The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 2, 1898, Page 1

v - The Y VOLUME LXXXIV.—-NO. . SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, JUNE 2 PRICE FIV GREAT VICTORY FOR AMERICAN BATTLESH BIG GUNS DEFEAT THE SPANIARDS v Thrilling Story of the Bat- tle Off the Harbor of Santiago. rd The lowa, Massachusetts and New Orleans Pour a Telling Fire Upon Cervera’s Flagship and the Forts. 0C0000000000000N000C000000000000L0 REAT EVENTS ARE HOURLY EXPECTED expected hourly there. Ame the harbor. harbor entrace. 0000000000000 y CAPE HAYTIEN, June .—A speclal from Santiago, con- firming yesterday’s bombardment, says great events are The Insurgents are gathering on the hills. Spanish have taken extraordinary precautions to guard the rican warships are in front of The 0CQCO00CO0C0O000CO000C000000000C0000QCH N BOARD T SIMPSON, OFF SANTIAGO DE CUBA, May 381 (via Kingston, Jamalca, | 1 The first battle In which ships have met first-class \ warships, backed by manned by expert and German gunners, has been fought, and the honors are all with the Ameri- cans. Three of the best ships of our navy, the Towa, Massachusetts and New Or- leans, were selected for the fight. For June Ameri Spanis batterie: thirty-flve minutes this afternoon they | engaged the Cristobol Colon, the flag- ship of Admiral Cervera’s fine squad- ron, and the strong batteries at the| narrow entrance of the harbor of San- tiago de Cuba. Thres of the four batteries were silenced with about fifty shots, and the Spanish flagship certainly great damage. None of the American vessels was hit. To the characteristic words of “Fighting Bob” Evans, commander of the Jowa, shouted by him from the bridge of that vessel to a correspondent just at the close of the battle, “The Spanfards didn’t hit a d—n thing but water, and that wasn’t a great diffi- culty.” At noon Commodore Schley left the use Brooklyn, which was taking on coal | from the collier Merrimac at the time, and went aboard the Massachusetts. The dispatch-boat had just returned from Kingston, Jamalica, with mes- sages for the fleet, and after speaking the ships had steamed within 400 yards | of the entrance to the harbor in order to get & close look at the Spanish fleet, and secure correct sketches of the for- tiflcations at the entrance. While im- pudently drifting within gun range the dispatch-boat Simpson saw the com- modore’s flag raised to the military mast of the Massachusetts and heard a beil call signaling full speed on the big battle-ship. The Massachusetts headed straight for the dispatch-boat. The New Orleans, Jowa and the little Vixen, a converted yacht, followed in the order named, a cable length apart. As the demonstrations, which con- sisted of a parade within a few miles of the batteries, had been made on Sunday and Monday by the blockading fleet, those on the other ships thought nothing of the movements of these four vessels. The Brooklvn and Texas lay two miles to seaward unconcernedly coaling. The Harvard, Marblehead, Castine and Eagle were even further away. At the mouth of the Tortugas har- bor the Cristobal Colon could be plain- ly djstinguished, lying with her port broadside toward the American ships and flying an immense ensign. 8o close had the Simpson moved In that those on board could see through glasses that the Spaniard had her awn- ings up fore and aft, and that her.crew were moving lazily about her decks. On the east side of the harbor .t the Colon's stern were the grir walls of Morro, with another large Spanish flag above it. Behind the flar~"ip, high above the water, was the for idable island battery, directly in the center of E DISPATCH BOAT | the channel. | tinguished two other armored cruisers, modern | French | suffered | Close to this tould be dis- the Vizcaya and Almirante Oqueéndo, and close to them two smaller vessels, apparently the torpedo-boat destroyers Pluton and Furor. Six miles inland the haza of smoke, pierced here and there by white spires, marked the city''of Santlago The whole scene was bathed in. brilllant | sunshine. . _t had for a background a | crowned with a tang' | white clouds. Schley had known positively on Sun- | day that Cervera’s squadron was in- | side. Gallantly had the little Marble- head, commanded by McCalla, poked her nose into the very mouths of the great guns of ‘the Spanish batteries | and made out clearly four big cruisers, | two torpedo-boat destroyers and the old Reina Mercedes. Commodore Schley had carefully pre- | pared maps of the land fartifications, | but knew that = several = additional | masked batteries had but recently been | constructed close to the entrance to | the harbor. these batteries before the ' arrival