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About Schley County news. (Ellaville, Ga.) 1889-1939 | View Entire Issue (June 9, 1898)
SCHLEY COUNTY NEWS DEVOTED TO GIVING THE NEWS, ENCOURAGING THE PROGRESS AND AIDING THE PROSPERITY SCHLEY OF COUNTY. e. E. ELLIOTT. Editor and Business Manager. SINKING OF THE MERRIMAC IN SANTIAGO HARBOR DESCRIBED. PERSONNEL OF THE BRAVE CREW. Commendable Courage of Launch Men Who Were Waiting to lUnene Hob son and His Companion*. The Associated Press gives the fol lowing detailed story of the act of heroism perfoi met y lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson and his seven companions in sinking the collier Mer rimae across the channel leading into the harbor of Santiago de Cuba: The narrow channel leading into tbe harbor was completely blocked early Friday morning when the United States collier Merrimac was sunk across fis entrance. It is now impos sible for he Spaniards to get out, and itis equally impossible for any vessels to get into the harbor, therefore, the Spanish first class armored cruisers Maria Teresa,Cristobal Colon, Vizcaya and Almirante Oquendo, with the two topedo boat destroyers Furor aud Pin ton, are no longer any use to Spain. Lieutenant Hobson started on his daring errand at 3 o’clock Friday morning. The Merrimac was lying to -the westward, and under cover of the clouds over the moon, she stole in toward the coast, making her way to the eastward, followed by a launch, Frorn the crowded decks of the New York nothing could be seen of the Merrimac after she had got under the shadow of the hills. For half an hour officers and men strained their eyes peering into the gloom, when, sud denly. the flash of a gun streamed out from Morro castle and then all on board the New Y T ork knew the Merri was nearing her end. The guns from the Spanish battery opposite Morro castle answered quickly with more flashes, and for about twenty minutes flashes of fire seemed to leap across the harbor entrance. The flagship was too far away to hear the reports, and when the firing ceased it was judged that Hobson had blown up the Merrimac. For an hour the anxious watchers on the steam launch sent along to rescue the Merri mac’s crew, waited for daylight, Rear Admiral Sampson and Captain Chad wick remaining on the bridge of the New York throughout the night. Then Cadet Powell, who was in command of the steam yacht, return ing, reported that he had clearly seen the Merrimac’s masts sticking up just where Hobson hoped to sink lier— nm-fi, north ot * the * 1 . Estrella r. A 11 battery U A* and t well ,o,i P ast the P ln s o* Morr ?- B " t °* th e who , ha(1 P^ned the Spaniards . la there was not a sound or sign Admiral Sampson said: “I am pretty sure the attempt was quite sue cessful I hope all those brave fellows are not captured. ” said CadebPowell, iu making his report, he believed the torpedoes pre viously fixed about tlie Merrimac were exploded as planned What actually happened not* on board the Hobson^ Merrimac 0 ^himself. will beknown until teUs Great admiration is expressed at the department at the coolness and disere tion shown by the young cadet, Geo. W. Powell who steam^ took launch“nd command of the New Ws lay un der the Ls batteries owi until he was satisfied from observation down’ that the Merrimao had Csbin trone before he returned to the The men Hobson MoSSme selected to go with him G Ckarette J C Muruliv Oscar Deicnan Mn P PMUm John KeHv and Clausen. The latter, a coxswain of the Daniel Montague is chief master at ar nis of the New York. George Charette is a gunner’s mate oa board the New York. C. Murphy is a coxswain of the ' va - ‘ Oscar Deignan is a coxswain of the John P. Phillips is a machinist of first class, belonging to the -Merri ma 5' John Kelly is a water tender. H Clausen, who slipped on boa d | a e Merrimac without permission to the expedition , is a cox ev York. ELLAXILLE. GA.. THURSDAY. JUNE 9. 