South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1873-11-28
Spain and the United States.

unchanged. the pending difficulties being
still undergoing the slow process of diplo-
macy. In the meantime preparations on
sea aud land arc actively going on to meet
every possible emergency British and
Herman war vessels are being ordered to
Cu5an waters, aud Spain, i, is presumed,
IS not lille. The Spanish frigate Arapiles,
which IS undergoing repairs at Brooklyn, is
hurrylng to get cut before the meeting Of
Congress, her commander evidently deem.
ing II prudent to avoid all couting re ncss iu-
volving the safety Of his vessel by getting
out of the way as soon as possible. The
following dispatches have been received
SPANISH AUTHORITY IN CUBA.
MADRID, Nov. "a President CASTELAR,
has received dispatch from Captain Gem
eral JoVelisr, assuring the home govern
tnent that tho authority of the republic will
be nbeyed in Cuba.
The Spanish press complain that the Gu
emles af Spain telegraph false news to the
United States.
tbs STORIES ABOUT MINISTER sIcKLEs
LONDON, November "a Tho agent of
tho Associated Press is authorized by Min
lstcr Slc6ies 10 say that there is no founda-
ton tor the report published in New York,
on the 2lst, to the effect that he (Sickles)
had broken of social relations with the for
elgn minister, and that he expressed an o.
pniou that war was inevitable. The agent
Is authorized TO state that there is no foun-
dation whatever for the dispatch that the
ottlcial and personal relations between Min
lister Sickles apd the Spanish officials are
unchanged, aud that Mr. SicAles has not
n snt 81 4
the pending question.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24.-The war foel-
ing in Washington, seems to be on tho de-
cline, although naval preparations are as
active as ever and large numbers of officers
are being detailed for duty daily. Three
iron -clads will be ready for sea in ten DAYS
aud four or FIVE more will be ready in six
weeks. Much has been said about the for.
mIdable Spanish IRON olads entering our
ports In case of war with Spain, but old
aud experienced naval officers here express
the opinion that not one Oft the Spanish iron.
clads, For any iron ship of the foreign
/ powers could enter New York harbor, ex.
cept IN case Of an extraordinary tide, and
then great care would have 10 be exercised.
Even if they should get in they would be
] ".
The great draft of these vessols-uone of
them drawing less than twenty.six feet
renders them of no use except in very deep
water. About the only port on our coast
they could enter without trouble would be
/ Newport, Rhode Island. II has been ar
gued in case of war with Spain, the policy
OF the Spaniards would be to attack our
ports along the coast, but this is not bolev-
ed by our naval officers. They express the
opinion that the Spanish Navy would con.
centrate about Cuba with the view TO pre-
vent an attack by tho United States forces
on that Island. Should they attempt to
come on our coast they would be used up
very soon. The Spaniardi would no doubt
make every attempt to break up our COM
merce on the high seas, but our wooden
/ vessels would not be entirely useless, os
many suppose would be the case. Armed,
as many Of them are, with eleven and fifteen
inch guns, they would be Efficient to great
extent In protecting our commerce against
Spanish vessels of similar construction,
which would be used to destroy American
commerce. |. must be borne in mind, too.
that several of the best iron. clads which
Spain had arc in the hands Of the Intran.
sigcntos at Cartagena, and before they could
be used against US some arrangement would
have to be made by the Spanish Government
to reconcile this disorderIy element at home
and regain possession Of tho vessels. which is
not at all probable Every Spanish ship cap,
/ tured or disabled by one Of our vessels
would be out of the way entirely ms their
( places could not be supplied, the Spanish
kepn0lic being very poor and heavily in
debt. Hence, il is believed their navy
would soou be destroyed. Most of the YES
sels they DOW have were built in either
Eog'and or France, and as the means for
furnishing iron alone suitable for ships
srmor are very limited in Spain, they could
not carry on the building Of vessels Of war
TO any extent, while we could easily send
out now aud powerful ones frequently. The
wooden frigates NJ Spain ore inferior to ours
and would not be able to WACO a successful
light with United vessels of this class.
WAsHINGToN, Nov. 25 Tho compile
ton Of repairs to some Of the vessels at the
Brooklyn navy gard having given rise to a
report that orders had b on issued IN sus-
pend work on the iron.clads generally, az
there vas no prospect of settling the diplo.
matte controversy with Spain for some
months To come, the construction bureau Of
the Navy Department says that if work at
any Of the navy yards is suspended it is
not hccaufc Of orders from Washington. -
IL was only to-day that orders were sent
from the bureau % make some additional
repairs to lie Colorado AT New York. The
Roanoke is not intended for the North At
lnlie Laladron. but for the mouth Of the