The Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, June 16, 1898, Image 5

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DEFENSES IN RUINS
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SAMPSON SHELLS FORTIFICA
TIONS OF SANTIAGO
American Warships Throw a Furious
Torrent of Deadly Projectiles Span
iards Admit Serious Damage and
X083 tandinK of Troops Under Fire
Spanish Guns Silenced
Washington special
The news from Santiago Tuesday was
of f stirring character The bombard
ment of the fortiGcations at the mouth
of the harbor which began on Saturday
was resumed Monday morning at 730
and continued until 11 oclock Evidently
the attack was intended to cover the land
ing probably of marines from the fleet
whose purpose it was to establish a depot
land supplies and siege guns communi
cate with the insurgents and prepare the
way for the invasion by the army
The bottled up Cervera who would send
as roseate a dispatch as possible reported
to the Spanish Government that six
American vessels had bombarded the for
tifications and Santiago but that the dam
age was unimportant though he con
ceded that six men were killed and seven
teen wounded on the Iteina Mercedes
which would indicate that important dam
age was inflicted upon that cruiser and
that three officers were killed and eigh
teen soldiers wounded probably in the
engagement with the marines Admiral
Sampson on the other hand notified the
Navy Department that the forts wera
GENERAL DON ARSENIO LINARES
Commander of the Spanish troops at
Santiago
bombarded and entirely silenced which
would not have been the case had the
damage been unimportant as asserted by
the Spanish admiral It is evident there
were no casualties on our side or any dam
age to the fleet or he would have been
likely to mention them
Other and unofficial reports state that
immense damage was inflicted upon the
enemy that the cruiser Reina Mercedes
was badly crippled and that the Morro
Socapa and Punta Gorda forts were sub
stantially demolished The havoc wrought
by the fleet is further demonstrated by the
successful landing of the marines which
appears to have been made at Aguadores
a little to the east of the entrance of the
bay The forts being silenced and the
Spanish fleet bottled up it will be possi
ble to land the troops which are already
on the sea and make a close attack upon
Santiago itself
Admiral Sampson does not seem to be
happy unless he can give his men daily
practice in gunnery at the expense ot
Spanish fortifications Nothing gratifies
him and his sailors more than to see ma
sonry and earthworks melting away be
fore the irresistible impact of huge shells
Having made dust heaps of the defenses
of Santiago harbor Monday and sunk the
cruiser Reina Mercedes five of its sailors
and twenty nine of its marines being kill
ed as the Spaniards admit he turned his
attention Tuesday to the defenses of
Guautanamo bay the first important har
bor to the east of Santiago de Cuba
Five American vessels paid their re
spects to those defenses so energetically
that they were annihilated The demoral
ized Spaniards are reported to have evac
uated hurriedly the positions held by them
nnd to have given orders for the burning
of the town of La Caimanera which lies
near the entrance to the bay in case the
Americans attempted to occupy it The
sole object of Tuesdays operations how
ever was to cut the cable at Guantanamo
and thus complete the isolation of Santi
ago
Wednesday Admiral Sampson resumed
operations at Santiago After worrying
5 -1
REINA MERCEDES
the Spaniards by a heavy artillery fire he
landed some of his marines and they act
ing in conjunction with the insurgents
threatened the Spanish at several points
They succeeded in capturing a fort which
controls the bay of Aguadores and hoisted
the Stars and Stripes there Artillery
was landed and the captured position
strongly fortified The Spanish troops
fought in a half hearted way and if a few
regiments of American soldiers had been
on the ground they would have made short
work of the enemy and of Santiago The
stories of heavy American losses are un
true The insurgents under Gen Garcia
are doing good work So will those un
der Gomez when American soldiers back
hem up
Bad Ncwb for the Soldiers
In answer to numerous inquiries on the
subject it is officially announced that the
Government and not the States will pay
all volunteer troops for the time between
the dates of enlistment and muster This
means a considerable loss to the men
Bryan Expects to Go to Cuba
The Brj on silver battalion of Nebraska
has been formally offered to the War De
partment and is expected to be mustered
in and sent South within ten days Mr
