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About The Oregon mist. (St. Helens, Columbia County, Or.) 188?-1913 | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1898)
H P 17 OA?; . if 1 k n u v x MIST A JL JLJL N V JI JL KJ JL , VOL. XV. ST. HELENS, OltEGON, FKIDAY, JUNE 17, 1898. NO. 26. o DOINGS OF THE WEEK What Has Happened In the Civilized World. OIVKN IN THR PUKSM DISPATCH Ki A Complete Hevlsw of tha Mew f tha Past Seven Mays In This and AH foreign lands, Santiago la on the verge of atarva tlon, All tho food hna ben aoieod for the army and navy, and tioopi and pallors ore on half ratlone. The president has In contemplation the mi bin i union oi a special message to congress calling for the immediate annexation of Hawaii aa a military necessity. , . The' Marblehead on Monday, when the insurgent had pressed forward wont of Santiago, .shelled the Span iards, who flud to the mountains, checkering the path followed in their retreat with (load and wounded. Word Inn bean received from Ottawa, Canada, that a messenger haa lot t there with notice oi the expulsion from Can ada of Lieutenant Caranaa and Honor Du Bono, the Spanish oflioers, who wore recently attached to the Spanish . legation at Washington. The Marblehead engaged anil tliovo a Spanish gnnboat tuto Uunntanamo linr bor and shelled and reduced the anti quated lor t Mentions. The insurgent co-oioited on the land Bide. The nlaue t being held until troops arrive. It ia contemplated to eatnblith a general base there. Bampson baa officially doclaiel that the poipose of the bombardment of Santiago was to clear the way for the troop. Tha object haa been attained, lie personally commended Ensign Palmer for approaching within rOO yard of the Spanish battery at night, and learning that the Spaniard were mounting guns. ' Suspected of having furnished the United State with information regard ing Bun Juan harbor, Waiter Bolt, teo retary of tho British consulate at that port, hai received hi passports and he been banished from Porto IMoo by order of Governor-General Muiiclas. Batt whs imprisoned In a dungeon for 60 hours, and during that time he waa lubjeoted to gross maltreatment. Brit ish Consul-General Draw lord ha made t forma) portest to hi government and serious International complications are imminent r'. The American naval commnndar I tin Ions to bring abont the exchange of T Lieutenant Hobsoo and hit gallant oom pan Ions from the Merriinae. The ' jadmtrai sent tho Vixen with a Aug ol truce to the entrance of the harbor iWndnoadeay offering to exohnngo for Ithe lieutenant and hi party some pris oners taken from a prise of tho Marble Jhcad off Cienfuigoa. Cervora consid ered the manor all night, anil sent word today that he i powerless to aot. lle referred the matter to the military governor, who Inter In turn referred it to Blanco. A long delay is drobable. In addition to Duwey'a fleet eight foreign vessel are stationed in Manila bay. The Masonic festival lu Han Fran cisco has among numerous Intonating exhibition a sword cane presented to Ouorga Washington by Ueneial Lafuy : Otto. ' The auxiliary cruiser St. Paul sailed from New York at noon Wednesday omlor sealed order. Sho has taken alionrd neatly 5,000 tons of coal and , 88,000 gallon of water. President MoKnlliiy received a pros dispatch to the effect that Captain Phillips, of tho battle-ship Texas, had been killed by a Spanish shell at (San tiago, lie said there was no reason to believe it truo, and cited Sampson' . official dispatch announcing no casual ... tie. .'..:.'::;.--:Y,.y. A special from Kingston, Jamaica, report that tiie Spanish crolsor Via oaya and the torpedo-boat destroyer Furor were badly damaged during the bombardment of Monday. A shell from the Brooklyn is nld to have buret Under the Viwnya' port quarter, dis mounting gun, Injuring the cruiser' ruddor and wounding several sailuis. The Spanish force have been defeat ed with heavy loss in battle at Jig aanl, province ol Santiago. After si hours' fighting tho Spaniards raised flag of truce and expressed themselve a willing to urrendor, and the Cu ban took a prisoner one 8paniab col onel, cven captains and several other officer, beside 108 soldier. The Spanish loss amounted to T8 dead and large number of wounded. " Included in the Spanish Iohho were IS officer. Assistant Beoretary Melkcljohti hal Chartered the steamship iudiaiia, Mor gan City and City of Para for thrtrans portatlon of troop to the Philippines, an haa closed a oontraot for the Vic toria, Olympla and Ailaona, of tha North Paciflo steamship line and se cure the privilege of aoqtirlng the Ta ooina and Columbia if needed, all five on oonditlon that they are given Amer ican register. He also ho ordered Impressed Into service the rtcsmor Queen and City of Pnebla, of the Pa