The San Francisco call. [volume], May 13, 1898, Page 1, Image 1

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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VOLUME LXXXIII.— NO. 164.
SAMPSON MAY ATTACK
SPAIN'S ARMADA TO-MORROW
VIEW OF SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO, WHICH WAS REDUCED BY THE FLEET OF ADMIRAL SAMPSON.
SAN JUAN HAS BEEN REDUCED.
CAPE HAYTIEN, via Hayti, May 12.- -News has just been received here that Admiral Samp
son with his entire fleet bombarded San Juan this morning. I learn that Morro fort was entirely
destroyed.
RORT AU PRINCE, May 12.- -The American fleet, under Admiral Sampson, bombarded San
Juan de Porto Rico to-day. The following are the details of the bombardment thus far received:
The bombardment began this morning. Rear-Admiral Sampson with nine warships arrived
before San Juan just before sunrise. At a signal the battle ship lowa fired the first shot, which took
effect. Then the battle ship Indiana opened fire. In a few minutes Morro fort was reduced to a heap
of ruins. The fort made little effort to respond, and was silenced almost instantly,
The Spanish steamer .Rita was captured by the United States auxiliary cruiser Yale, which
took her crew on board.
Thousands of the population and the foreign consuls sought refuge in the interior of the island.
NEW YORK, May 12.— A special cable to a morning paper from St. Thomas, via Port de
France, Martinique, says: Sampson's fleet arrived off San Juan just before daylight. Word had been
sent ahead that the fortifications were to be bombarded, a notice to women and children, aliens and
others to leave the city and seek safety elsewhere. A shot from the battle-ship lowa began the bom
bardment. Then the Indiana opened from its forward turret with a 13-inch projectile. The walls of
Morro seemed to go into vapor, and ruined masonry and mangled corpses told of the inadequacy of
the scarps and bastions of the older days to withstand the assaults of modern armaments.
The castle soon made reply, but the firing indicated a panic within the fortifications. The first
shot flew far to leeward, bursting harmlessly. The heavy guns on the lowa and Indiana spoke again.
The monitors Puritan and Terror crept closer inshore, their low freeboard presenting a small target
for the forts, and their 10 and 12 inch guns doing tremendous execution against the fortifications.
Morro fired but three shots from her heavy guns. There were but seven shots fired from the
guns of the American ships, and these left Morro Castle a crumbled ruin. The Spaniards pluckily
served their guns as long as there was any hope, but their fire was slow and wild.
Not a single American ship was harmed; not an American seaman was killed or injured; but
at the last accounts the city had not surrendered, though it was completely at Admiral Sampson's
mercy. It had been deserted by the merchants and non-combatants. The foreign Consuls had fol
lowed the refugees into the country, and the troops were reported panic-stricken. The volunteers
had fled.
After the bombardment Sampson withdrew. Two of his vessels are now in St. Thomas, and
they may take with them the schooner Ida Southard, now here with 1000 tons of coal for the fleet.
During the bombardment the torpedo boat Porter, the collier Niagara and an armed tug remained
outside the line of fire observing the contest through glasses. They report seeing a dreadful panic
in San Juan, though no shots were sent into the town.
HAVANA, May 12.— Governor-General Blanco received a cable message to-day from the Cap
tain-General of Porto Rico which says that this morning an American fleet of eleven vessels opened
fire upon the forts, which answered vigorously. The dispatch says that at the time it was sent, 9
A. M., no personal losses had been sustained and little material damage done.
The San Francisco Call
Copyrighted, 1898 by JameS Gordon Bennett
SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1898.
MAY FIGHT
IN PORT OF
SAN JUAN
The Big Fleets Are Now
in Close Proximity to
Each Other.
Their Location Ascertained by the
Correspondents of the Herald
and Call.
Copyrighted. 1898, by James Gordon Bennett.
ST. PIERRE, Martinique, via Hayti, May 12.
The Spanish torpedo-destroyer Furor arrived at
this port late last night, but immediately put to
sea. Her arrival caused tremendous excitement.
About 5 o'clock this afternoon the Spanish de
stroyer Terror arrived. As I send this dispatch
five Spanish war vessels are in sight, bound
northward, apparently in the direction of Cuba.
They are the Spanish Cape Verde Fleet.
The United States scouting vessel Harvard is
in port. She came in here to send dispatches to
the Government in Washington. As a Spanish
vessel was in port and left after the Harvard ar
rived the port authorities served notice on Cap
tain Cotton that he would not be allowed to leave
until twenty-four hours after the departure of the
Spanish vessel. AMADEE TESTART.
NEW YORK, May 12.—
The above dispatch was
received from the Herald-
Call's special correspondent
at Martinique. It is believed
to be reliable and trustworthy
as he is indorsed by the United
States Consul at that place.
At the outbreak of hostili
ties the Herald and Call, in
order to prepare for just such
emergencies as the present,
communicated with all their
correspondents in the smaller
islands of the Antilles and in
structed them to be particu
larly watchful for the move
ments of the enemy's ships.
The former resident corre
spondent at St. Pierre had re
moved, and a cable dispatch
was sent to the United States
Consul asking him to suggest
the best man on the island
for the place. He promptly
replied, giv ing the name of
Mr. Testart.
This information is the sen
sational sequel to the Herald
and Call publication on May
i that its special dispatch
steamer Avery Hill had fol
lowed the Cape Verde fleet to
sea, and when they disap
peared on the horizon on April
29 they were steaming in a
westerly direction. The fleet
that left Cape Verde consisted
of the first -class cruisers Viz
caya, AlmiranteOquendo, In
fanta Maria Teresa and Cris
tobal Colon, and the three
torpedo destroyers Terror,
Furor and Pluton.
The distance from Cape
Verde to Porto Rico is ap
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
proximately 2486 miles, and
according to the above dis
patch it would seem that the
Spanish squadron proceeded
at the rate of about fourteen
knots an hour. This also
verifies the statement of the
Herald-Call correspondent on
the Avery Hill that the fleet
was steaming at a fast rate of
speed.
The Herald-Call corre
spondents have also
succeeded in definitely
locating Admiral Samp
son's fleet. It is off the
north coast of San Do
mingo, between Monte
Christi and Puerto Plata.
This information was ca
bled to the Herald and Call by
correspondents on the Danish
steamer Tyr, whose presence
in the Danish harbor of St
Thomas caused a diplomatic
protest from the Spanish
Government The Tyr ar
rived yesterday afternoon at
Puerto Plata, San Domingo.
They report that the Span
ish gunboats are cruising off
Hayti in search of the Amer
ican vessels. Upon arriving
the correspondents sent the
following dispatch to the
Herald:
" Puerto Plata, Thurs
day — The Tyr succeeded
in passing the Spanish
gunboats watching the
coast of Porto Rico and
reaching this harbor.
The Spanish Consul at
St. Thomas had our
steamer watched con
stantly and cabled the