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Show iNew York. Ensign Bagley, one of tho heroes of tho sea fight of Cardenas Car-denas harbor, Is dead, tho Spanish war Is history, hut the other hero of that conflict of shells with shells and Americans with Spaniards anil nmoke powder with smokeless powder is still living, Capt. Frank l. Now-comb, Now-comb, a native of Boston, tho commander com-mander of tho Hudson, the only hero of tho Spanish wnr who received a ifiold medal from congress. lib was 'Lieut. Nowcomb six years ago, and now ho Is Capt. Newcomb, the supervisor super-visor of anchorages nri the purchasing purchas-ing officer at tho port of New York. Somo day tho histories will refer to tho sea fight of Cardenas harbor on tho afternoon of May 11, 1818, as a typical bravo, rash exploit or the American seaman. They will mention men-tion Bngley'a name In sonorous paragraphs, para-graphs, Lieut. Dominion's name In other sonorous paragraphs, and they I also will tell of how Llout. Newcomb, commanding officer of tho ox-revenue 'cutter Hudson, a wooden boat, ran In under destructive masked batteries, threw n line to the disabled Wlnslow, romalned there In the zono or flro for 30 minutes, and finally brought nway tho Spaniard's prlzo In triumph. Then they will comment profusely on this peculiarly American contempt ,for shot and shell and they will hold up to the constant attention of future fu-ture generations the example of tho deeds of that afternoon. And In their nummary of tho heroes of tho war they will mention tho names of Dewey, Schley, Sampson. Hobson, Newcomb, Bagloy, Roosevelt, Funs-"ton Funs-"ton all these names and others they Will montlon to tho everlasting glory of America In wartime. Kvorybody romcmbors Newcomb when you rcvlvo his namo In tho public pub-lic print. Boforo tho war ho was nn obscuro revenue officer, so far as tho great mass of citizens went. But, 011 tho morning of May 12, 1898, tho excited ex-cited readers of tho cxlpolts In Cardenas Car-denas harbor, tho mourners, with tho mother of Ensign Bagley, Democrats and Ilcpubllcans, Imperialists and , nntl-lmpcrlallsts tho country know 1 the name of Lieut. Prank II. New-A New-A comb. Dared Spaniards to Combat. Tho affair in Cardenas harbor followed fol-lowed a scries of astonishing captures of Spanish ships of nrmed and unarmed un-armed merchant ships, and It also followed fol-lowed a scries of. daring attempts tn engage tho naval vo.wols of tho Spanish Span-ish govornmcnt in do-and-dlo fights, For whenever a Spanish gunboat or crulsor showed herself in public, that is to say, whenever nhe showed her 1 smokestacks and hull to an American H fighting ship, small or big, effectively Hj or crudoly armed, she was promptly Hj invited to test her powers. Some- times tlicso challenges wero ludlorous, for n converted small yacht would openly advauco on a largo gunboat Hj possessed of ten times greater equip- Hj merit, run up her flag proudly, flro Hj her harking slx-poundera nnd rush ahead and givo every sign of wishing to engage in mortal conflict for the 1 eternal glory of 0110 side or the other. Tho situation was frequently like the Hj fit root situation wherein a small boy H protrudes his head nrgumentntlvely H nnd dories a man to knock a chip off H his shouldor. For Instance, three days H . heforo tho conflict In Cardonaa bar- 0 bor tho gunhoat Wlnslow, with Lieut. H Bnrnadou In command nnd Ensign .Worth Bngluy In tho position of oxeou- tlve ofllcor, rushed toward threo woll- equipped Spanish gunboats Just out-I out-I fcldo of Cardenas, Intent on sinking I every one of thorn. Tho Wlnslow the- oretlcally was no mntch for three 1 larger craft, but tho nplrlt of daring I nnd of contempt for tho enomy waa In I tho nir. B The battlo of Cardenas took place B because three Spanish gunboats used to sneak out of their shelter at opportune op-portune moments and try to pick off passing American tugboats and launches. If the gunboat advanced spiritedly Into tho zono of effective mnrksmanshlp, demonstrating at once tho superiority of Its Individuals, tho Spanish boats retreated. So the Americans began to consider them rank cowards. Howovtr, they did not follow fol-low tho Spaniards into tho harbor, becauso they feared probahlo mines. Eager for Brave Deeds. On May 11 tho gunboat Wilmington, tho torpedo boat Wlnslow and tho so-called so-called gunboat Hudson, a converted revenue cutter, met outside tho harbor of Cardenas nnd decided to go Inside nnd do somo damage. They wero weary of tho sallies of tho Spanish gunuoais. Tnen tncy wero eager to do bravo' things. This waterway to conflict was broad and shallow, with two Jagged stretches of land closo to tho mouth, and outside a dotted formation of cornl keys. Hero nnd thero were othor green-topped koys, with n channel running Indefinitely among them. Beyond tho wriggling channel Cnrdcnns lay In nn angle of sloping hills, seven miles away. Tho Wilmington, drawing 18 feet of water In these shallows, proceeded to a location within 1.S00 yards of tho water front; tho Wlnslow, a lighter draught boot, wont 300 yards farther. Tho llttlo Hudson Impudently followed. fol-lowed. Ahead of these two American craft wero the scudding Spanish gunboats. gun-boats. They Hod apparently from forco of habit until they nestled somewhere some-where among tho whnrves of the city. Now the Wlnslow nnd tho Hudson woro triumphant pursuers. They rushed pell moll Jnto n zono of