Bryan will he the commander of the regi
ment
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UNITED STATES TROOPS BOARDINQ TRANSPORTS AT TAMPA
liniimMiMiii
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UNDER A HOT FIRE
Every Spanish Gun at Santiago Was
Trained on the Merrimuc
Commander Miller who commanded the
collier Merriraac before she was turned
over to Lieut Hobson to be sunk and sev
eral officers of the vessel came aboard
the Mayflower and told in detail the story
of the sinking of the ship
When the Merrimac started toward the
harbor the flash of a single gun on the
Morro was seen from the deck of the New
York though the report could not be
heard It was followed in a few moments
by sheets of fire all along the shore The
Spaniards had evidently turned every gun
on the ship The Merrimac went straight
on to a point where the channel was only
400 feet wide Shot and shell were fall
ing all about her but none seemed to hit
her When this narrow point in the har
bor was reached Lieut Hobson headed
her in shore and dropped an anchor only
a few feet from the shore
Before starting the life raft of the Mer
rimac had been prepared and torpedoes
were ready along the deck The Merri
mac had seven transverse bulkheads
Torpedoes were arranged so that they
could be quickly anchored over the side
of the vessel ten feet lelow the water line
and in such atposition that when they ex
ploded they would tear out every bulk
head This was to make it absplutely im
possible ever to raise her again
The moment the anchor was dropped
Lieut Hobson and her crew dropped these
torpedoes over the side and then opened
every seacock there was in the ship and
all the port holes Meantime the guns
kept booming and the flash of the burning
powder lit up the harbor so rapid was the
firing The fleet was so far off shore that
they did not hear the guns but could tell
by the flashes of the hotness of the fire
The current was running out of the har
bor and as the Merrimac lay at anchor
she swung lazily around with it Every
thing was open and she had begun to fill
before she was broadside in the passage
Hobson and his men waited patiently un
til they could drop another anchor this
one from the stern so that it weuld hold
her directly across the passage She was
so long that there was only thirty one feet
of channel on each side that she did not
occupy
Hobson and his men launched the life
raft and dropped down on board it taking
with them the wires with which the torpe
does were to be exploded The thunder
of the shore batteries and the rattle and
clash of musketry continued The water
was foaming with the commotion made by
the shells and bullets Hobson and his
men floated down stream 150 yards drag
ging the wires out after them This was
the distance for the contact to be made
and it was then done The water about
the Merrimac was lifted up by the explo
sion and when it had settled again the
ship was at the bottom of the passage
The Sunken Reina Mercedes
The Reina Mercedes admitted by the
authorities in Madrid to have been sunk
by the American fleet in Santiago bay
was a cruiser that had been dismantled
and which was used as a defense vessel
Her cruising armament had been greatly
strengthened The Mercedes was raked
by a 13 inch shell from one of Uncle
Sams battleships and the Madrid re
ports describe the shell as doing terrible
destruction It disabled her machinery
and killed sixty of her crew and one of
her officers
Fired 1600 Projectiles
The Spaniards admit that the bombard
ment at Santiago Monday from the Amer
ican fleet was most destructive About
1000 projectiles are said to have been
fired by the American warships and it
seems that the responsive fire from the
Spanish force and ships was scarcely felt
at all by the Americans
A giant torpedo boat is to be built by
Russia at St Petersburg It will be of
1500 tons or about four times the dis
placement of the largest torpedo boat de
troyeri
WAR NEWS IN BKIEF j
Gov Piugree has offered to shoe Michi
gan soldiers
Gen Blanco has given notice to all cor
respondents to keep out of Cuba
Mr Knight the London Times corre
spondent has been released from Ha
vana
An auxiliary mortar fleet will probably
be organized to bombard Havana fortifi
cations
Advices from Gen Garcia of the Cuban
army indicate that he has 10000 men in
his command
Spain will issue a perpetual interval
debt on a thousand million pesetas to se
cure creditors
Forty Krupp guns have been smuggled
from Germany through France into Spain
as kitchen furniture
The French cable running from Cuba to
Hayti has been cut by the crew of a Unit
ed States naval vessel
Congress has passed a bill providing for
