Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-12-18

rohE kGNs
The appointment of Bartholde as French
Minister at Washington was announced in
Paris on the 9th.
General Burriel left Havana on the 18th for
Santiago de Cuba to resume charge of that
department.
According to advices from Havana on the
Sth, Captain General Jovellar had not resign
ed, and had no intention of doing So The
statement was authorized that the entire
island was quiet, and there was no doubt that
all would be arranged peaceably and satsfac-
torily without the slightest difficulty. The
disposition to comply with the mandate of the
home government, and the obligations of the
treaty with the United States without further
discussion, was becoming general.
A very heavy fog visited London on the
9th. At half-past three p. m. the density of
the fog was almost without precedent, and
all traffic ceased, as it was impossible to trans
act business. The streets were filled with
men and boys bearing torches to light pedes-
trians on their way.
A cable dispatch of the 9th says the resigna-
ton of Minister Sickles was based on the fact
that the Washington Government negotiated
directly with Spain, and overlooked him. He
claims that the Government did not protect
him.
The trial of Marshal Bazaine before a mill
tary tribunal was concluded at Versailles on
the 10th. After long deliberation the judges
declared Bazaine guilty of the charges of the
capitulation of Metz, and of the army in the
open field, without doing all that was pre-
scribed by honor and duty to avoid surrender,
and unanimously condemned him to death,
and to be degraded from his rank previous to
his execution. After judgment had been
rendered, all the members of the court signed
an appeal for mercy, which Duke d. Aumale
Immediately conveyed in person to President
MacMahOn. Bazaine was greatly agitated
when he heard the decision of the court.
In proclamation issued on the 10th, the
Captain General of Cuba announced his belief
that amicable relations will remain uninter-
rupted between Spain and the United States
The dense fog at London, which set in on
the 9th, continued on the 18th, seriously
affecting the business of the city and the navi-
cation of the Thames. No vessels had arrived
in two days. The fog had caused the cattle
show in Agricultural Hall to be a failure.
Some of the animals had died, and their own
ers were withdrawing others. The fog cover
ed an area of fifty square miles, London being
the center.
A special from Paris to the London Daily
NelUs of the 18th states that President Mac
Mahon intended to commute the sentence of
Marshal Bazaine to twenty years seclusion.
On the evening of the 18th, Captain General
Jovelar issued an address to the inhabitants
of Cuba, in which he Said:
1.-The moment a treaty is signed between the
Governments of Spain and the United States, my
duty, although painful it may be, is to comply
faithfully with its terms. For this have received
final orders. Failure to comply with the same
would produce war, and war with great power,
the law of necessity and the orders of the Govern
ment of the Spanish Republic. Let us deliver up
the Vrginius and the survivors of her passengers
and crew. l have faith IN the nobleness of your
procedures, in compliance with my word
(Signed) JOAQUIN JOyELLAR.'
A dispatch recently received in London says
hat, as Baron Reuter- had not begun internal
improvements in Persia within the time fixed,
the Shah had declared the contract void.
The island of Sainte Marguerite, of Cannes,
has been selected as the place of confinement
for Marshal Bszaine. In a letter to his coun-
sci the Marshal says he "should not appeal
against the sentence, not wishing to prolong
in the ears of the world the spectacle of such
-
me with nothing. l confidently await the
justification which will come with the lapse
of time and the subsistence of party passions"
DOMESTIC.
A Washington special to the Chicago
Tribune of the Sth says Minister Sickles had
decided to leave Madrid at an early day. This
movement is said to be of his town free will,
and is not caused by any rupture or bad feel
ing between our Government and that of
Spain. He has been ignored by his own Gov
ernment during the recent difficulty in man.
ner which he is disposed to resent in the only
way possible-that is, by withdrawing from
his position as United States Minister to
Spain''
A Washington dispatch of the 9TH says:
Whatever may have been suggested hereto
fore as to the programme, it can now be as
serted that the Virginius will be delivered to
one of our naval vessels within the next ten
days, at Cuban port, in the open day,
and the surviving passengers and crew be
transferred to United States ship at Santiago
dc CUBA IN an equally open manner. The
vessels to perform this service will soon
oe, IL they are not already, designated by the
secretary of the Navy. Admiral Polo has
lately received a communication from Captain
General Jovellar, in which there is no refer
ence to the subject of his reported resigna-
ton"
Operations were being actively pushed in
all our navy yards on the 9th. All the heavy
ordnance which had been stored in the arsenal
at st. Louis since the war of the rebellion was
being shipped to Pensacola, Fla. Among the
large guns are many 1OO-pound Parrots and
mortars
Des Moines Qowa) dispatch of the 9th
says: Adjutant General Baker had returned
from visit to Osceola, Lyon, and O'Brien
Counties, and stated that the general reports