of | Sampson's fleet that the attack was planned. When the Massachusetts, plunging through the water at sixteen knots, was within200 yardsof the Simp- son and 4000 yards from the entrance a cloud of white smoke arose above the bow of the flagship, and the eight-inch gun on her port side beiched forth a challenge that opened the fight. Before the course of the shell could be followed, and before the surprised Spaniards could reply, one.of the for- ward thirteen-inch guns of the Massa- chusetts thundered. A heavy cloud of smoke enveloped the huge ship, the | waters vibrated, and the windows on | the Simpson were smashed, and the | little craft trembled from stem to stern, while a low, undulating, crashing vol- ume of sound rolled over the waves: A pause of ten seconds, which seemed an hour, close to the bow of thé Cris- | tobal Colon arose a fountain of water fully 100 feet high. By this time the | Spaniards were at work. ‘Like a flash the awnings had disappeared from the Colon’s deck; and the ‘men were called to quarters. Three batteries—one on the west side of the harbor, one on the east side and one on an island in the center of the channel—opened fire, and the guns of the Colon chimed In a mighty chorus: The New Orleans was' now within range, and her six-inch guns; charged with smokeless: powder, began barking in most deflant tones. The Iowa came next. Captain Evans waited until he was directly in the face of the Colon’s broadside and then let go his twelve- inch guns, fore and aft,” with telling effect. All three ships were hammering away with their bie as. The fourth bat- tery, just beneath Morro and close to the “each, was unmasked by the hot fire of th~ New Orleans. - A1l four bat- teries and the Colon ' were replying rapidly. At first the range was hard to get on both sides, because of the de- ceptive glare ~n the water, and it was not until the ships had passed before " ‘mass of snow- 0000000000200000 [ranze of ‘high palm-covered mountains | It was to draw the fire of | | FOUNDERING O F THE JANE GRAY. 1 | the public to-day is absorbed in the | condition of the Bank of Spain, which | 1s constdered more serfous than any | reverse of the war, inasmuch as the Government means the impossibility to continue the war. There was a long procession at the bank during -the day. All classes of | people’ were . represented ‘and ‘many women were in line waiting their turn to change notes into silver, fearing the notes would soon be subjected to a dis- count. If the run continues there is danger l'of ‘the bank’s stock of silver becoming | exhausted, which would compel _the | Government to resort to a forced cur- tion. It is expected, however, that the panic will subside, leaving the bank a | margin of silver. 5 § The financial - outlook of Spain is | rather dark, The Government has en- trusted the Bank of Spain with the ne- gotiations for a loan of - 1,000,000,000 pesetas at 4 per cent, which sum-is to be raised as soon as required. The bank will endeavor to raise the loan at home and abroad. The Government has decided to pay . z | imposaibility. of the baik to-helu the | e ot av internal Tosn of 1L.000000,000] rency, issuing notes of small denomina- | the War. | the. Philippines in pesetas, silver or | notes.. The supply of gold is exhausted. | | LONDON, June 1—A" special dis- | | been published there authorizing the | pesetas at 4 per cent. WASHINGTON, June 1.—The state- imem from Madrid, in what seemed to |'be an almost semi-official form, of the | acuteness of the financial stringency i there and the plain intimation that the | | Bank of Spain, and consequently Spain, | was nearing the end of their resources, [was regarded at the State Department as of more real significance than many | of the stories of battles on land and | | sea that have been coming over the cables for the past few weeks. The | effect of this notice may be to hasten | the operations against Porto Rico, lest | the prize slip from our grasp through | & sudden and unexpected termination | of the war. (CASTELAR'S ARTICLE CAUSES A STORM His Criticism of the Queen Regent Arouses Some fHeated Talk in the Senate. MADRID, June 1.—An article signed a : [pateh from Madrid says a decree has| b ouced In several SPAIN'S SUPPLY ‘ OF GOLD IS GONE. MADRID, June 1.