The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 17, 1898, Page 1

- The Call - w j0U 4 .4 'I(JPJQ!'I Y3 04y uaxe} aq o3 1 aded siyj ! LXXXIV.—NO. 17. SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 1898, PRICE FIVE CENTS. g&&&fi&asfif}fifits!fi&&fi% § MAKING READY TO @ & INVADE PORTO RICO. £ 8 B WASHINGTON, June 16— & &2 The War Department ex- ;; s Pects to utilize approxi- g mately thirty-five trans- ge & Pports in the expedition for g ® the invasion of Porto Rico. g 188 This statement was made s? '8 officially at the depart- & i$ ment. It seems to indicate & +€ that the Porto Rico army & 18 wili equal, if not exceed, the % !® number which'left for San- & ?: tiogo. The estimate Iis o = de that the thirty-five 5, fes e Is will carry between @ gt 15.000 and 20,000 men with g igs their equipments and sub- g lgs sistence. 8 ige Army officials say that g ‘g3 the reports which have ¢ %8 been received from reliable & $8 sources show that the & 8 number of Spanish soldiers & & in that country is only 10,- & 8 000 men, although other @ '8 statements indicate that * e there is considerably less ¢ % than that number. It is fair * % to assume, they say, that * :-; when the United States ¢ army commences active g g8 operations against the city g s¢ of San Juan every available g ¢* man in that place will be g & impressed into military &2 8% service and given a gun ¥ Hence they feel that the * army of invasion should be £ of such proportions as to % Jeave no doubt of its abil- “: i and capacity to cope = cessfully with the Span- ciiards, - It is stated positively that :. the embarkation point for - the troops for Porto Rico & has not been finally deter- % mined yet, and until Secre- tary Alger and the Presi- dent have had an oppor- tunity to confer with Gene- ral Miles. who will return to the city to-morrow, it will not be determined. For the purposes of the Porto Rican expedition, Sec- retary Meiklejohn said to- day that the department had now available eleven sports, some of which already at Southern po and these will carry about 6000 men with their equipments. 0292 93 90 62 , 00 80 80 80 90 80 80 60 00 o 80080 2NN NNLNRNBNNRLBUNBNNLNN RN NN NNNRNN% IRBRURVRNRNRNRN ON BOARD THE ASSOCI- ATED PRESS DISPATCH BOAT DAUNTLESS (off Santiago de Cuba), Thurs-| day, Noon, June 16,via King- ston, Jamaica, June 16, 9 P. M.—Rear Admiral Samp-| son’s fleet bombarded the batteries at Santiago de Cuba for the third time at daylight this morning. For hours the ships pounded the batteries at the right and Jeft of the entrance, only sparing El Morro, where Lieutenant Hobson and his companions are in prison. The western batteries, against which the main assault was di- rected, were badly wrecked. One was utterly destroyed. In others many guns were dismounted. At first the Spaniards replied furiously, but wildly and impo- tently. Then most of the guns were deserted. Not a ship was struck nor a man injured on the American side. It is believed the enemy’s loss of life was heavy. As a preliminary to the ham- mering given the batteries, the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius last night, at midnight, was given an- other chance. Three 250-pound charges of guncotton were sent over the fortifications at the en- trance. The design was to drop them in the bay around the an- gle, back of the eminence on which El Morro situated, where it was known the torpedo- boat destroyers were lying. Two charges went true—as no reports were heard—a peculiarity of the explosion of guncotton in water. ¢ Whether the destroyers were demolished is not known, but the destructive area of guncotton is large and it would not be surpris- is ? ing If one or both torpedo- boats were destroyed. The third charge exploded with terrific force on Cayo Smith. R RARRARRR AR R R R | TUESDAY LAST | Our Marines, Advancing From Three Sides at Once, Drove the Spaniards, Though in Superior Force, in Utter Confusion From Their Camp and Water Supply. )@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@é)@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ | From where the fleet lay the entrance to the harbor looked, in the black night, like a door open- ing into the livid fire of a Titanic furnace. A crater big enough to hold a church was blown out of the side of the Cayo Smith battery and was clearly seen | from the ships this morning. Admiral Sampson issued tle orders for the bombardment last night. Coffee was served to the men at half past 3 this morning and with the first blush of dawn | the men were called quietly to | quarters. The ships steamed at a five- knot speec [ when they on, until a | lengths se closed up, broadside distance of three cable parated them. They | were strung out in the form of a | crescent, the heavy fighting ships in the center, the flagship on the | right and the Massachusetts on | the left flank. The'line remained stationary throughout the bom- | bardment. The Vixen and Scorp- |ion took up positions.on opposite | flanks, close in