Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-07
REBELS NEARING HAVANA Forces Under Gomez Only Twelve
 MiIE Distant. ALL ARE SWELL MOUNTED The Spanish SooP' Are I'urfying to the De-
 fense of Havana. THE INSURGENTS ARE AVOIDING A FIGHT Spain's Experiment of Sending Convicts to Cuba to Fight Has Proven Failure, So They Are Being Returned to
 Their Spanish Prisons.
THE INSURGENTS ARE AVOIDING A FIGHT

Key West, Fla, Jan. 6.-The reported
 capture of Havana is denied by promi- nent Cubans in this city.
 | Madrid, Jan. GA dispatch from Ha-
 vana to the Imparcial says yesterday | the rebel forces under Gomez passed | Managua, twelve miles from Havana. They were marching westward and burn ing all towns in their path. They were
 nearly all mounted and thus able to elude
 the Spanish troops.
 Havana, Jan. 6.-The troops that have
 been ordered to proceed east from the
 province of Santa Clara in order to join
 the forces in the provinces of Havana
 and Pinar del Rio are arriving at Batan- bano,y the southern terminus of the Ha- vana and Batanbano railroad. whence
 they can be quickly transferred to Ha- vana or points in Pinar del Rio. The rebels still avoid fighting a decisive bat tie with the government troops, always
 retiring after exchanging few shots
 with the soldiers. As these are the tac-
 tics always followed by them it has been
 thought advisable to surround them and then to gradually close the lines upon them, driving them to a stand in the center Orders to this effect have been issued and the troops are reported to be rapidly surrounding the insurgents The trains on the railroads running west from Havana do not go any further than La Sal.
 Santiago de Cuba, Dec 26. via Key West, Fla, Jan. 6.-The Spanish author- ities here are not satisfied with impris- oning men, but are beginning to arrest ladies also. On the 2ith instant Mrs Manuel A. Casino de Bola and Mrs Juna Quntero were brought here from Man zanillo and were taken through the streets on foot to jail surrounded by sol diers, who would not allow them to take | coach, hoping by this to hurhiliate them 1 the more. Mrs. Bola was the principal of public school in Vicana, Jurisdiction of Manzanillo
 On the steamer which sailed from this | port for Havana yesterday the govern ment sent back to their prisons in Spain | brigade of soldiers, who at the begin- | ming of the war were fulfilling sentences | for different crimes, and who were or dered to be released on condition that they go to Cuba to fight against the in- surgentS, because a majority of them have joined the rebels.
 More than 400 men have gone to the field from this city, Guantanamo and Manzanillo during the past week Rebel Leader Jose Maceo, with 1700 men, has been encamped in Escandel, nine miles from this city, since yester- day. It is said that he is there to pro-
 
 ammunition, which arrived in an expedi- | tion lately near that place, and which is on it's way to Camaguey.
 As soon as Lieutenant-General Pando arrived at Guantanamo he began his old
 method of arresting people in the middle of the night. Three or four of these men were taken out of town and killed with macheteS.
 On the 18th instant General Canellas entered Guantanamo, taking with him 245 men, who were wounded in the battles of Ramon de Layugas. La Contini and Palmeritos. Among the wounded are a commander and a guide
 The few sugar estates that began to grind in Guantanamo have been obliged to stop, as the rebels, under Periquito Perezzet, put fire to the sugar cane. The Cuban government is in Cama- guey at present and has ordered that all
 arms and ammunition that may land in
 the oriental department be sent at once
 to Puerto Principe, so that they may
 be forwarded easily to the army In Las
 Villas.
 They have also ordered the rebel army
 in the east to keep solid on the defensva
 and prevent by all means the grinding of
 sugar cane, to protect the landing of ex-
 petitions and to organize the reserve
 army, which must be ready to go to Puerto Principe when called.