sleep told thestory of his expet ierice. He said: "Lieutenant 'Hobson' took a short sleep for a few hours,! which was often interrupted A quar ter to 2 o'clock he came on deck and ' made final inspection, giving his last instructions. Then we had a . littla lunch. Hotoson was as cool as ft ou- cumtoer. About 2:.30 o'clock I took-the men. who were not going on the tripr , ihto the launch and started for the Texas, the nearest, but had to go Shack . for one! of the "assistant ertgineersv -whom Hobson finally compeled to leave I shook hands with Hotoson the last of . all. He said :f ''Powell, watch ' the. ' boat's crew when we .pull out of the harbor. We will be cracks, rowing thirty strokes to the minute . f j "After leaving tTTe Texas, I saw the" Merrimac steaming slowly in. 'It was" only fairly dark then and . shore was . quite visible. We followed about three quarters of a mile astern. The Merri-t mac stood about a mile to the west ward of the harbor and seemed a bit mixed, turning completely around Finally heading to the east,, she ran down and then turned in. We were then chasing him because I thought Hobson had lost his bearings. When1 , Hobson was about 200 yards from the -harbor the first gun was fired from' the eastern bluff. We were then half? a mile off shore,, close under the bat teries. The firing , increased rapidly. Wc Diciiiiiea in rtipiaiy ana lost signi of the Merrimac in the smoke which the wind carried off shore, it hung heavily. Before Hobson could have blown up the Merrimac the western, ' battery picketed us up and com menced firingv They shot wild and we only heard the shots. We ran in still closer td the shore , and the gunners lost sight of us. -Then we heard the V explosion of the torpedoes on the Mef- rimac. i - "Until daylight we waited just out-, side the breakers, half a mile to the westward of' Morro; keeping a sharp lookout for the boat or for swimmers, but sawnothing. Hobson had arrange ed to meet us at that point, but think ing that some one might have drifted opt, we crossed in front of Morro and. the mouth of the harbor' to the east ward. About 5 o'clock we crossed the harbor again within a quarter of a' mile and stood to the westward. In, passing we saw one spar of the Merri- mac sticking out of the water; We hugged the shore just outside of the' breakers for a mile and then, turned! . toward the Texas, when the batteries saw: us and opened .fire. It was-then? broad day light. ' The .first shot fired! dropped thirty yards astern, but the -other shots went "wild. : I drove the launch' for all she was worth, finalllyi making the New York. The men be- haved splendidly." . The news of Lieutenant Hobson'9 seafety lifted a great load from Cadet Powell's mind. Probably no'other de- tails of this marvellous trip Will be known until Lieutenafnt' Hobson gets back. . - A '..: ; ' f .' Some heavy firing was done shortly before midnight by the New York.anJ . New Orleans, aimed at what was . thought to be a small gunboat, which! disappeared. Whether she was sunk? or not is not known. The firing took place to the eastward of Morro.' v THE HEROIC EIGHT. ' 7 ! ' The stroke, ywhich leaves the gov- er'nment at Washington free to act without . further fear of the Spaniard's fleet, Was planned by Lieutenant Rich- " mond P. Hobson, who commanded the expedition. With him went Daniel Montague, George Charlotte, . J. E Murphy", Oscair Deignan, John P. Phil lips, John Celly and Coxwain Clausen all non-commissioned officers or enlist ed men. . ; ; . ' ' The Royal is the highest grade bekJag powder ; fcaowa. Actual tests show it goesoee. tiird farther than ooy other brssd. 1 Absolutfily Pur 60V AL. BAK1NO POWGCH CO., KEWVOMC ' mum if y ii
The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 5, 1898, edition 1
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