The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-18
MACE0 SEEN WITH 5000 MEN
MORE AND MORE THE STORY OF HIS
 DEATH SEEMS UNLIKELY.

Residents of Havana Not Certain of the
 Alleged Fact--Gen. Weyler Ordered to
 Cease Demonstrations Based on the Re-
 bort-Said to Have Been Manufactured
 to Influence Action in This Country.
 Key West, Fla, Dec 17-Passengers by the steamer Olivette last night re- Havana on account of the uncertainty of Maceo's death. It Is reported on good authority that General Petras, commander of Mantazas province has notified General Weyler by telegram to cease all demonstrations on account of the death of Maceo, and that General Bernalof of said province had an en- gagement Tuesday week with Maceo, who had five thousand men with him The Spaniards reported victory, as usual.
 Passengers state that the report of Maceo's death is well understood in Havana, and that it was made up by order of the home government to in- f1uence the congress of the United States. There was the widest kind of excitement on the dock last night when the facts became known. The cheers for Cuba fibre shook the dock. It is said that there are private letters in the city confirming the above, but it is impossible to get at them tonight.
 Havana, Dec. 1.-The bulletins is- sued by the government regarding en- gagements of the troops are unimpor. tant.
 A correspondent at Guanajay reports that the forces under Major Lacosta have captured at Mosquito Beach a. Spanish deserter who belonged to the Alfonso Thirteenth battalion. The prisoner says that he was forced to join Maceo's forces in Pinar del Rio.
 He repeats the story that Maceo did not cross the trocha on land, but went by sea around the northern end of 1t. After landing in the province of Ha- vana, Maceo met the forces of Lieu tenant Vasquez, who was waiting at Mosquito Beach, between Mariel and Banes. The prisoner complains that he was ill-treated by the rebels. His story is considered suspicious, and he will be tried by a court-martial.
 The queen regent has sent a dispatch to Captain General Weyler, compli- menting him upon the result of his campaign against the insurgents. Advices from the Province of Pinar Del Rio are to the effect that several Spanish battalions have penetrated to the interior of the hills there in places that were considered impregnable by l the rebels. The insurgents had disap- peared, so the troops burned the huts that had been occupied by them. A number of horses and cattle were cap- tured.
 The officers commanding in Pinar Del Rio have no idea of the present locality of the rebels in that province. Scouting parties have failed to learn their whereabouts, but the military pro- fess to believe that their abandonment of almost unassai1able positions is proof of the disorganization that has followed the death of Maceo.
 Indications point to rebel parties hav- ing entered the province of Matanzas. Their trails show the direction in which they have gone and & Spanish column is following in their track. It is believed that a concentration is in- tended in Santa Clara province of rebels from the east and west. ; The government says it Is watching the movemnt and so far as can be gath- cred from outside sources it is doing little besides watching to prevent the rebels from carrying out their plan. | A colored woman named Francisco Herrera has been tried by court mar- tial here on a charge of rebellion. The prosecutor asked that she be sentenc- ed to death. The sentence of the court martial if it has been passed, has not been made public.