—The attention Of!tht’ coupon debts of Spain, Cuba and| by Senor Emillo Castelar, the distin- guished republican statesman, which Financial Panic of the Dons May Cause a Sudden Termination of - SCHOONER JANE GRAY GOES DOWN Thirty-Four Lives Lost in a Disaster Near Cape Flattery. Members of Prince Luigi’'s Pros- pecting Party Among the Missing. B+E+E+EE+RE+E THE MISSING. SIGNOR GATA, Italy. SIGNOR BESSATE, Italy. JACK LINDSAY, Everett. W. H. GLEASON, Seattle. W. A. JOHNSON, Seattle.. V. J. SMITH, Seattle. C. G. SMITH, Seattle. P. C. LITTLE, Seattle. S. W. YOUNG, Seattle! W. D. MILLAN, Seattle. HORACE PALMER, Lebanon, Ohtio. F. G. SAULSBERRY, Minne- sota. A. B. DUNLAP, Dwight, TIL B. E. SNIPE JR., Seattle. JOHN M. STUTZMAN, West- field, N. J. B. D. RANNEY, Mexico City. E. M. TAYLOR, California. F. S. TAYLOR, California. B. 8. SPENCER, California. W. P. DOXEY. EDWARD F. RITTER. F. W. GINTHER. B. S. FROST. W. F. LEVERING: WILLIAM OTTER. O. F. McKELVEY, C. BROWN. C. C. ATKENS. N. HEDELUND. CHARLES WILLIAMS. W. C. GAMBEL, wife and child, missfonary on. St. Lawrence Island, {n the Bering Sea. ONE UNKNOWN. B+E+E+E+-AN+E+E+E+R+ R SEATTLE, June 1—The schooner JJane Gray, which salled from Seattle - 7 £ recently appeared in the Petite Revue | for Kotzebue Sound on the 1sth day of Intérnacionale, and which has been re- | May with sixty-one people on board, Spanish papers, which- are being prosecuted for their { production, has caused a great sensa- tion. Senor Castelar attacks - the Queen Regent, reproaching her with being a foreigner and unpopular, and with - interfering unjustly in political affairs. - He compares her present posi- tion: with that of Queen Marie Antoin ette on the eve of the French Revolu- tion. The matter came before the Senate to-day, the Duke de Roca demanding the prosecution of Castelar, and other Senators expressing in. ‘violent terms their indignatfon at Senor Castelar’'s conduct. Senor Capedepon, the Minister of the Interior, announced that the matter had already been placed before the law officers. Marshal Martinez de Campos de- scribed Senor Castelar’'s conduct as “idfotic,” and called upon the Govern- ment to act energetically, declaring that Parliamentary immunity must not be allowed to generate into impunity. He said he feared the Chamber of Dep- uties might refuse to authorize a prose- cution. The Duke of Tetuan, Minister of For- elgn Affairs ‘in the last Cabinet of the late: Senor Canovas . del Castillo, and the President of the Senate, Senor Mon- tero Rios, -indorsed the utterances of Marshal Campos, while Senators gener- ally-extolled the Queen Regent and pro- tested against the obnoxious article. the forts and turned that there were any effective shots fired. = - - After the Towa had .passed the little Vixen, in dare-devil “spirit, dashed across behind the ‘battleship without being hit and without firing herself. As sheé passed the dispatch boat, which ‘was the only. newspaper tug anywhere near.the engagement and the only eye- witness - of . 1t, her crew cheered en- thusinsucauy‘ Ten minutes after firing the first shot the Massachusetts turned majestically and steamed back from east to west; this time presenting her starboard side to the enemy. She veered in closer to the batteries. The captain of the dis- patch boat, one of the gamest men in these waters, took the wheel himself with the avowal:” “I'll go as close as they. will. Those Spaniards can’t hit us.” And nearer still the little Simpson went, flying the Stars and Stripes. Screaming, hurling shells fell within 200 yards of her, but the crew forward cheered the men on the warships as they swept across the Simpson’s bow. The Spanish batteries improved in their marksmanship during the second passage of the American ships. Seve- ral shots fell very close to the Iowa and New Orleans; and oné dangerously near the bow of the Massachusetts. = They were fired by the large battery on the westward side of the harbor, which was evidently manned with ten and twelve- jrich Krupp guns. - The range was so great that the guns were fired at a high: elevation, and- the shells, falling near the ships, ralsed high fountains of water. One shot from: the Iowa fell directly under the Colon, and for a few mo- ments that ship appeared to be on fire. If it was the blaze was quickiy ex- tinguished and the Spanish flagship continued to answer all of .the shots discharged at her. -All of her shots; however, fell in one spot directly in the channel. She did not- seem able to change her range, and most of her fir: ing was, therefore, ridiculous. . The shore . batteries did better. One big shell exploded almost directly over the Iowa, but it was ‘too high to do any damage. The ships passed but twice before the batteries. The first shot was fired by the Massachusetts at 1:50 o’clock, and the last by the New Orleans at 2:25. The Massachusetts used only her thir- teen and eight inch guns, the New Or- leans her six-inch and the Iowa her twelve and eight inch guns, The New Orleans proved to be one of the hottest and most effective fighters in the navy, and Captain