1898. VOL. VIII. NO. 23. FIGHTING IX THE PHILIPPINES. Insurgent* Kill One Thousand S,laniard* In Battle at Manila. Advices from Manila, via Hong Kong, state that the Spanish outposts have been driven in all along the line ter simultaneously by and with great slaugh the insurgents. It is said that over a thousand have been killed. There was tierce hand to hand lighting for seventy hours, despite the typhoon which was raging. The violent winds and torrents of rai n rendered the rifles of the Spanish troops unavailable. The natives easily won at every step with their slashing knives, i nsur gents now hold Mala Bon, m chief Aguinaldo, in the course of an interview, has said that the insurgents are eager to rush upon Manila forth with, but that Admiral Dewey refuses to allow “hordes of passionate savages to storm a civilized rnetrop olis. ” Admiral Dewey intends to await the arrival of American troops. In the meantime the insurgents have been forbidden to cross Maloote river oth erwise the Petrel will be stationed there to bombard them. SOUTHERN t PROGRESS. rh ° industries Sported m the South I,uri "« the Fast Week. Among the new industries reported throughout the south during the past week may be mentioned a canning fac tory in Georgia, a large cotton com press in Alabama, an electric light plant in Louisiana and an electric light and street railway system in Kentucky; flouring mills in North Carolina, Geor gia, Tennessee and Texas; a hoop fac torv in North Carolina and au ice fac tory in the same state; a lumber mill in Kentucky; mining company in Ar kansas; cotton oil mills in Georgia aud South Carolina, and oil aud fertilizer mills in North Carolina; a rubber goods manufactory in Texas; a sawmill in North Carolina and a spectacle works, capital $25,000; and a large stave factory iu Arkansas.—Trades man BANKS LOSE HEAVILY Through Moody – Brewster Failure at Atlanta—Moody Arrestud. Q ne n f t be most striking features of the Moodv <fc Brewster failure a few days ago a > : Atlanta is the large amount owed by the firm to local and to New York banks, It is stated by a man who has made an investigation of the case, that Moody – Brewster’s paper held by the bftn ks* would approximate a quarter of a m iHi on do lars. John T. Moody, the senior member of the firm ’ was P laced uuder arrest QU a waPrant sworn ou t by Edward Hiler, of New York, charging him with committing ft miademeanor Bondwaa given b in the 8U m of $1,000, . bein gign ed by Messrs. J. W. Ruck ; j Eng 8 i isb ; Thomas D. Meador, ( 8 w p flrrott and Jacob Hass. ____ , A VETERAN'S UXITED. ~ Wearers of Gray and Blue Join lh» t c ebration at coiumbm, >. The local Grand Arn1 ^ P osk at C ?' llIlubus °*’ i oined Confederate # ’ veterans from the south in memoria cemetery. exercises at Colonel Camp Chase W. H. ^edera Knauss, G. e A. R., presided. made by Colonel . Addresses were Louisul Bennett H. Young, of e, Governor Taylor, of Tennessee; Hon. Johu Leathers, of Louisville, all Con federates, and by Captain Gilbert H. Barger, G. A. R. The Confederate <-lnb Louisville and school children of Columbus sang. hom th8 80utl * a ° d profusely strewn, , i May ,Mowl p B .f«re Surrender A .rinn tmocial says- By no possibility, 11 is co conceded by members of the war boards, AqJ Admiral Cer vera s vessels iu iu u Sa ntiago be able to reach lh. open I wlt b the remains oi ‘ lfl moved, whicb is noi v ' * ifl now i The entire Spanish a q and I conceded to have - ie ® 6f es - j closed against ail p- purp0 selv cape, and unilesis < b ouud ulti I de ^J t iSn hands of the at Q f a H t-Ue j b T n ited States. MINES IN THE HARBOR CHANNEL WORRY OFFICIALS. THEY PRESENT A SERIOUS PROBLEM Captain Slgtbee Make* a Call Upon Sec retary Long—Other News From the National Capital. A brief bulletin, telling of Commo dore Schley’s reoonnisance at Santiago a week ago, was all the information the navy department had to contribute to the press Friday. This bulletin . to . ^ „ tbe dispatches, .... t>on rm P ress which told of the firing on the fortifi cations at Santiago, but which have been so steadily discredited ever since tbe flrat r £ ort . It ^ a from tbe bulletin g en ont C ommodere Scbl concentrated a pretty good fire the . g ish defenses and it seems probable that he found condi . tions more propitious than they were or be wovld have reso lved the recon noissauce into an assault in force, Tbe t natural stren tb of the Spanish position and the formidable c h arac t er of their batteries as indicat ed by Commodore Schley have con fi rmed the naval officials in the belief that they have been wise not to direct ftny such reckless assault upon the p j ace j n the absence of proper forces ag bag been advocated in some quar ters. Notwithstanding the rather positive statement coming from Jamaica that a second Spanish fleet from Cadiz has crossed th. Atlantic and is about to join Cervera at Santiago, the offi e f iJhten !, nt d nh“. r t , Z JobZXaboo t be h “ t tteTdeo It appears that the basis of their confidence is a telegr aphic report of as late date as Friday declaring that the Cadiz fleet is still at Cadiz. Moreover, they know that there are not so many as sixteen warspips in that fleet. Slgsbee Calls On Long. Captain Sigsbee, of the auxiliary