over our heads so quick I paid no attention to them.

[Illustration: The Olympiads Military Mast.]

"After an hour and fifteen minutes, the Spanish admiral had two ships
sunk under turn. We withdrew for a short time, not knowing we had them
whipped. As we were leaving, three ships were burning. At
nine-twenty-five, we started again. In a short time the arsenal went
up and the Government buildings were in flames.

"The battle lasted altogether three hours and some minutes. At
eleven-fifteen the white flag was shown, and you might hear us cheer.
The ship was hit about six times. The Spaniards lost terribly. The
rebels attacked the enemy. It is something wonderful when you consider
the advantage they had over us. They had eleven ships to our six.
Their ships could run behind a neck of land near the navy yard. The
shore batteries were firing on us from three points. But our
marksmanship was too much for them; our fire was so rapid they could
not stand it. They lost about two thousand men, so the rumor says. We
sank four ships and burned seven. It was a grand, beautiful sight to
see those ships burn.

"I was ashore yesterday, and we destroyed all the guns. I managed to
get a few souvenirs. Two torpedo boats attempted to blow us up, but
one was sunk and one was beached. I saw her. She was full of holes and
blood was all over her bow ...

"I hope the ships at home have as good luck as us. I wrote this on
captured paper with a Spanish officer's pen."