 |
| Battle at Santiago de Cuba. |
Cortland Semi-Weekly Standard, Tuesday, July 5, 1898.
SANTIAGO CAPTURED.
Made a Dash Out of the Harbor, but Sampson Was There—Then the Spanish Fleet Was Beached and Set on Fire—Shafter Immediately Demanded Surrender of City—Spanish Flag Drawn Down at 3 O’clock Monday Morning—Another Fourth of July Victory to go Along With Vicksburg and Gettysburg.
Dispatches Monday report that Santiago fell at 2 o’clock that morning, making another Fourth of July victory to put alongside of Vicksburg and Gettysburg. On Saturday Gen. Shafter advanced still farther on Santiago and part of Gen. Lawton’s troops got into the edge of the city. On Saturday Admiral Sampson destroyed Morro Castle and the other fortifications at the entrance of the bay. On Sunday morning Cervera’s fleet was destroyed. Advices differ as to whether Sampson went into the bay or Cervera came out in the hopes of a dash for liberty. At any rate Cervera found escape impossible and he ran his ships up on the beach and set them on fire and they shortly blew up. Gen. Shafter then demanded the immediate surrender of the city on pain of bombardment, and at 2 o’clock Monday morning the surrender occurred, and the Stars and Stripes floated over the captured city on the Fourth of July.
HOW IT WAS FOUGHT.
Shells Burst Like Clockwork, but Smoke Gave Away the Range.
NEW YORK, July 2.—A special to The Evening World from El Paso, Cuba, near Santiago, noon, by way of Playa del Este, July 1, says: The first artillery fight of the campaign has just been ended by the silencing of a Spanish battery. The wounded are still being picked up as this dispatch to The World is hurried away. There was a blunder in allowing the infantry to be massed behind the battery’s position and most of the fatalities on our side are to be attributed to that.
General Lawton’s division bivouacked near El Caney last night without fires. At 7 o’clock this morning there was a sullen “boom.” It was the first shot from Capron’s battery, fired to avenge the killing of his son. Promptly the Spanish began to answer from their forts and trenches. At 7:15 Grimes’ battery opened on the Spanish troops to the right of the San Juan blockhouse. The shells burst like clockwork. The common powder used by our troops smoked and was a fine target for the Spanish field battery, which probably was served by Admiral Cerverra’s marines, judging by the accuracy of the aim. While our smoke gave the enemy our range, Grimes could not locate the enemy’s guns, which used smokeless powder, except approximately. But satisfied as to the Spanish position, our men worked like mad. The Spanish fire gradually slackened and in less than an hour it ceased altogether. Battery A of the Second artillery deserves great credit for the victory, for it was a case of blindness against sight.
The battery was supported by the rough riders, about 100 Cubans with a Hotchkiss gun, a detachment of the Tenth cavalry and a squad from company C of the Second cavalry.
Most of the Spanish shells flew low over the crest of the battery‘s position and exploded. Through them the rough riders had about ten wounded men, among them R. Chamberlain, whose left elbow was smashed. The Cuban leader Gonzales reports that the Cubans lost twenty, killed and wounded. The details of General Lawton’s losses have not arrived, Captain Grimes and Corporal McLean, who were overcome by the heat are recovering. The battery shot one hundred rounds, two-thirds shell and the balance shrapnel.
In the fighting at San Juan a Spanish shell two and a half inches in diameter bursted in the midst of Captain Puriter’s battery in the First artillery, wounding several. Roosevelt’s rough riders were also in this fight, and they bore themselves with as much credit as in last Friday’s battle in the bush. Several of the rough riders were wounded.
AMERICAN LOSSES HEAVY.
Killed and Wounded Over 1,000—Shell from One of the Ships.
SIBONEY, July 1.—8 P. M.—Our losses are heavy. An official dispatch from the field estimates our killed and wounded at over 1,000. A shell, supposed to have come from the Spanish fleet, did heavy execution among our troops.
 |
| Signal Corps balloon rises above hill behind US troops at El Caney. |
A WAR BALLOON.