Fowler and his crew, who arrived but yesterday, are being generally congratulated on the fine showing made. The New Or- leans alone used smokeless powder. Every shot she fired could be plainly noted and followed and its effect marked. After thirty minutes’ firing the bat- teries on the right of the harbor were silenced and five minutes later the one on the island in the center stopped. The large one on the west side, how- ever, together with the Cristobal Cclon, kept up a weak fire for fully twenty minutes after the ships had ceased fir- | The Spaniards will doubtless, there- fore, claim that “they - repulsed the American fleet. . The battle lasted fifty- five minutes. - As: soon as the sig.al “Cease firing” had been obeyed by 'he American ships, - Commodore. Schley left the Massachusetts and returned to the. Brooklyn. He expressed himself as entirely satisfied with. the results at- tained: : ‘While ‘the fighting lasted, Captain Jack Philip was so anxious to get into battle that hé let go of the collier.an- chored alongside the Texas and got his ship under way. Before he could get the flagship’s attention, however, and get permission to take part in the fight the engagement was over. In a round-up of the three ships en- gaged the Simpson was told by Cap- tain Higginson, Captain Xvans and Captain Fowler that no one was hurt aboard their ships and that no damage was done save the smashing of some chicken coops on the Massachusetts by the concussion of the thirteen-inch guns. The dawnage to the forts and to the Cristobal Colon can only be surmised. There is no doubt that the three batter- ies were badly damaged and put out of the action. The sky was perfectly clear when the battle began. Fifteen minutes after it was over the clouds lowered and heavy rain set in. . The Oregon is expected to join the fleet to-night and Sampson’s ships to- morrow. A great battle, therefore, may be expected on Thursday. The Spanish authorities have taken Continued on Second Pare. foundered on. Sunday, May 22, about | ninety miles west of Cape Flattery, at | 2 o'clock in the morning, while lying to in a moderate gale under foresail. Ten minutes after the alarm was given she lay at the bottom of the ocean with | thirty-four of her passenigers. The re- | mainder succeeded in embarking in a aunch and reached this citythis after- | noon.” Following is a list of the sur- vivors: JOHN JOHNSON, Springfield, R. L. C.. W.. WILKINSON, San Francisco. C. WESTON, Skowhegan, Me. A. G. KINGSBURY, Boston. ERMINIO SELLA. S. BEACHETTO, Piella, Italy. A. CERIA, Piellg, Italy. H. WACHTER, Piella, Italy. P. J. DAVENPORT, Harrisburg, Pa. GEORGE HILLER, Harrisburg, Pa. J. H. COUTRE. Hartford, Conn. C. J. REILLY, Hartford, Conn. W. S.. WEAVER, Murray, Pa. GEORGE R. BOAK, Hughesville, Pa. G. H. PENNINGTON, Snohomish, ‘Wash. C. H. PACKARD, Snohomish, Wash. E. O. INGRAHAM, Seattle. L. M. LESSEY, Seattle. J. E. BLACKWELL, Seattle. SILAS LOVINGOOD, Seattle. CHARLES E. CHORD, Seattle. M. F. ROBERTS, Seattle. Surviving ‘members of - the crew: CAPTAIN E. E. CROCKETT. MATE JOHN HANSEN. COOK CHARLES OLESON. ASSISTANT COOK 'A. JOHNSON. SEAMAN CHARLES CARLSON. It is possible that there may be four or flve more. survivors. whose names cannot be ascertained. The Jane: Gray's passengers: were prospectors,. with ‘the exception of Rev. ‘W. C.Gambel, a missionary, who, with his wife and child, was on his way to St. Lawrence Island, in the Bering Sea. He refused. to place his wife and child on board the launch, saying: “The vessel is ‘déomed, and we will die together.” Among the prospectors was a party of sixteen, headed by Major Ingraham, who were outfitted by Prince Luigi of Italy for a two.years' prospecting trip in Alaska. Of this party the only sur- vivors are Major Ingraham, L. M. Les- sey, C. H. Packard and G. H. Penning- ton. The surviving passengers suffered a great deal of privation and for thirty hours their only food was a sack of prunes and a sack of turnips from the ship's stores. Sufficient water was caught by spreading a tarpaulin during a rainstorm. The news of the disaster and the ex- pected arrival of the survivors from Victoria caused a large crowd to gather at the dock in this city. Carriages were waliting and when the City of Kingston landed the survivors they were immediately carried to their homes or to the residences of friends. The few that could “- seen had not yet recovered from their shock, and con- sequently could not give a very detailed account of the disaster which came on them so suddenly. They were unable to account for the vessel's springing a leak and sinking so suddenly. They | count of the | sail. | and the seas were running high. | had