buoys. Through tho sultry nlr echoed and reechoed n discharge of numerous guns. Every gun on tho Wlnslow instantly instant-ly replied, although the locntlon of tho Spanish batteries was a guesswork guess-work place. Tho enemy used smokeless smoke-less powder; tho American ships were draped with smoke. Then came another an-other dlschargo from tho Spaniards from tho shoro, from vlslblo warehouses, ware-houses, from tho docks, Tho Amor-leans Amor-leans know that tho gunboats woro hidden among certain wharves, so they steamed ahead In defiance of tho mines nnd tho masked batteries. They penetrated tho zono of tho buoys until they woro only 800 yard from tho gunboats. Thero was a continuous pyrotohcnlo display. Tho water around both boats constantly showed goysers. Lieut. Nemeomb observed the condition con-dition of tho Wlnslow and steamed toward nor, still valiantly peppering! everything Spanish within range. Ho saw Bagley signal and hold aloft a megaphone, and presently ho heard the ensign ye.ll: "Wo aro disabled! Come and tow us off!" At once thp Hudson steamed within with-in tho unoven circle of water spouts. Ho approached until ho was only 200 yards from tho battered Wlnslow. Tho shells camo thicker and thicker nnd tho Spaniards wero Bhootlng with surprising accuracy. Once the Wlnslow Wlns-low enrcened nnd bolchcd forth a part of her body. Steam followed tho assortment as-sortment of missiles. On board tho Hudson Newcomb observed to his men that the boiler of tho Wlnslow was evidently gone. Near tho pilot houso he saw tho alt-ting alt-ting figure of her commanding officer with a hugo bandngo around ono leg. Ho saw Bagloy wnlk calmly up to Borikadou, Blmko hands with him and wavo contemptuously toward tho masked batteries and the Spanish gunboats. Tho Hudson drew still farther into tho rain of raUsllo. Jested in Face of Death. Bagley rushed to tho rail and cried out to Newcomb to henve a line. An ofllcor of U10 Hudson ran forward with n lino and bellowed: "Don't miss It!" Bagley laughed nnd waved his hand cheerily. "Lot her, come!" yelled the boy. "It's getting too hot hero for comfort." Eventually the task was apparently apparent-ly completed. Tho Hudson started ahead, her men looking back calmly at tho screaming town of Cardenas. Thirty seconds 'later tho hawser snapped. The Wlnslow swung around and her men flung another hawser on board the Wlnslow. Far rearward the, Wilmington was steaming to nnd fro, firing shell after shell Into tho town, acting after the manner of an Infuriated Infuri-ated animal. 1 Through Storm of Shells. TI30 second hawser from the Hudson Hud-son was a five-Inch one. They attached at-tached it to tho pilot houso under a rain of ammunition. Then the Hud-fon Hud-fon began to move forwnrd again. Sho continued to move forward, firing her slx-pounders ns rapidly as tho men could load them. Theso gunners gun-ners w re swearing at their sIowncs3 nnd tho commander kept urging them to work harder. Ho strodo up and down tho dock, dividing his attention among theso gunners nnd tho Span-lards Span-lards and tho hawser. His quartermaster quarter-master walked besldo him, praying unconsciously un-consciously that tho ropo would not part like Its predecessor. Thoy stood nut boldly on tho deck of tho llttlo revenue cutter, entirely unmindful of the spat, spat, spat of tho bullets and tho screaming of tho shells. It was absolutely necessary for the llttlo Hudson to get tho remnlns of the Wlnslow nnd hor dead out of tho .one of fire. Half a dozen times tho Hudson wns struck by shells, bo that she also began to rcsemblo a dero-Mct. dero-Mct. But sho kept steaming ahead through the treacherous shoals, ovor possible locations for mines, now scraping a coral reef, now dragging tho Wlnslow off nn unseen shallow place, but always belching forth flame nnd smoke from hor slx-pounders and always leaving tho masked batteries farther, nnd farther behind, until at last tho nearest geyser was yards and ynrds rearward. Anil then tho officers yelled to tho men on board tho Wlnslow nnd learned of tho death of Ensign Bag-ley Bag-ley nnd of four othor deaths. So grnt was tho rago on tho Hudson that every incmhar of hor crew wanted want-ed to havo tho boat turned around and reenter tho harbor nnd dostroy overy vlslblo object In Cardenas, Including tho threo gunboats nnd tho masked battery nnd all tho Spaniards thero. Given Deserved Honor. Of course they wero mentioned In the reports of tho conflict. Particular mention was made of tho commander of tho Hudson for his coolness and supremo disregard of apparently certain cer-tain destruction. Then President Mc-Klnley Mc-Klnley sent to congress this recommendation: recom-mendation: "I recommend that In recognition of tho signal act of heroism of First Llout. Prank II. Nowcomb, United States revenue cutter sorvlco, abovo t forth, tho thanks of congress 1m extended to him and to his officers and men of tho Hudson, and that a gold medal of honor bo presented to Lieut. Newcomb and n silver medal of honor to each mombcr of his crew who served with him nt Cardenas." Both branches of congress united In passing favorably on tho recommendation recom-mendation nnd Llout. Nowcomb received re-ceived a letter from tho treasury department de-partment containing this expression: "Yours Is tho proud distinction of being tho only commissioned officer of any sorvlco to whom congress nwarded a gold modal for horolsro during tho war with Spain." |