cruiser St. Paul, reported at the navy department during the day and had a conference with Acting Secretary Al len. Messrs. Thrall and Jones, the two newspaper correspondents impris oned at Havana, and recently exchanged for Spanish officers, were also callers at the navy department. The department found it necessary to make an explanation of the methods it had employed of advancing on the ]i 8 t G f captains of the vessels engaged in the battle of Manila. There appeared to be a great incon- 8 i 8t encv in the recommendations. Captain Frank Wildes, of the Boston, f or instance, going up only five num ber9> while Commander Wood, of JittIa Petrel) jamped ten. Admiral De wey himself went up only two T),« ronim, fnr tkis ncenrd iug to " the department offlcials, is that “ w ® of the hicher cradeis ^ worth mu h i more __ than a nu 1 ber in the lower gra e, so . a wna app r ,ty f an as ineqUahty near as calculation , 1S n / act could eia ? k eqU make f 1 • after o ,app Sedl - l ^rt of onV.y inquiry . Co 28th urn between iia am the e ^^States T Tni+ a r> cttoioa cruiser colia, off Fire island which resulted . in the idss of th ’ «mrt will consist of Commodore , w W P. McCann, re irec, ap m ^eo g W Rumler, Commander C.B Speiry and Lieutenant g , “Tv' *'V J® “ iv0C *‘ 6 - 14 w '" mee * »t at Gibraltar that the mentioned nor was the destination of the warships given. of . Associated The correspondent the Press at Kingston has been informed from an apparently*authentic source that a Spanish fleet from Cadiz is near g West Indian waters to re-enfdrce ^ ^ Spanish fleet is said tc consist of six teeu warBb ip 8< among them beingthir- ; teen - bat t le8 hips and three torpedo boats. ' ' The information that the Cadiz squadron had sailed comes from Eng sources and seems trustworthy. SAMPSON CABLES LONG Regarding the Sinking of tire Merrimac In Santiago Harbor. The navy department posted at Washington Saturday afternoon the following bulletin, containing a dis patch from Admirrl Sampson: “Mole, Hayti, June 4.—Succeeded iu sinking MerrimacYu the channel off 8 “‘ 3 J l oV^gllZtiY was uodM the command of Naval Constructor Hobson and seven men. By a flag of truce from the Spanish admiral, Cer vera, sent in recognition of their bravery. I am informed all are prison ers of war, two slightly wounded. “Request authority to approve ex change if possible between these and the prisoners at Atlanta. Six of the Spanish squadroD in the harbor of Santiago unable to avoid being cap tured or destroyed. (Signed) “Sampson. ” The action in sinking the Merrimac is applauded at the navy department as a very brilliant strategic move. It is the opinion of naval officers that now- that the entrance to- the harbor is thus effectively blocked, a couple of monitors with a swift cruiser and two or three small torpedo or gunboats will be sufficient to guard the eu trance, while Schley and Sampson can go along to convoy the troops to Porto Rico and elsewhere. In the engineer ing department it is said that it would be impossible for the Spanish fleet to attempt to clear the channel of the wreck of the Merrimac, as a few of our vessels stationed outside the bar bor could shell the Spanish fleet and compel them' to retire. It is said it would take several weeks to raise an obstruction such as that caused by the hull af the Merrimac. ALL CABLES ARE CUT. - General Blanco Ha* at I,a»t Been Wholly !<-»*“<•• It developed at Washington for the “’ll that an important vice, and, m charge of the strategic su perviaion of cable and telegraph Imes, had met with success, and that Gen eral Blanco was probably isolated from the outside world, particularly from the Spanish authorities at Madrid. The advices received were inde pendent of those by the Associated Press dispatdh boat via Kingston, but they bore out the dispatches and gave additional details. They show the French cable, from Santigo to Hayti, was interrupted at 6:30 Friday night, and no messages have passed over that line since then. Word has not yet come as to the in terruption of the two British cables, leaving Cuba by way of Jamaica, but General Greely is satisfied that these have also been cut. He conferred with Secretary Allen at noon Satur <* , a y> and , tb , e two exchanged , congratu lati ° ns on the indications that this much desired purpose of isolating Blanco had been accomplished at last. CAPTAIN GRIDLEY DEAD. - Commanded the Olympia, in, ti.