“The frightful execution done by those three shots will be historic.
“Guns in that fort had not been silenced when the fleet drew off after the attack that followed the discovery of the presence of the Spanish fleet in the harbour.
“In the intense darkness of last night the Vesuvius steamed into close range and let go one of her mysterious missiles.
“There was no flash, no smoke. There was no noise at first. The pneumatic guns on the little cruiser did their work silently. It was only when they felt the shock that the men on the other war-ships knew the Vesuvius was in action.
“A few seconds after the gun was fired there was a frightful convulsion on the land. On the hill, where the Spanish guns had withstood the missiles of the ordinary ships of war, tons of rock and soil leaped in air. The land was smitten as by an earthquake.
“Terrible echoes rolled around through the shaken hills and mountains. Sampson’s ships, far out at sea, trembled with the awful shock. Dust rose to the clouds and hid the scene of destruction.
“Then came a long silence; next another frightful upheaval, and following it a third, so quickly that the results of the work of the two mingled in mid-air.
“Another still, and then two shots from a Spanish battery, that, after the noise of the dynamite, sounded like the crackle of firecrackers.
“The Vesuvius had tested herself. She was found perfect as a destroyer. She proved that no fortification can withstand her terrible missiles.
“Just what damage she did I could not tell from the sea. Whatever was within hundreds of feet of the point of impact must have gone to destruction.”