the establishment of postofhees at mili
tary posts and camps
The commanders of Admiral Deweys
ships have been promoted for bravery at
the battle of Manila
Owing to the difficulty in shipping
horses so far it is likely that no cavalry
will be sent to the Philippines
William A Finkerton the famous de
tective has been called into Government
service to hunt down Spanish spies
Soldiers have a special mail service priv
ilege that most of them are not aware of
When they mail a letter without postage
prepaid the letter will be forwarded with
GENERALS COMMANDING ARHIES INVADING CUBA
GEN JOHN J COPPINGER
GEN WM R SHAFTER
postage due at the usual rate to be col
lected on delivery
It is reported that large quantities of
arms and ammunition are being sent
across the Pyrenees from France to
Spain
It is reported that United States Am
bassador White is much pleased at evi
dences of strict neutrality on the part of
Germany
American war ships will not hesitate to
sever cable connections with Martinique
Mm
COMMODORE GEOBGE C BEMET
Commanding Naval Base of Supplies at Key Weit
and Hayti cutting off communication
with France if Spanish agents in the
French possessions persist in using it for
the prosecution of business with Madrid
The United States hospital relief ship
now undergoing transformation at the
Brooklyn navy yard will when finished
be the first boat of the kind ever put
afloat
Mrs L Z Leiter of Chicago has pur
chased the Crawfish Springs Hotel at
Chickamauga and will present it to the
Government to be used as a military hos
pital
President Love of the Philadelphia
branch of the Universal Peace Union has
issued an explanation of the letter of
sympathy sent by him to the Queen Re
gent Baa
BEARS THE SICK
Suffering Tars Brought by Ambulance
Ship Solace
The ambulance ship Solace with the
Red Cross flag flying at her masthead
came into port at New York having on
board fifty four wounded and sick some
of whom had been transferred from the
American warships in Cuban waters and
others taken from the hospitals at Key
West The Solace anchored off Tompkins
ville Staten Island She made the run
to New York without incident excepting
gsfgg
HOSPITAL SHIP SOLACE
for a gale which tumbled her about a bit
and made things to some extent uncom
fortable for the patients she carried But
the sea voyage was a tonic to the men
They had left behind the sweltering heat
of the tropics had exchanged suffocating
and1 exhausting winds for refreshing
breezes many were nearing home all at
least were to rest in the heart of the great
country they had been fighting for
SMASHED BY OREGONS SHELL
Sinking of the Spanish Destroyer
Terror Off Santiago
The Spanish torpedo boat destroyer
Terror and her crew of sixty men lie at
the bottom of the sea sent there by a
single shell from a thirteen inch gun of
the battleship Oregon Not a sign of the
vessel has been seen since she tried to run
into Santiago Monday night That she
was destroyed with all hands there is no
practical doubt That the destroyed ves
sel was the Terror left behind at Martin
ique since reported at Porto Rico and
trying to rejoin Admiral Cervera is prob
able
She was first detected by the New Or
leans which was on guard at the eastern
end of the blockading fleet The New
Orleans threw her searchlight on the
stranger but the latter slipped from un
der its beams The New York and the
Marblehead which were next in line were
signaled and the alarm was passed to all
the fleet The flanking vessels were or
dered to close in and the New York
Brooklyn and Oregon steamed toward the
shore in pursuit The Spaniard was still
crowding on all speed and hugging the
shore and was now only a mile from the
Cuban entrance But the New York lay
full across her path and escape was Im
possible Then the Oregon got the range
after several efforts A 13 inch shell from
the Oregon struck the plucky Spanish
craft full amidships The chase was end
ed and the Spanish vessel was only a
tangled mass of steel on the sea bottom
The searchlights showed only black wat
er where the fugitive had been The guns
which had waked the echoes of the cliffs
for nearly an hour were silent The mid
night tragedy of which some three score
Spanish sailors were victims was ended
and the American warships moved out to
sea The Maine had been remembered
ON TO PORTO HICO
An Invasion of the Island Has Been
Determined Upon
The campaign against Porto Rico haB
been determined upon The expedition
which started from Tampa goes in two sec
tions one to land on the north coast not
far from San Juan and the other on the
south coast at Ponce which has a fine
harbor and a military road connecting it