shore, for the pur- | pose of enfilading any infantry | that might fire upon the ships. When the ships got into posi- tion it was still too dark for any firing. The admiral signaled the ships not to fire until the muzzles of the enemy’s guns in the embrasures could be seen by the gun captains. Fifteen minutes later, at 5:25 a. m., the New York opened with a broadside from her main bat- tery at the works on the east of the entrance to the harbor. All the ships followed in streaks of flame. The fleet, enveloped in smoke, pelted the hills and | | report. | the big 13-inch guns of the bat- to a 3000-yard range, | je_ships sounded above the rat- CRATER BLOWN OUT OF CAYO SMITH JCJOXOJOJOXOROJOJOJOROROLOROJOJOXO] SPANISH CAPTAIN EMULATES A PIRATE. NEW YORK, June 16.— John W. Masury, own- er of the schooner yacht Brunhilde, has shared the troubles of many yacht owners who were abroad when the war started. The Brun- hilde is now tied up in the harbor of Rio de Ja- neiro. While in the port of Buenos Ayres Captain Masury paid $2000 to the captain of a Spapish torpedo boat to allow him to get out to sea. Captain Masury ap- pealed to the American Consul and character- ized the act of the tor- pedo boat captainas that of a pirate. He was promised the protection of his Consul while he re- mained in port, but he was at the mercy of the Spaniard if he ventured out to the open sea. Ma- sury has written to Pres- ident McKinley, but has not yet received a reply. While in New York John W. Masury was known among -sportsmen as “Doc’’ Masury. He is a member of the New York Yacht Club and other clubs in this neighbor- hood. He cameinto pos- session of $2,000,000 in 1896 as his share of his grandfather’s will. He bought the Brunhilde and fitted her out for a voy- age around the world. oJoYoJoXoXoXoloYoXoJoXOXOXOXOXOROXOXOlORO OO RO YOO OROOROXOJORO RO O OX O Y OJOXCROX Y OXOX OO OJ OX OXOXOXOJ OXOX OX O X OX CXOY OX O CXOXOJOXOXOJOROXCROXOIO] ® ® ® @ [OIC) For the ‘Tbirdfime Admiral ;Scm)psor)’s Ships Bombard Santiago’s Batteries. All the Forts but El Morro Wrecked and| Severe lLoss of Life Inflicted Upon the Dons. kicked up dirt and masonry. It was a magnificent spectacle from where the Dauntless lay. Though the gun captains had been cautioned not to waste am- munition, but to fire with delib- eration, the fire was so rapid that there was an almost continuous The measured crash of tle of the guns of the secondary batteries like thunder claps above the din of a hurricane. A strong land breeze off shore carried the smoke of the ships seaward, while it let down a thick curtain in front of the Spanish gunners. The Dons responded spir- itedly at first, but their fren- zied half-crazed fire could not match the cool nerve, trained eyes and skilled gunnery of the Americans. Our fire was much more ef- fective than in preceding bombardments. The admiral’'s ordnance ex- pert had given explicit directions to reduce the powder charges and to elevate the guns so as to shorten the trajectory and thus to sgcure a plunging fire. As the shells in the preceding bom- bardments dropped with the al- most straight trajectories of pro- jectiles, with full charges, it was almost impossible to ptant them. They would shoot into the air, the high elevation, and fall far over the fortifications. The ef- fect of the reduced charges was marvelous. In fifteen minutes the western battery was completely wrecked. The Massachusetts tore a gaping hole in the emplacement with a thousand-pound projectile, and the Texas dropped a shell into the powder magazine. The ex- plosion wrought terrible havoc. The frame was lifted, the sides were blown out and a shower of debris flew in every direction. One timber carried out of the side of the battery went tumbling down the hill. The loss of life must have been great. The batteries on the east of Morro were harder to get at, but the New Orleans crossed the bows of the New York to within 1500 yards off shore and played a tattoo with her long 8-inch ri- les, hitting them . repeatedly, striking a gun squarely muzzle- on, lifting it off its trunnions and sending it in sweeping somer- saults in the air. Several times Admiral Samp- son signaled the ships to tempor- arily cease firing, in order to al- low the smoke to clear from the batteries. When the order came at 6:30 to cease firing every gun of the enemy had been silenced for ten minutes, but as the ships drew off some of the Spanish | encircling the batteries, owing toj courage returned and a half 1 dozen shots were fired spitefully at the Massachusetts and Ore- | gon, falling in their wakes. Throughout the bombardment the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius and the Porter, by direction of | the admiral, lay outside of the right flank. The steam launch of the flagship scurried among the ships carrying messages. At the close of the action a stream of multi-colored flags floated from the New York. greatly complimenting the ships and especially commending the work of the Texas and New