cific 8teamhlp Company, if found sat isfactory. . .; There are believed to be only IB, 00 Spanish troop In Porto Rico. It la said that the populuoe of Man. 11a Is reduced to eating borsoflesh. Spaniard in the Canary Islands live In dread of bombardment by the American fleot. The Russian Jew of Cincinnati, have started a movomont among their oouiitrvmen thiouithorit . the United ' States and are raising monoy to buy a LATER NEW8. The steamer flknglt Chief ran against roog id ins Ktioiteen river and wai wrecked. Hie three Phlllpplnei expedition re to unite at Honolulu and conclude their voyage in company. The War rfnnartmant hua nn In ton m! "tre"gth From 10,000 to 18,000 troope con voyod by Sampson' battle-ship are ox pouted to constitute the invading expo, dltlon to Porto Rico. Mr. A. Kummor, wife of Chief En gineer Kuromor, of the steamer Wild wood, committed suicide at Port Town tend by jumping off the wharf into the Sound. Word ha been received at tiie navy dopartment at Washington from a high though unofficial source that Admiral Camera' Cadia Hoot, has boon found unfit for son. Tho president signed the war reve nue bill Monday. The measure hav ing been signed previously by Vioe Presidont Uobart and Speaker Ueed, is now law. In responso to an Inquiry, General Linares, of the Spanish army at Santi ago, on bled the following reply. "Hob son and tho other aoven prisoners are well, and aro in receipt of all cable gram sen them. When the Dauntless left Guanta namo bay Monday morning the cable steamer Adria was grappling lor the Haytlen cable. The cable is to be spliced and Sampson wijl hold It for direct communication with Washing ton. Immediately upon Information from the White House that the war revenue bill had been signed by the prosident, Seorotary Uage issued a circular ex plaining to the pnblio the proposed bond issue. That circular Invite sub scriptions lor (200,000,000 of 8 per cent bond. It was formally announced at the war dopartment Monday morning that the first military expedition had left Key West at daybteak bound for San tiago. A large foioe of transport con voyed the troops under convoy of a strong squadron .of warships ranging from immense battle-ships to the small gunboats and armed fust sailing yachts. Major-General Shatter, who commands the expedition, has with him a force of 773 officer and 14.634 enlisted men. Regular troop make up the greater part of the force, there being only three volunteer organisation on tiie ship. It waa diOioult to prevail upon the mounted riflemen to leave their mounts behind, but this was a matter of necessity, it la laid, owing to the lack of accommodation for horse on ship board, Tho best the department could do at this time in the way of sup plying the cavalry contingent for the expedition' was to Include among the troops one squad of the Second United States oavalry, fully mounted with nine officers and 880 enlisted men. A prominent Chinese physician of Cleveland offers to enlist a company of hi oonntrymon, take them to our newly-won Philippine pnssesisons and teach the Chinese there that American rule I what thoy need. A special from Jacksonville, Fla., ay that three men were killed and Lieutenant Hart, of the engineer corps, was badly woundod by the explosion of torpedo which was being placed in the St Johns river about 18 miles aouth of Jacksonville. How the acci dent occurred the report doe not show. A Madrid dispatch says: A start ling telegram from Governor-General August I caused an Impression thnt Ma nila had surrendered already or waa on the eve of surrendering. The latest report Is tnat Augusti, in a fit of de spair tried to commit suicide, but was prevented from killing himself by Ad miral Monte jo and the 'generals who wish to bold out. The queen regent is profoundly grloved and alarmed at the new of the progress ol the war, partic ularly the report from the Philippines. The war department has issued in struction for the guidance of offlors of volunteer detailed to recruit their or ganization to fill them to the maxi mum under tho second call of the pres ident for 78,000 mon. Applicants for enlistment must be between 18 and 48 year old, of good character and habits, able-bodied, free from disease, and must be able to speak the English language. (Married men will be only enlisted on' the approval of regimental commander. Minor must not be en listed withdut the written consent of a parent or guardian. The terra ol serv ice i two years. , Replying to a question in the house of commons Friday aa to whether the British government or any of the Euro pean powers have any Intention of in tervening to secure the termination of tho Spanish-American war, Balfour, the government leader, said: Her maj esty' government will gladly take any favorable opportunity for promot ing a cessation oi hostilities and nego tiations for pence. b" ny 0,lon uP?n it part for thi purpose can only be undertaken if there 1 reasonable prospect that it will be well received by both parties and likely to load to an agreement between them. Unfortu nately there is not sufficient grounds for believing that thi condition ex-it-" ' Marine Insuranoe oompaniea are greatly agitated over Spain ' .new threat of privateering. i Tho wonderful submarine torpedo-, boat Holland has been bought by the government - The war has oausod art Immense de crease in first and eecond clas. ocean A high fenoehn been erected all around the Carpenter Steel works at BTadhig. P.., a. 