The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 28, 1898, Page 1

14 !hiS Paper n()t to be taken from the Library, + ++ 4 s e — < The Call VOL UME LXXXIIL—NO. 149, SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 1898. PRICE FIVE CENTS. MATANZAS BOMBARDED FIRST BATTLE WON 0606 0606 06 0F X O N R I X The Spanish and merican Fleetls > that are expected to K06 08 X0 E 308 308 E 30 30 XOXE meet in deadly com- 2 batoff the Philippine § Islands to-day. o = 306 X0 308 X3 306 306 08 308 308 308 308 308 100 X X DON DON. GEN. ANTONI0 YUAN LESO. DEULLOA ,OE_ .\ VELASCO DEWEY’S FLEET SAILS TO THE Governor-General sues an Abusive Proclama- tion Calling to Arms. LONDON, April 28.—The Hongkong correspondent of the Times says: The American fleet, headed 2 o’clock this afternoon direct for Manila. alite will follow the American squadron. Copyrighted, 1898, by James Gordon Bennett HONGEONG, April 27.—The Gov- ernor-General of the Philippines has issued the following proclamation: “Spaniards: Between Spain and the United States of North America hostilities have broken out. The mo- ment has arrived to prove to the world that we possess the spirit to conquer those who, pretending to be loyal friends, take advantage of our misfortune to abuse our hospitality, using means that civilized nations count unworthy and disreputable. The North American people, consti- | tuted of all social excrescences, have exhausted our patience and provoked war by their perfidious machinations, their acts of treachery, their out- rages against the laws of nations and international conventions. The | struggle will be short and decisive. The god of victories will give us one as brilliant and complete as the righteousness and justice of our cause demand. Spain, which counts upon the sympathies of all nations, will emerge triumphant from this new test, humiliating and blasting feleBeReReRagaRaguRFeRoRagaRaRegagay.] 1SLA DE CUBA. 1SLA DE LUZON CAPTURE PHILIPPINES of Manila Is- by the flagship Oiyfilpia, sailed at The British cruiser Immor- |the adventurers from those United | jsmtes that, without cohesion, with- | | out history, offer humanity only in- | |famous traditions and ungrateful | | spectacles in her chambers, in which appear insolence, defamation, cow- ardice and cynicism. | “Her squadron, manned by for- | eigners possessing neither instruc- | tion nor discipline, is preparing to |come to this archipelago with ruf- fianly intention, robbing us of all | that means life, honor aad liberty | and pretending to 'be inspired by courage of which they are not cap- | able. American seamen undertake,l as an enterprise capable of realiza- | tion, the substitution of Protestant- ism for the Catholic religion, to treat | you as tribes refractory to, civiliza- tion, to take possession of your riches as if they were unacquainted with the rights of property, to kidnap those persons they consider useful to man their ships or to be exploited in agricultural and industrial labors. Vain design! Ridiculous boasting! Your indomitable bravery will suffice to frustrate the realization of their REINA-CHRISTINA. S CASTILLA. Ema SE, 'Cincinnati. ‘nery being wild. the Spanish side. NEW YORK, PURITAN AND THE CINCINNATI SILENCE THE BATTERIES KEY WEST, Fla., April 27.—Admiral Sampson this afternoon bom- barded, silenced and pretty well destroyed the Spanish batteries in position land in course of construction at the entrance of the harbor of Matanzas. He did it with the flagship New York, the monitor Puritan and the cruiser Not one of the American ships was struck, the Spanish gun- It must be considerable. TOUMPIAE TICONCORD: i '-Hga'cuu_ouefl L RALEIGH you profess to be made a mockery or impious hands to be placed on the temple of the true God. The images you adore, thrown down by the un- believing aggressors, shall not prove the tombs of your fathers. They shall not gratify their lustful passions at the cost of your wives’ and daugh- ters’ honor nor appropriate property accumulated in provision for your old age. “They shall not perpetrate these crimes, inspired by their wickedness and covetousness, because your valor and patriotism will suffice to finish this base people that is claiming to be civilized and cultivated. They designs. ¥ou will not allow the faith Continued on Second Pa}a. VIEW OF THE CITY OF MATANZAS, CUBA. the batteries. gage. It was given and she soon began firing her guns west side of the bay. The batteries fired explosive shells and most of them fell wide of the mark. One burst just beyond the stern of the New York and a shrapnel shot exploded above her. It took the three ships just eighteen minutes to reduce | have no means of knowing the number of dead and wounded on While the New York, Puritan and Cincinnati were reconnoitering in force for the purpose of locating and destroying the formidable defenses being ‘constructed, the flagship was fired on by the batteries on Point Rubal Cava and Point Maya, guarding the entrance to the harbor. The New York replied with her port side, steamed boldly in between the batteries and was soon blazing forward eight-inch gun on the laway with both \broadsides at them. The Puritan steam- ed in behind the New York and en- gaged the fortifica- tion on Point Maya, while the New York went to star- board close up to land and poured her shells into Rubal Cava. The Cincinnati, whichhadremained well astern, under orders, signaled for permission to eén- at the fort on the After waiting for the Spanish to renew the engagement the ships withdrew, leaving both batteries in ruins. Copyrighted, 1898, by‘.!ineu Gordon Bennett. ON BOARD the Herald- Call Dispatch Boat Sommers 'N. Smith, via Key West, April 27.—When Admiral Sampson, on the flagship New York, left this cruising ground to- day to pay a visit to Matan- zas and Cardenas he had made up his mind that some- thing had to be done with the very aggressive Spanish artillerymen who were man- ning batteries -out.that way. They had fired twice on the torpedo-boat Foote and were very busy erecting fortifica- | sibie, tions and placing guns in po- sition. At Matanzasthe New York found the monitor Puri- tan and the cruiser Cincin- nati, that have been blockad- ing the port. Admiral Sampson decided to make a re- connoissance in force for the three-fold pur- pose of locating the batterics, discovering the kind of guns they mounted, and, if pos- stopping the work of fortifying. Matanzas lies at the head of a bay, about four miles from the sea. This bay at its mouth is three miles wide. On the west side of the bay is Point Rubal Cava and on the east side Point Maya. These points have very slight elevation above the sea, but the configuration of the har- bor is such as to give bat- teries on them a command- | THE BATTLE IN DETAIL. ing position. Stretching back from these batteries are towering hills, and it is- believed guns have been mounted somewhere there concealed by shrub- bery. : The New York led the way into the bay of Matanzas. The Puritan was a few hun= dred yards astern on the port side and the Cincinnati re=- mained behind a slightly greater distance astern on the starboard side. Lines drawn