Or- leans. The men of the New Or- leans raised a cheer which was | passed quickly on from ship to | ship until every jackie in the fleet | was howling himself hoarse. The destruction and death at the western batteries must have been appalling. Many of the guns had been mounted during the last two days. From thisitis inferred that Admiral Cervera had given up all hope of extrica- ting himself from the trap in which he is caught and had removed the guns from some of his shipsto strengthen the land defenses. Admiral Sampson is highly gratified at the results of the bombardment. He thinks the western batteries are practically demolished. As some of the guns on the eastern batteries did not Columbia camp that it was JJsarn | fire he thinks it possible they | were only dummies. The only regret expressed is that Lieutenant Hobson and his companions by their | X presence in El Morro made it sacred. Otherwise it would now be a | pile of ruins. The number of shots fired was not known when this dispatch was sent. Judging from a position near the flagship which, during the bombardment, with several interruptions, fired 208 shots—35 from her 8-inch guns, 134 from her 4-inch guns and 39 from her 6-pounders— probably no fewer than 5000 pro- jectiles were fired, of a total| weight of half a million pounds. THREE BLOCKHOUSES | AT CARDENAS BOMBARDED| Shells Burst Among Spaniards, Caus- | ing a Heavy Loss of Life. NEW YORK, June 16.—A Key West } special to the Sun says: Spaniards have recently been at work on three blockhouses inside the harbor of Car- denas. A gunboat arriving to-day from the blockade reported that early | this morning the flagship approached the forts and began bombarding them. | Several other vessels joined in the | fight. The forts replied.. The fight was | just beginning when the gunboat left the scene to come here. A dispatch to another morning paper says several shells were seen to burst among the Spaniards and it is certain the loss of life was heavy. gt g ARMY HORSES AND MULES STAMPEDE AT NIGHT Three Thousand Frenzied Animals Strike Terror to Soldiers in Camp at Tampa. WASHINGTON, June 16.—A special to the Post from Tampa, Fla., says: At 10 o'clock to-night 3000 horses and mules broke from their corrals and stam- eded through the camps of General 'arpenter’s brigade. It was so dark and the excitement so great in the District of ssible to 'he panic | f any men were hurt. among the men t their com terrible. Officers tried shooting at the ex- s only excited them I ms impossible to stop the stampede tc ht. The horses secmaed to be at- t ed by the tents and they rushed through the bri of three regiments and then back rse each tim paraphern; It is not k on their wild ed in all th of the corral In the next egan to yell t uard.” : it use- less, as the animals were now rusfing over everything in their path. In half an hour the camp had been stampeded three times and t med to be no hope of driving the be: way from the breach. Forty men ounted by 11 o'clock, and they were unable to check the rush. o CUBANS TELL OF SPANISH BUTCHERIES Immediately After War Was De- clared Men, Women and Chil- dren Were Slain. KEY WEST, Fla., June 16.—Lieuten- ant Colonel Augusti Arana, Major Salo and two privates of the Cuban army arrived here to-day from Pinar del Rio with dispatches for the Cuban Junta. They reporg that the health of the Cubans in the field is excellent, but their food is scarce. The Spaniards, they say, are 16,000 strong in that prov- ince, but Spain s withdrawing her scl- diers to Havana. Colonel Arana, who is the chief of staff of General Pedro Diaz, says the Cuban forces in the province of Pinar del Rio number about 5000 men. The uard hurried out, but | Insurgents hold the north coast of the province from Bahia Honda to Cape Antonio. They also hold the entire south coast, and their mounted fort- resses have never been wrested from them. Maceo’s potato farms have been kept in cultivation and in the hills in the southern part of the province are herds of cattle guarded by men spe- cially assigned to this duty. He says that immediately after warbetween the United States and Spain was declared the Spanish guerril in Pinar del Rio province went through the country butchering the pacificos, women, chil- dren and old men. whose bodies lie in the roads and fields unburied to this day. — - A Powerful Poisonous Shell. PARIS, June 16.—A dispatch to the Figaro from Madrid says: ‘“Captain Aunon’s visit to Cadiz was with a view to experimenting at sea with a new and powerful explosive shell which liber- ates poisonous gas.” g ‘Will Not Exchange Prisoners. Copyrighted, 15%, by James Gordon Bennett. MADRID, June 16.—The report that Spain proposes to exchange prisoners is absolutely unfounded. In the pres- ence of the Queen to-day the Ministers denied it. Sl gl A Arrival of the Buffalo. NEW YORK, June 16.—The United States cruiser Buffalo, formerly the Nictheroy of the Brazillan navy, hag arrived in port and anchored off Bige pleton, 8. L N