'urthor V"ilon from spie.; FIRST LAND FIGHT Marines at Guantanamo Attacked by Span ish Troops, FOUGHT ALL SATURDAY NIGHT Our Lorn.. Wm Four Men Klllnd and KIcT.n Woundod An.l.tanl Surgeon fllbbt Among tha Formv-Th0 Kn mjr'l Lous Is Not Known, Off Guantanamo, via Mole St. Nich olas, June 14 Lieutenant, K. W. Huntington's battalion of marines, hloli landed from thetruiSort Panther Friday and encainpod on the hill, guarding the abandoned cable station at the entrance of the harbor of Guan tanamo, ha been engaged in heading off a rush attack by Spanish guerillas and regular since 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon ' ' The fighting waa almost continuous for 18 hour, until 6 o'clock thi morn ing, whan reinforcements were landed from the Marblehoad. Four of our men were killed and 11 woundod. The advance pickets, under Lieuten ant Neville and Shaw are unaccounted tor. Among the killed ia Assistant Sur geon John Blair Qibbs, eon of Major tiibbs, of tho regular army, who fell in the Custer massacre. His home was at Riohinond, Va., but he has been practicing in New York, and entered the service ainco the war began. He was a very popular officer, ; The others killed are Sergeant Clins. H. Smith, of Sraallwood; Private Wil liam Dunphy, ol Gloucester, Mass., and Private James McColgan. of Stouo- ham, Muss. Corporal Glass was accidentally wounded in the hand. The Spanish loss ia unknown, but it was probably considerable. The spots of blood found at daylight at the posi tion the Spuniub occupied indicate fatalities, but their oomradus curried off the killed and wounded. The engagement began with desul tory firing at the pickets, 100 yard in land from the cam p. Captain Spicor oom puny was doing guard duty, and was driven in, finally rallying at the camp and routing the enemy by 5 o'olock. The bodies of Private MoColgan and Dunphylwere fjuml, both shot dead. The large cavities made by the bullets, which, . inside a range of 800 yards, have a rotary motion, indicate that the victims were killed at close range. The bodies were stripped of shoes, huts and ourtridge belts, and horribly muti lated with mntuhetea. When the marines were landed the whole battalion was formed on thiee sides of a hollow square about the camp on the hill back of the bay, where the warships were at anchor. Buck of the camp is a deep ruvino, aud behind till aro steep hills. The adja cent country is thick with boshes. The sky was blanketed with clouds and when the sun set a gale wua blow ing seaward. Night fell thick and im penetrable. The Spanish squadron, concealed in the chapparal covei, had the advantage, the men fuinialnng a fine target against the sky. The Span ish fought from cover till .midnight, disooverable only by the flashes from their gun. The repeaters sounded like crackers in a barrel. The Marblehead's launch, with a Colt machine gun in her bow, pushed up the bay enfilading the Spaniards, and it ia thought that some were killed. The - marines trailed much blood to the water' edge, and there lout it. Sharks are numerous in the vioinity. Tho ships threw their searchlights ashore, the powerful eyes sweeping the deep tropical foliage and disclosing oc casionally skulking parties of Span lards . Each discovery of the enemy was greeted by the orack of carbine fire long the edge of the oamp ridge or by the long roll of the launch's machine gun searching the thicket with leaden stream. Shortly aftor midnight came the main attack. The Spaniards made a gallant oharge up the southwest slope, but were met by repeated volleys from main body, and broke before they were one-third of the way up the hill, but they oame so far that at points there was almost a hand-to-hand struggle. The officer fired their revolvers. The Spaniards got through the open formation to, the edge of the camp. Colonel Jose Campaui, the Cuban lead er, discharged his revolvei and the Cu bans, turning aud finding themselves without auppoit, ran heltcr - skelter down the reverse sldo of the hill. It was during this assault that As listant Surgeon Gibba waa killed. He was shot in the head In front of hi own