« Brilliant N *™‘ F, ‘ hl “ Captain „ . Charles V. Gndley, com mander of the Olympia, and one of the heroes of the brilliant victory at Manilla, is dead. The announcement of his death was received by the navy department late Sunday afternoon in a cablegram from Paymaster Galt, of the nftv 7’ dated Kobe ’ Ja P an » Jane 4 » and directed to Secretary Long. , As the commander of Admiral Dew ^ splendid flagsbip and one of the American’s chief advisers, QridIey achieved distinction at the battle of Mauila bay and added to his tuning bigb praise from bis super i orB i n the service for dis gaUaat r 7 and ability. It wajj not several weeks after the engagement that Captain Gridley 8uffered /«•“ a “ d sasr— . FIRE DEVASTATES WALHALA. - South Carolina Tm Ioim sevent«®i» Mu»ines» House* a«a M»*.»nic Tetnpie. Flames completely destroyed the business portion of Walhala, S. C., Saturday evening. The fire started m .tlxp. store of M. W. Wright and rapidly spread until txrenty : thfee houses were destroyed. The'Masonic temple,post office aud. seventeep business houses were burned. Also lively stables and bank and drug store of Darby’s. Loss between $40,000 and$50,000;iusTiranee about $13,000 THEY DISEMBARK l NWER COVER"' OF SAMPSON'S BIG «WJNS, ARE PUT ASHORE NEAR SANTIAGO. Another Bombardment of The Fortlflra tlone ami Fort ami l andings-at Santiago- Reported*. A special received at New York from Cape Haytien Monday reports that at daylight, under cover of Admiral Sampson’s guns, a force of United States troeps were lauded at Aguadores, a short distance east; of Santiago harbor. Another dispatch direct from-Cape Haytien states that at 8 o’clock Mou day morning strong cannonading' was heard from the direction of Agna dores, a little east of Morro castle, which defends the eastern entrance of the harbor of Santiago. A quarter of au hour later the noise of the cannon ading greatly increaaed, and firing ev idenely proceeded from-guns of largest caliber. The bombardment was of the port, the fortifications aud the neigh boring landings,, particularly Ague* dores. A Havana dispatch says: Sunday Colonel Aldea, with a Spanish force, sustained a fire near Punta Cabrera from the insurgents on the laud side and from the American ships. Tlic Spanish warships are well intrenched on the line from Siboney to Aguadores. and Monday they checked au attempt of tha American forces to land and re .. , .. 1 H ‘ e< u ‘ m - ,„ ..""I A dl 111 ?P* e to J‘ " to lln th » "I” Load™ tt l8 . * n mane,a 1 £l 81 ,,. , , , , . ^ American “troops lanZT at »“ 9ea8 ‘Af anti i p“ ^| 0 enod „“'^uns.'' The’battLta 'were flr8t after a sharp r bombard ^ »• WILL EXCHANGE PRISONERS. - Plans Already Under Way For Release of Hobson and His Men. A Washington special says: The war department has supplied to the navy department the list of names procured from the commandant at Fort McPher son, Ga., of the Spanish prisoners of war there. The department Monday morning sent this list to Admiral Sampson and the admiral himself will enter into communication with Admiral Cervera respecting au exchange of prisoners. Cervera will be allowed to seleot from the list of persons whom he will take in exchange for Naval Constructor Hobson and the gallant crew that manned the Merrimac on her last run Hobson f rank, relatively, .......... is that- of. s junior grade and he stands at the head of that grade in his corps. ^ e ord ' na 7 rules of exchange he would . be about equivalent to a captam in tbe "“’■J 1 ”. highest grade officer naon r the Spanish captives at Fort McPherson is a lieutenant, so that- in order to equalize the exchange it may be necessary for Admiral Sampson to throw in with the first lieutenant one of the dozen second lieutenants among tbe prisoners. Hobson’s crew, none being of the commissioned grade,can be exchanged; man for man for six Spanish private soldiers, among the prisoners of war. When Sampson and Cervera hav*> arranged the details, the list of pris oners to be exchanged will be submit ted to the war department, which would direct the commandant at Fort McPherson to send them to Key West to be tL placed aboard a naval vessel amd ,ent Santiago (or tranafrr. LONDON PAPERS PRAISE HOBSON. Hi* Kxploit at Stkitlago Vtawed With Ad miration in Kngland. All the Loodon newspapers refer in terms of the highest praise to Naval Constructor Hobson's daring exploit at Santiago, de Cuba. One paper says: “All English sailors will join with the Americans in admiration of this exploit nador th. : pofsi blank United fire of .the Spanish batteries.\% If the States eau count ^>n self-sacrifice of that kind in great emergencies the Santiago for*s will be powerless to prevent Admiral Sampson reaching the Spanish squadron should that, measure seem good to him.”
