THE CUBA REVIEW 



31 



THE NAVAL FIGHT AT SANTIAGO 



A SPANISH ACCOUNT OF THE SCENES PRECEDING THE BATTLE 



The scenes preceding the great naval 

 fight at Santiago de Cuba, and the man- 

 ner in which the Spanish ships steamed 

 out to sea to meet what proved their doom, 

 are described in Coiitcinporary Cuba, of 

 Havana in extracts from a book soon to 

 be pubHshed in Madrid by Senor Alfonso 

 Hernandez Cata, an eye-witness of the 

 doings that then took place. Senor Cata 

 says : 



"The piers were alive with people. Now 

 and again from the file of ships, some- 

 times swinging obliquely at their anchor- 

 age but never changing their relative in- 

 tervals, would shoot out a boat bearing 

 marines to the shore. When they landed, 

 the crowd would open up to let them pass 

 and a respectful murmur would follow 

 them. The officers wore blue uniforms, 

 brilliant with gold lacing. They repre- 

 sented the common hope of all, and per- 

 haps for this very reason, at times, feeling 

 the eyes of the crowd fixed upon them, 

 they would bow their heads as though op- 

 pressed with the weight of so many hopes. 

 For the populace Spain's power seemed in- 

 corporated in those six dark craft, which 

 had steamed in so triumphantly one morn- 

 ing, glancing in the sunbeams, flags and 

 pennants fluttering in the breeze, amid 

 plaudits of joy, their very salutes com- 

 municating a dash of heroic enthusiasm 

 to the throng gazing at them from the 

 shore. In the evenings, among the groups 

 discussing the latest rumors on the Plaza 

 de Armas, some expert would vanquish 

 the pessimism of the timid by reading ex- 

 tracts from a Madrid newspaper, in which 

 by a comparison of the fleets of the con- 

 tending powers, it was demonstrated to 

 what extent fate and foresight combined 

 favored Spain in tonnage, guns and skill. 

 . . . The mere names of the warships 

 evoked an atmosphere of patriotism and 

 power: Infanta Maria Teresa, Cristobal 

 Colon, Almirante Oqnenda, Viscaya, Furor, 

 Pluton. And here they were in this in- 

 significant port, revealed to the world's 



notice by a hazard of war, like six bristling 

 claws arming one of the Spanish Lion's 

 formidable paws outstretched from afar 

 to guard the prey above which the Eagle 

 was circling. 



One morning the marines who had been 

 disembarked to reinforce the contingent in 

 the trenches were recalled to their ships. 

 They marched down toward the piers, 

 formed in a column of four files, flanked 

 by their officers at regular intervals. The 

 rhythmic beat of the steps sounding in the 

 ill-paved streets, announced their coming 

 from afar, and the people turned out to 

 see them pass. They marched with long 

 strides, unhesitatingly, no smile on their 

 faces, but with an expression testifying 

 as much of heroism as of unconcern. An 

 old man watching them from a window 

 said to a woman at his side : 'They are go- 

 ing to their death.' . . . 



"From the esplanade behind the piers but 

 few witnessed the departure of the fleet. 

 It took place in the early morning. From 

 the funnels of the warships arose dense 

 clouds of smoke which combined in the air 

 to form a kind of pall that hovered above 

 them. When they got under way a pro- 

 found silence reigned ; the minds of all 

 seemed oppressed by the same anxious 

 thought. The sun, causing the water to 

 glow like a funeral pyre, lighted up the gay 

 colors of the flags and pennants. As the 

 flagship entered the first bend of the chan- 

 nel a 'viva' ran"- out through the air. It was 

 a single sonorous, enthusiastic outburst, 

 succeeded by dead silence. Not a wave 

 ruffled the water, not a breeze stirred the 

 air, not a cloud dimmed the sky. One after 

 the other the warships passed out of sight, 

 leaving the bay deserted. . . Only the 

 distant and continuous booming of cannon 

 gave the certainty that at this moment a 

 supreme combat was taking place, with all 

 its horrors of destruction and death, be- 

 hind the serene hills gilded by the sun's 

 rays." What happened afterward is a mat- 

 ter of histiiry. 



AMERICAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS 



Reports reaching Santiago that the Holy 

 See would name Bishop William Jones of 

 Porto Rico to succeed the late Monsignor 

 Barnada as head of the metropolitan see of 

 Cuba, have caused much agitation, which, 

 however, is not directed against the person 

 of the American prelate, but that Cuban 

 Catholics prefer to have a Culian arch- 

 bishop rather than a foreigner. 



Recently the Holy See when creating the 

 new dioceses of Matanzas and Camaguey, 

 named an American as Bishop of Matanzas, 

 and there was a general protest, despite the 

 fact that it was a bishopric of new creation 

 and which had never been filled by a Cuban 

 Ijcforc and which is difi'erent from the case 

 of the metropolitan see of Cuba which had 

 been filled by a Cul)an prelate until the 

 death of Archbishop Barnada. 