tent, th farthest point Of attack. He fell into the arms of Private Sulli van and both dropped. A second bul let threw dust in their faces. Surgeon Gihbt lived 10 minutes, but did not regain consciousness. The surgeons of the hospital oorps then removed .their quarters to the trenches, about the Spanish stockade, north of the oamp. The attacks were ooutinned at inter vals through the rest of the night, with firing by small iquada in various di rections. Toward morning the tire slackened. Dawn is the favorite time for attack, and as the east paled, the marines, ly ing on their guns, weie aroused. Some were actually asleep, as they had had no rest for 48 hours, and tired nature oould no longer atand the strain. FLEET IS OFF. Tho 4rmy of In va.lon Sail. From Kojr Wail, ahri.r In Command. Waithington, June 14 Under com mand of General Shatter, the first di vision of the army sailed tonight from Key West for Santiago de Cuba to be lolge and capture that town. The con voying warships, believed to number 10 or 19, will be ready for the voyage by nightfall, and with tbl powerful force there la no longer reason for ap prehension that the transports can be attacked successfully by any Spanish warships, even if such ship had es caped the vigilant search of the naval commander at Key West and off Hav ana , ; It is believed bore that the sally out of Havana of the three Spanish gun boats was intended to create the im pression that they wore prepared to at tack the transports. If so, the plan miscarried, for the oraft were detected immediately by Commodore Watson' crulsors and driven back pell mell into Havana harbor nnder the protection of the guns of the shore batteries. Even if these boats had escaped they could have done no damage, for the siee of the convoy furnished for the troop ships I sufficient to warrant the belief that they would have beea speedily de stroyed had they bad the courage to make an attack upon the fleet of Amer ican ships. The Spanish boat are not of formidable character, not one of them being equal in power of the smallest American orniner, or even ol aueh gunboats as the little Banoroft, which may be need a General Shot ' flagship. Every precaution haa been taken by the government to Insure the safety of the troops en route to Cuba. The naval war board was in session today making the final preparation for the disposi tion of the guardshipa. The transport will be kept as olosely together as safe navigation will permit, and the war. ships will be disposed of ahead, astern and on each flank. ' The fleetest scout ing vessel will be thrown iar astern, ready to signal . the . heavily-armed cruisers at the first aign of an approach log foe.: ' ; . ' - . . The troops should arrive off Santiago by Wednesday night, supposing the fleet proceed at eight knots speed, and landing operations should begin by Thursday, for General Shatter will not keep his men cooped up on shipboard a moment longer tbl necessary. WRECK AT GLENOALE. Brakomaa Stephen D. Willis Vrasbod to Death. Kcseburg, Or., , June 14. -Northbound freight train No. 81, pulled by a large engine, waa derailed about 11:46 A. M. today near tunnel No"5, eight miles north of Glendale. The engine, tender and five cars jumped the track. It Is supposed the track spread. Stephen D. Willis, head biakeman, and Al Vealch, brakeman, were riding on the pilot 'Willis evidently saw the danger aa the train rounded the ourve, and jumped. He waa stunned by the fall and the engine turned over on him before be could escape. He was in stantly killed. Veatch was thrown ahead on the track and was only slight ly bruised. Eegineer Dempsey and the fireman were thrown from the engine as it rolled over. Dempsey was bruised and cut about the fuoe, not sonously. Tho fireman was not hurt at all. A wrecking train, with physiciaiiB, and William R. Willis, father of the brakeman killed, left soon after the ac cident occurred. LAKES ARE CLEAR. Navigation Opened on Undamana and Bennett- Port Townsond. June 14. The pas sengers of the steamer Cottage City, which arrived tonight from Alaska, re port Lake Lindeman clear of loe. Two steamers are running day and night taking miners across. Eight scows laden with auppliea were smashed in the ioe on Bennett, losing everything aboard. ' Three hundred men have succeeded In reaching the interior of Western Alaska via Yakutat bay. Parties arriv ing from there state rich diggings have been struck on Alsaoe river. Speedy justice has been meted out to the murderer of Sam Roberts, a gambler, at Dyea. He was killed about three month ago, just as he waa entering his cabin. Fitapatrlck re ceived a life sentence at San Quontin, while Brooks and Corbett, hi accom plices, were sentenced to 10 year. Protection for the Troops. Washington, June 14. Senator Ba- con, of