Show t rA t v fo totTtN < N S I < J Al Hr 0 j r 0 Cffi l9iSR pr X7JX1iQ74 7 1 r f L c A L 14 cI k J Now York Ensign Bagley ono of the heroes of tho sea light of Car denas harbor Is dead tho Spanish war Is history but the other hero of that conlllct of shells with shells and Americans with Spaniards and smoke powder with smokeless powder is still living Capt Frank H New comb a native of Boston tho commander com-mander of the Hudson tho only hero of tho Spanish war who received a gold modal from congress Ho was Lieut Nowcomb six years ago and now he Is Capt Nowcomb tho supervisor super-visor of anchorages any tho purchasing purchas-ing officer at tho port of Now York Some day tho histories will refer to tho sea fight of Cardenas harbor on tho afternoon of May 11 189 > > asa as-a typical brave rash exploit of the American seaman They will mention men-tion Baglcys namo In sonorous paragraphs para-graphs Lieut Bernadous name in other sonorous paragraphs and they also will tell of how Lieut Newcomb commanding officer of tho oxrevenue cutter Hudson a wooden boat ran in under destructive masked batteries throw a line to tho disabled WInslow remained there In tho zone of fire for 10 minutes and finally brought away tho Spaniards prize in triumph Then they will comment profusely on this peculiarly American contempt for shot and l shell and they will I holdup hold-up to the constant attention of future fu-ture generations the example of tho deeds of that afternoon And In their summary of the heroes of the war they will mention the names of Dewey Schley Sampson Hobson Nowcomb Bagley Roosevelt Funs oun1 these names and others they will mention to the everlasting glory vof America in wartime Everybody remembers Newcomb when you revive his name In the public pub-lic print Before tho war he was an obscure revenue officer so far as the great mass of citizens went But on the morning of May 12 1898 the excited ex-cited readers of the cxlpolts In Car denas harbor tho mourners with tho mother of Ensign Bagley Democrats and Republicans Imperialists and antllmperlnllsts country know tho name of Lieut Frank H New comb Dared Spaniards to Combat Tho affair in Cardenas harbor followed fol-lowed a series of astonishing captures of Spanish ships of armed and unarmed un-armed merchant ships and it also followed fol-lowed a series of daring attempts to engage tho naval vessels of tho Spanish Span-ish government In doanddlo fights For whenever a Spanish gunboat or cruiser showed herself in public that Is to say whenever she showed her smokestacks and hull to an American fighting ship small or big effectively I or crudely armed she was promptly Invited to test her powers Sometimes Some-times these challenges wero ludicrous for a converted small yacht would openly I advance on a largo gunboat possessed of ten times greater equipment equip-ment run up her flag proudly fire her barking sixpounders and rush ahead and give every sign of wishing to engage In mortal conlllct for the eternal glory of one side or the other The situation was frequently like the street situation wherein a small boy protrudes his head argumentatively and defies a man to knock n chip oft his shoulder For Instance three days before the conflict In Cardenas harbor har-bor the gunboat WInslow with Lieut Bcrnadou In command and Ensign Worth Bagley in the position of executive execu-tive officer rushed toward three well equipped Spanish gunboats Just outside out-side of Cardenas Intent on sinking every one of them The WInslow theoretically the-oretically was no match for three larger craft but tho spirit of daring and of contempt for the enemy was In the nIl The battle of Cardenas took place because three Spanish gunboats used to sneak out of their shelter at opportune op-portune moments nnd try to pick off i passing American tugboats and I launches If tho gunboat advanced spiritedly Into the one of effective I marksmanship demonstrating at once i I the superiority of its Individuals the Spanish boats retreated So the I Americans began to consider them ank cowards However they did not follow I fol-low the Spaniards Into the harbor because they reared probable mines I I Eager for Bravo Deeds On May 11 tho gunboat Wilmington tho torpedo boat Winslow and the so called gunboat Hudson a converted revenue cutter met outside the harbor of Cardenas and decided to go Inside and do some damage They were weary of the sallies of the Spanish gunboats Then they were eager to do bravo things ThIs waterway to I conlllct was broad and shallow with I two jagged stretches of Ijind dose to 1 tho mouth and outside a dotted formation of coral keys Here and there were other green topped keys with n channel running Indefinitely among thorn Beyond the wriggling channel Cardenas lay In an angle of sloping hills seven miles away The Wilmington awing 18 feet of water In these shallows proceeded to a location within lSOO yards of the water fiont the Wlnslow a llgutei i I draught boat went 300 yards farther The little Hudson Impudently followed fol-lowed Ahead of these t two American I i craft were the scudding Spanish gunboats 1 I gun-boats They fled apparently from force of habit until they nestled some where among the wharves of the city Now tho WInslow and the Hudson wore triumphant pursuers They i rushed pell mell Into a zone of