The Dynamite Cruiser at Work.

Manawatu Herald, 26 July 1898, Page 3

The Dynamite Cruiser at Work.

For the first time in any war these terrible machines were brought into actual play at Santiago. For a long time LieutenantrCommander Pillsbury has been anxious to try the effect of his guns on the fortifications. JThe .hapless fort on the hill at the western entrance of the harbour, which the guns of the fleet could not silence, was selected as a test. Under the coyer of dusk she steamed within half a mile of her prey, the search* light of thcOregon meanwhile playing ori flic mark.. Three. shells each ' her three guns were fired in rapid succession,* : Every shell cob. tamed 2001 b of guncotton. Ther c

was no flash, there was no smoke, there was no noise. At first the pneumatic guns on the little cruiser did their work silently. The first shot exploded on the hillside below the battery, the second struck close to the Spanish position the third load of guncotton was dropped on the very crest of the hill from which the battery was being fired the other day. After her last shot the Vesuvius went away at 16 knots. Two shells fell just beyond her as she was departing. A few seconds after the gun was fired there was a frightful convulsion on the land and the hill where the Spanish guns had withstood the missiles of the ordinary ships of war. Tons of rocky soil rose high in the air. The land was smitten as by an earthquake. Terrible echoes rolled around and around through shaken bills and mountains. The sea seemed to tremble with the awful shock. The dust grew into huge clouds and hid the scene of destruction. Then came silence, and next another frightful upheaval, and following it a third, so quickly that the results of the work of two mingled in mid-air.