Georgia, had a conference witbt the president today concerning the re ported yollow fever in the South. Sen ator Bacon advised the president to aee to it at once that the United States forces in the South be removed from the region of contagion. The matter haa been referred by the president to Surgeon-General Wyman, with instruo ttlons to make a report on it at the earliest possible moment . loath African War Brewing. London, June 14. The Cape Town correspondent of the Mall says: War between the Transvaal and Swaziland may break out at any moment The Swaai king has 80,000 warriors well armed and drilled, and there ia muoh anxiety In the Transvaal. Kun WonflanA. flul - JfnnA ID. Thn Htlnntlnn wnoort itvr thraA VRftTN tii a successful issue b.r Alphonso B. Bow ers against all builders and users of steam river and harbor dredges is about to be revived. Bower recently brought suit against the United State govern ment for damage to the extent of $500, 000, alleging infringraent of patents as his cause of action. The govern ment I actively engaged in preparing; Its defense, and the suit will loon be brought to trial. OFF THE ROADS Four Spanish Warships Were Seen Near Fort Monroe. WERE HEADING SOUTHWARD Caught by the Searehllght-Battla-. Ship, Two . Crnleere nad Torpedo. Boat Tha Mlgnal for Actlrltr at the Fort and on l he Venal In the Bay. Newport News, Va., June 11. A dispatch just received fiora Fort Monroe says: Intense excitement was caused at Fort Monroe Friday night shortly aftor 0 o'clock by a dispatch received from the signal station at Cape Henry, stating that Spanish war ships were lurking in the vicinity. A short time later a message was re solved from Washington instructing the commander of the fort to be on the alert. Reports as to the umnber of ihips oem to conflict. A lieutenant, who was seen after midnight, said that he had been in formed that a Spanish battleship, two (raisers and a torpedo-boat had been oaught under the searchlight of Cape Henry, steaming from a northerly di rection. Aa soon as it was reported that the enemy's warships had been sighted there was great activity at the fort. The big searchlights began to sweep across the bay, and signals were flashed to the cruiser Minneapolis, auxiliary Cruiser Dixie and dynamite cruiser Buffalo, which were anchored off Old point. Quarters were sounded, and the crew hastily prepared the ship for action. The gunner took position at thoir poets, where they were ordered to remain during the night. The hip's searchlight were kept playing on the water: At the fort ammunition was hurried to the long guns, and the troops were oidered to the poets. Some of the officers were with their families at the hotels, and buglers were dispatched for them. Tho men scurried out of the hotels half dressed and hastenedd to the fort. In the camp of the Maryland troops orders were given for the men to sleep in their clothes with their guns olose by. STRONG CONVOY. Sixteen Warships Go With Transports, Headed by the Indiana. Washington, June 13. Out of the maze of doubt and contradiction as to the dispatch of the first army of invas ion to Cuba, one thing stands out clear ly, namely, that the government, feel ing strong in its present position and plan, is moving cautiously and with the deliberation whioh it believes will secure success unattended with dis asters. With thi main purpose in view, the army and navy . are co-operating toward the dispatch of the troops, ssme 25,000 in number, under escort of a strong fleet of naval convoys, made up of 18 warships, headed by the battle ship Indiana. . Unattended by this trong fleet the troops might have left lost Friday, when one strong naval convoy was ready for this service. Einoo then, howevei, reports have come as to the presence of Spanisn ships in the North Atlantic. Realis ing that nothing was to be gained by haste, aud that the war was progress ing steadily toward success, it was de termined not to take the one small ebanoe of having our troop transport menaced by some scouting ship of the enemy. As a result, toe troop transports have not proceeded to Cuba, either yester day or the day before, as haa been re peatedly asserted. They are in readi ness to go, but will not move until the naval convoy is ready to accompany them, assuring safe conduct from Flori da to the point of destination. Wheth er that will be today or tomorrow, the war department deolines positively to lay. The completeness with whioh the transporting of the troops haa been planned ia shown by the list of trans port vessels given out at the war de partment today. Of this list, 84 steam ihips, varying from 1,400 tona down to 800 tons, are at Florida . ports ready to carry troop to the point of invasion. The entire transport fleet of about 60 steamships, augmented