gone to bed and was sound asleep were warm in their praise of the wor¥ done by Captain Crockett at the time of the foundering of the vessel. Cap- tain Crockett gives the following ac- wreck: “We were lying to to mend our fore- A moderate gale was blowing 1 when the watchman awakened me with the announcement that something was wrong. I arose at once and found the vessel leaking. A hurried investiga- tion showed that she would soon sink and I at once notified the passengers of the situation. = Most of them were asleep underneath the deck. A scene of confusion then took place, and it is impossible to give any detailed account of the events that followed. The dark- ness added to the confusion. “The Jane Gray carried two life- boats and two launches. I at once or- dered the boats lowered. The first life- boat was swamped.: . The launch Ken- noma, belonging to the Ingraham party, was successfully lowered. “At this time the Jane Gray was almost under water. A heavy sea struck her, throwing her on her beam. There ~was no time to launch other boats. The water was over her hatches and every one below was certainly drowned. = Those on deck hurriedly got into the launch. A sack of prunes and one of turnips was hastily taken from the ship's stores, and these were the only food we had until we reached Van- couver Island. “As thelaunch drifted away from the almost submerged schooner we saw eight or ten men standing on the lee rail, clinging to the rigzging. Soon they disappeared from sight. Two of them, Job Johnson and C. J. Reilly} kept afloat by clinging to bundies of boat lumber. Two hours afterward. -they were picked up by our launch, making twenty-seven in all we had with us. “It is barely possible that there will be four more survivors. . Just before the Jane Gray disappeared under the waves we thought we saw the second launch that was on board with four forms' near it. They were so indis- tinct that we were not sure. ~ They seemed to be getting into the launch. ‘We saw nothing of them when daylight came. We improvised a sail and pad- dles, and - after . drifting thirty hours in the ‘launch finally :landed in- side of Rugged Point, IZynquot Sound, on Vancouver Island, eighty miles from the scene of the wreck. “A fire was built on the beach and we made a. meal of roasted mussels. ‘We had had no food since the night be- fore the disaster, excepting the sack of prunes and turnips that we threw into the launch.. We got our drinking water by spreading out a tarpaulin in the driving rain. An Indian who chanced to comeé along informed us that the village of Kynquot was but six miles away. We went there and found the sealing schooner Favorite becalmed and arrangements were made to carry our party to Victoria. ‘We reached there this morning in time to catch the steamer :for Seattle.” The best-known survivor of the Jane Gray expedition is Major E. 8. Ingra- ham, who as a result of a trip made a year ago to Mount St. Tlias with Prince Luigl of Italy received $10,000 from the Italian nobleman to fit out an expedi- tion to.the Kotzebue Sound country. But for the launch which the Ingraham party had aboard the Jane Gray not a soul.‘could possibly: have been saved. Major Ingraham said to-night: “Strange and horrible as it may.seem man; of those - ¥ perished did not know'the vessel was foundered. There was no noise, no excitement. The un- conscious: ones simply dropped off into eternity. It was all over in ten min- utes. . Thoseé who did not know of the approaching disaster had been deathly sick from the time the vessel left Cape Flattery. They died in their bunks and to many of the... destruction must have seemed a relief. “Twenty-seven of the passengers and crew crowded into my little launch and escaped. Two of the survivors—the last to leave the Jane Gray—were found by us floating on bits of*wreckage. They saw the schooner take her final plunge into the black waters and told us that though they were at her side not a. cry came from any of those who perished. “Our launch was kept then headed to the wind for twenty-four hours, and then headed toward the east. Finally hungry, thirsty, weary, half dead, the bleak shore of Vancouver Island loom- ed up in the far beyond. It was land —that was enougl. for us. ~After hours of hard work we were picked up by the sealer Favorite and taken to Victoria. “I don't know when I will finish tell- ing the many incidents of that awful trip or of those which occurred just be- fore the Jane Gray disappeared. -'W. C. Gambel, a missionary -bound < 'for St. Lawrence Island, in Bering Sea, was aboard with his wife and little babe. In the midst of it all maniacal ideas took possession of him, and as a result ¥