with San Juan Ponce is about seventy
five miles from San Juan but this mili
tary road runs through the best portion
of the Island and troops marching that
way could clean out all Spanish garrisons
found in the towns In the interior They
could also gather up many insurgents to
swell the army into formidable propor
tions by the time it reached San Juan
It is expected that such a campaign will
destroy Spains hold on Porto Rico com
pletely by the time San Juan is bombard
ed by Sampson and compelled to surren
der
Plan to Meddle at Manila
A Paris correspondent says that peace
negotiations are likely to cause more in
ternational tribulation than the war itself
There is reason to believe that France
and Russia are exchanging views as to
the expediency of subjecting the Ameri
can conquests in the far East to European
sanction
Information from Madrid is to the effect
that Caatillo the Spanish ambassador to
France has been instructed to use all
efforts to bring about Intervention by the
powen
CITIZENS MEAT -
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VALENTINE
Qherry Qounjy
Valentine Nebraska
MARK
GEO G SOHWALM PROP
This market always keeps a supply of
FRESH -FRUIT AND
make a marvelous offer direct to the rider
For 3o days we -will sell samples of our
swell 98 bicycles at net cost to manufac
ture and will ship C O D on approval
to any address on receipt of the nominal
sum of 100 if west of Denver Si This
ET
GAME
In addition to a first class line of Steaks Roasts Dry Salt Meats
Smoked Hams Breakfast JBacon and Vegetables
AtStetter8 Old Stand on Main Street VALENTINE NEBRASKA
fe A 4 AAAAAAAAA4
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THE PALACE SALOON
HEADQUARTERS FOR
ANK
to
to
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to
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WINES LIQUORS AND CIGARS
Of the Choicest Brands to
to
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49 to
B
ANK OF VALENT
C H VORiVELIj President
NE
B 8 V If i ii t
111 V XIItHOLSOX Cashier
Valentine Nebraska
A General Banking Business Transacted
Buys aad Sells Domestic and Foreign Exchange
Correspondents Chemical National Bank New York First National Hank Omaha
MAAAAAAAA AAAAAAA AAA ft
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The DONOHER
fs continually adding improvements and it is now the
best equipped and most comfortable
FIRST CLASS MODERN HOTEL
IN NOJRTHWEST NEBRASKA
Hot and Cold Water Excellent Bath Room Two Sample Rooms
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5 orCfOT or Ccc or or o ororcrcrororcr ocrcrcrocrcr wwoCfOOwcOsr
VYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYY YYYYYYY YYYYYYYYY8
Every facility extpnded customers consistent with conservative banking
Exchange bought and sold Loans upon good security solicited at reasonably
rates County depository
E SPARKS President CHARLES SPARKS Cashier
Notary Ptlelic
W E HALEY
Real Estate
ABSTKACTER
Valentine Nebraska
1000000 Bond Filed
st
VT i 1 Jlkl
L4L
Soutli of Court House
QUR CRAND OFFER
To keep our crreat f actorv
busy and introduce early our splen
did 98 models we have concluded to
m
ma
deposit is merely to show erood faith on nurr TiasPfQ
part if you dont want to send money in advance send
your express agents guaranty for charges one way and
we will pay them the other if you dont want the wheel
Y SSRTfl N Hi8hest grade embodying every late improve
XmJKLJm ment of value 14 inch imported tubing flnab
joints improved two piece cranks arch crown large detachable
sprockets handsomest finish and decorations Morgan Wright
timuii repair wree single or aoaDie taoe nign grade equip-
ent Special price on sample S2Q 00
COSSACK Aaplendid machine equal to any for service and easy running Beat IK inch
A n aeamlesa tubing two piece cranks arch crown detachable sprockets finely
finished and decorated Morgan Wright quick repair tires single or double tube
high grade equipment Ourspecial sample price 74 V
K WNDTFtE Be6t medimn grado for JK tnWnS striped and decorated arch
iJr crown dust proof bearings ball retainers best Indiana or New
Brunswick tires standard equipment Special price on sample 1900
NOTE Choice of Color Style Height of Frame Gear etc Fully Guaranteed
You will be surprised at the appearance and quality of these wheels Dont wait
ce will be muck highereoon Yon TSn rSakelg TvtoSy
VSc u of SmioS
Do You Wamt Cheap Wheels
We hare numbers of 1898 and 1897 model wheels of various makea
andennn
styles some a little shop worn but all new 1200 tO 1600
Wheels Slightly Used Modern Types - - 800 to 1200
SrcSan o
The J L Mead Cycle Co - Chicago
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