by the fleet of 19 naval convoys, will make a formida ble marine procession, exceeding in magnitude the notable spoctacle of the taval review in the world 'a fair year. SICBITABT OF Wi.1l ALSBlk . COAST IS CLEAR. American Troops Will Land la Cubs Without DICNonltr. Kingston, Jamaica, June 18. The nvy awaits the army. The fighting ship of Bear-Admiral Sampson and Commodore Sobley have battered down tha coast defense of Southern Cuba, and have sealed np Admiral Cervera'i fleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba by sinking the. collier Merrimac in th channel at it entrance, with gun of the fleet covering it Boats running under, the shadow of El Moro have cut the Hartien cable, and now hold 89 miles of the coast east of Santiago de Cuba, Including Guantanamo harbor. Undor the cover of the guns of the fleet, Eastern Cuba may be safely In vested by land and sea, Admiral Cer vera'a fleet annihilated and the entire province and Its town ani barboia seized ' and held, after a ahort cam paign. The harbor of Guantanamo is a fine basis for land and sea operations. The harbor is capacious, and has 40 feet of water. The land approaches are not to preolpitoa as at Santiago de Cuba. The low-lying hills can be easily reach- PI; EK. WEI.SOS A. MILES. ed with trains of elege guns, and there are level rrada to Santiago, 83 miles distant, where a few mountain batter ies, beyond the reach of the fleet, will be taken to an eminence commanding the city and the Spanish ships. Guantanamo la an important place. It has six miles of water barobr, and will be of great value to the United States navy and aimy a a supply sta tion, coaling depot and cable terminus. The Spaniards have but slight de fense. Their batteries were silenced by the Marblehead in a few minutes' firing at 4,000 yards. A email Spanish gunboat ran away.. ' The Oregon, Mar blehead and Yankee bold the harbor, waiting to land marines. The navy' work has been done well. Day and night ships patrol tiie 80 miles of coast within easy gun range of the shore. The officer and men are ever ready and impatiently say: "What more can be done? We have opened the way; where Is the army of invasion?" The answer seems neai at hand. ENGAGEMENT AT GUANTANAMO. Cruiser Marblehead la Full Possession . of tha Bay. , Washington, Juno 18 The first official confirmation of the engage ment at Guantanamo came to the naval department today and was made the subject of a bulletin. The term in which Admiral Sampson ascribed the affair tended strongly to take away the large importance that had been given it in the unofficial dismission. There was a notable failure on the part of the admiral to mention anything like a landing, although a statement that the Marblehead now holds tho lower bay by implication may carry with It the idea that her marines are ashore. The cablegram follows: "June 9 Admiral Sampson ordered the Marblehead, Commander MoCalla, and the Yankee, Commander Brown son, to take possession ofthe outer bay of Guantanamo. These vessels entered the harbor at daylight on the 7th, driving the Spanish gunboats into the inner harbor, aud took possession of the lower bay, whioh ia now held by the Marblehead." PUT BACK FOR COAL. Monitor Monterey and Collier Brutus . Arrive at Ban Diego. San Diego, Cal., June 18 The United States steamer Monterey and her coal consort, the Brutua, supposed to be speeding on their way toward Honolulu and Manila, were sighted at noon today, steaming south toward San Diego, at a good rate of speed, the Monterey leading. They anived off the harbor mouth at 8 P. M. and sepa rated, the Brutus going about five miles sooth and anchoring near Coro cado island, while the Monterey came in rapidly and dropped her anchor at 4 P. M. off the coal bunkers. A great crowd waa on the wharf to receive ber. Paymaster Rogers stated briefly that they had simply come in here for coal and water, and would sail tomorrow afternoon for Honolulu. Germany's Interest in It. Madrid, June 18. It ib reported that Germany will propose a meeting of the European conference to disouaa the question of the Philippines. ' A dispatch from Blanco at Havana say the Spanish torpedo-boat destroyer Terror la in Porto Rioan waters. ' Ship Starling Wreaked. Seattle, Wash., June 18. The steamer Eodiak, which arrived here this afternoon from Southeastern Alaska, reports that the ship Sterling ran on a reef and was wrecked : in the Nuebeyok river, about 65 miles from its month. Her orew and naaaeneer were landed at Karluk. The Sterling left San Franciaco April 87, with sup plies for the cannneries In Southern Alaska. She carried 173 passengers, 180 of whom were Chinese. ff A HARBOR MAP The Insurgents View the vSpanish Fleet in Santiago. IN CLOSE TOUCH WITH SCHLEY Olre Tery Definlta Information Regard ing