Whole Spanish Field Observed by the Men on High.
NEW YORK, July 2.—A dispatch to The Press from Siboney says: For the first time in the history of the United States a war balloon sent up on the afternoon of June 30, making observations of incalculable benefit to General Shafter’s forces in the field occupied by the enemy and over the doomed city of Santiago. It was manned by two members of the signal corps. The balloon was sent up from an open, elevated space, not far from General Shafter’s headquarters near Siboney.
While it soared in the air seeming to almost touch the cloudless sky, fully 1,800 feet above ground, it was in plain view of the American army and the men on warships lying off the coast. With them the men carried powerful telescopes, which enabled them to see the country for a radius of nearly forty miles. The Spanish camps could be plainly seen and the number of forces at each place estimated. The men in the balloon were soon aware that they had been sighted by the Spaniards, for messengers ran about and shots, evidently from machine guns, were aimed at them. The swaying motion of the huge gas bag and the effect of gravity, however, prevented any of the projectiles from hitting it and the Spaniards soon gave up, evidently not wishing to waste ammunition.
Everything that could be desired was to be seen by the men in the balloon. The balloon remained up until dark, when it was slowly hauled down to earth.
 |
| Top center photo from "Grip's Historical Souvenir of Cortland" shows Dr. Santee's summer house between trees on west side of Little York Lake. |
A NEW NAPHTHA LAUNCH
To be Placed on Little York Lake This Summer by Dr. Santee.
Dr. E. M. Santee has just completed, at the foundry of Keator, Wells & Co., a handsome and very complete naphtha launch which he expects to place on Little York lake Wednesday, and which with his cottage will make his outfit about complete for a pleasant summer’s outing. The new launch in 20 feet long, has a 4-foot, 8 inch beam and a 24-inch draft. The planking is of the best pine, copper riveted. The keel is of oak. The deck is of cherry with brass trimmings, and the lockers are of cherry and walnut. The cockpit is finished in cherry and oak. The boat is fitted with a 14-inch bronze screw, and a 3-horse power Rumsey gasoline engine. The wheel and lever for starting, stopping and reversing the engine are in the bow. The engine is within six feet of the stern, leaving a very roomy cockpit capable of carrying twelve passengers. The cockpit is provided with olive green corduroy upholstering. It is all finished in the natural wood with spar varnish.
The doctor has named the launch the “Elizabeth Gray” in honor of his mother. The doctor was assisted in its construction by M. L. Munson, and in the designing by G. B. Rumsey.
GOT A BLACK EYE.
James Dorothy of Preble Claims He Was Assaulted.
James Dorothy of Preble, one of the witnesses in the Galvin murder trial, appeared at the office of Dr. F. W. Higgins late Friday afternoon with a badly battered right cheek. He claimed to have been struck by Grove Stevens near the European hotel on Court-st. without provocation. While no bones were broken, the blow must have been a hard one, judging from the discoloration and swelling about the eye.
HEALTH PRECAUTIONS.
Heroic Efforts Made to Prevent the Spread of Smallpox.
NEW YORK, July 1.—The state board of health held a meeting here which was well attended. A report from State Engineer C. W. Adams relative to the draining of Saranac lake was received and rules adopted for the prevention of the pollution of the water of that lake.
A rule was also adopted requiring manufacturers of diptheria anti-toxins to submit this product to the state chemist for analysis before offering it for sale.
A report was read showing the condition of quarantine maintained at several of the small towns up the state. Fredonia has 25 cases of smallpox; Geneva seven, and there are a number of isolated cases elsewhere. All were traced to Joshua Simpkin’s Opera company of Virginia, one of their number having a case of the disease and leaving a trail in the places mentioned. The members of the company are now isolated in a boat on Lake Seneca, where they will be quarantined until all danger of the spread of the disease is passed.
No comments:
Post a Comment