buoys I Through the sultry air echoed and reechoed u discharge of numerous guns Every gun on the Winslow Instant ly I replied although thc location of tho Spanish batteries was a guesswork guess-work place The enemy used sinoKc less powder the American ships were draped with smoko Thou came another an-other discharge from tho Spaniards from the shore fiorn visible warehouses ware-houses from the docks The Americans Amer-icans knew that the gunboats WEre hidden among certain wharves HO they steamed ahead In defiance of the mines and the masked batteries They penetrated the one of tho buoys until they were only 800 yards from the gunboats there was a continuous pyrotehcntc display Tho water around both boats constantly Hhowed geysers Lieut Nemcomb observed the condition con-dition of the Winslow auk steamed toward her still valiantly peppering everything Spanish within range He saw Bagley signal and hold aloft a megaphone and presently ho heard the ensign yell Wo are disabled Come and tow us off At once the Hudson steamed within with-in time uneven circle of water spouts He approached until he was only 200 yards from the battered WInslow I The shells came thicker and thicker nnd the Spaniards were shooting with surprising accuracy Once tho Winslow Wins-low careened and belched forth a part of her body Steam followed the assortment as-sortment of missiles On board the Hudson Newcomb observed to his men that the boiler of tho WInslow was evidently gone Near the pilot house he saw the sitting sit-ting figure of her commanding 6tllcer with a huge bandage around one leg Ho saw Bagley walk calmly up to Berndou shake hands with him and wave contemptuously toward the masked batteries and the Spanish gunboats The Hudson drew still farther into the rain of missiles Jested in Face of Death Bagley rushed to tho rail and cried out to Newcomb to heave a line An officer of the Hudson ran forward with a Hue and bellowed Dont miss IU Bagley laughed and waved his hand dice illy Lot her come yelled the boy Its getting too hot here for comfort I Eventually tho task was apparently apparent-ly completed The Hudson u started uhi > ad her men looking back calmly at tho screaming town of Cardenas Thirty seconds Liter the hawser snapped ThE WInslow swung around and her men flung another hawser onboard on-board thE Window Far rearward the Wilmington was steaming to and fro firing shell after shell Into the town acting after the manner of on Infurl algid animal Through Storm of Shells The second hawser from tho Hudson Hud-son was a fiveinch one They at tacliid It to the pilot house under a rain of ammunition Then the Hudson Hud-son began to move forward again She continued to move forward firing her slxpoundrrs as lapldly as tho mcn could load them These gun IKIB wire swraritig at their slowness and thC commander kept urging them to stork harder lie strode up and down the dock dividing his attention nmorri these gunnels and tho Spaniards Span-iards and the hawser Ills quartermaster quarter-master walked beside him praying unconsciously un-consciously that the rope would not part HKo Its predecessor They stood out boldly on the deck of the little revenue cutter entirely unmindful of the spat spat spat of the bullets and tho screaming of the shells It was absolutely necessary for the little Hudson to get the remains of the Winslow and her dead out of tho one of fire Half a dozen times tho Hudson was struck by shells so that I she also began to resemble a dero Met But she kept steaming ahead I ihiough the treacherous shoals over I possible locations for mines now scraping a coral reef now dragging the WInslow off an unseen shallow j place but always belching forth flame and smoke from her sixpounders and always loatng the masked batteries farther and farther behind until at last the nearest geyser was yards and ynids rearward j I I And then the officers yelled to tho men on hoard the WInslow and i learned of the death of Ensign Bag Icy and of four other deaths So grat was the rage on tho Hudson that every member of her crew wanted want-ed to bavo thc boat turned around and reenter the luul > ormil destroy every visible object in Cardenas including the three gunboats and the masked battery and all the Spaniards there Given Deserved Honor Of course they werE mentioned In the reports of the conlllct Particular mention was made of the commander of the Hudson for his coolness and supreme disregard of apparently certain cer-tain destruction Then President McKinley Mc-Kinley sent to congress this recommendation recom-mendation I recommend that in recognition I of tho signal net of heroism of First Lieut Frank II Newcomb United I States revenue cutter service above I rt > t forth the thanks of congress bo extended to him and to his officers 1 and men of the Hudson and that n I gold medal of honor be presented to I Limit Nowcomb and a silver medal of honor to each member of his crew i who served with him at Cardenas i Both branches of congress united I I In passing favorably on the recommendation recom-mendation and Limit Newcomb received re-ceived a letter from the treasury department de-partment containing this expression Yours Is tho proud distinction of being tho only commissioned officer of any service to whom congress awarded a gold modiil for heroism during the war with Spain |