Cap Verda Fleet Vlntlre Span ish Force at Santiago tl umbers But 0000 Poorly Fed Soldiers. Off Santiago de Cuba, via Kingston, Jamaica, June 11 After di-ving the Spanish fleot at Santiago de Cuba into a more protected position in the har bor, by the bombardment of Tuseday, Commodore Schley opened communica tion with the insurgents 18 miles from Santiago to the east. They were nrged to obtain, if possible, the names and number of the fleet Inside the harbor, . as the contour of the land at the en trance made it impossible to accurately determine by the view of the fleet just how many vessels of the Spanish squad ron were there. ' ' On Friday afternoon Lien tenant Sharp, of the Vixen, went to the place of the rendeivous, and secured from the insurgents a map of the harbor, show ing the entire Cape Verde fleet, with the exception of the destroyer Terror, inside, and close to the city nndor the protection of the grins on Blanco . bat tery at the northers extremity of tiie harbor. The ships there, according to this chart, are the Cristobal Colon, Vizcaya, Almlrante Oquendo, the Ma ria Teresa and the Reina Mercedes (de stroyed by the AsSerlcan warships since thi dispatch was written), all orulaers of the flist-class, and heavily armored, together with three torpedo boats. The deflriiteness of this infor mation naturally gave Commodore Schley great satisfaction. ' With Admiral Sampson's arrival, Wednesday, the : blockade was much strengthened, and the plans to starve the fleet were pushed vigorously. Just bow long Santiago can stand beseiging I e matter of conjecture. The conn try about the city 1 unproductive and mountainous, and the insurgents camps are so olose that there is little or no eommunioatlon between the oity and its environs, 1 The railway service is not carried to a distance muoh beyond 10 miles from the town.- Since Sun day last, when Cervera's squadron waa penned up by the flying squadron un der Commodore Schley, nothing hog been done since the auxiliary cruiser Bt Paul captured about 4,000 ton of coal consigned to the port. It ia thor oughly believed that only a short time will be needed to bring Santiago to a starvation basis. Naturally the fleet has a supply, perhaps for two months, but the Spanish soldiers cannot be sus tained on this. An important fact waa learned today from the insurgent on shore, with whom; communication 'has been opened up. There are not 20, 000 soldiers, as has been stated, in this part of the province of Santiago de Cuba, hot' only about 6,000. Even these are badly fed and much disheart ened. ' ' ' '" " " ' CENSOR'S WORK. Moremsnui of United States Troops Are Kept Seeret- Washlngton, June II. It beoamt apparent this afternoon that the war department, through the energeuo offices of the censor, has succeeded en tirely In its purpose to keep the move ment of troops a secret, for beyond question at the oioee of the day it was impossible to learn the whereabouts of the United States troops, , which had for weeks been gathered nnder com mand of General Shatter in Florida. Stories of a mysterious warship in Cuban waters floated through the navy department during the day. The offi cers quickly condemned them, declar ing that if the boats were Spanish they were nothing more than some armed launches and were not to be feared; by any transports convoyed by loch fine gunboats as the Helena and Bancroft. But when these stories reached the war department they were received in a different spirit. Nothing isjmore helpless In warfare than an un armored troopship full of soldiers. She would fall an easy victim to the small est gunboat, and the soldiers, knowing their weakness in this respect, are loath to nn herd take to' cross the Florida straits until these disagreeable visitors have been removed from the pathway. Without respect to the character of the strange raft that are said to be dodging the blockaders at Havana,- they will be removed from the scone of ac tion on short notice, as it is expected that Sampson has been made acquaint ed with the situation, and ia expected to redeem his piomise to provide safe conduct for the army when called upon. Hejhas ample force to conduct the op erations at Santago to a successful issue and still spare vessels of any power desirable for use in the Florida straits. ' 1 ' Fatrlotlo Fhtladelphians. Philadelphia, June 11. The Prom this morning states that agents of the, government . secret service are In poa-' session oi Information indicating Unit, hundreds of tons of coaj have been sup plied to Spanish agents by brokers in this locality, and that prosecutions Which may send several prominent coal-dealers to prison are Imminent. A 38-pound ball fired by an Engliufi man-of-war la 1833, was recently on earthed near Alexandria, Va. battleship for the government.