The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1896-01-15
FIVE HOURS ENGAGEMENT REPORTED
insurgents Better Armed and Well
Reinforced,
THE RESURRECTION SPREADING
Spain's Revenue Gu. Down Eighty Per
Cent by tho Destruction of Property
by the willy Rebels.

from the front was received about noon |
In a shape which prevented Its accuracy
from being denied. The sound of continued
artillery firing was heard south of Union
not far from Bejucal, the town which was
attacked by the Insurgents with the result
that, according to the official statement
of the affair. they We're forced to retreat
after heroic resistance upon the part Of
the government force defending that place,
the battle lasting, It is claimed. five hours
But 1t Is admitted that the insurgents
plundered stores In the outlying streets o.
Bejucal, burned number OF houses amp
destroyed the railway depot by fire. Pre-
vious to this they had burned the town
OF Salud. quite n good sized place, ana
partly destroyed Quiv!can, n smaller place.
They varied these operations by burniug
freight trains and destroying railroad en-
g,nes as they pushed northward toward
Havana. This force of insurgents Is the
one supposed to be commanded by Gomez
In person. although 1t has been insisted
that he is still in the province of Plnar del
Rio and that he was In conflict with Span
ish troops commanded by General Linares.
1t is believed that an important engage
ment Is taking place and further explona.
ton Is anxiously awaited.
Confirmation has been received OF the
| report last night from Eastern provinces
| that the insurgent leaders Rabi Jose Ma
| Geo and others. at the head of strong
forces of Insurgents from the province of
Puerto Principe, believed 20 be much bet
| ter armed than any previous forces and TO
have been reinforced by fiEbustering ex-
petitions containing numbers OF Ameri-
cans. are moving eastward apparently
| with the intention of reinforcing the In
| surgerts now operating in the netghbor-
hood of Havana. Those insurgent FORCES
are said to have moved into the Remedies
district apparently having crossed the
frontier at about the same place Gomez
| crossed II, and to have moved IN a north
westerly direction from Sancu Espiritu to
Remedies and from there on westward.
| The presence of this additional force OF
insurgents, moving through the province
| of Santa Clara and in the direction of the
| province of Matanzas, Will naturally pre-
vent tho Spanish commanders from send
| ing into the Havana district all the troops
they intended to draw from Santa Clara
and Matanzas with the intention OF driv-
| Ing the insurgents in this vicinity into the
province of Pinar del Rio westward until
| they were all placed IN n position where
they could be either extermina,ed or forced
been forced to meet this move by sending
back toward Santa Clara several columns
of troops which were on their way through
the province of Matanzas to reinforce his
forces in this vicinity. The insurgents. It
Is believed, will thus be enabled TO keep
on for some time longer their almost nn-
checked operations. and If the Spanish
generals are not able to prevent a junction
of all the insurgent forces now In this
vicinity the situation will become more
critical
Estimating that the insurgents now
have about Is, 600 men, more or less. well
armed in this vicinity, and that they arc
reinforced by 10000 more well armed men
from the eastward Gomez will, friends of
his cause say, have under his command
quite a fair sized army. and should he
able. all things fairly favorable, to take
the offensive. even against u strong force
of Spanish troops defending Havana or
course, these are views taken by friends
of the insurgents and are directly at va
rance with those OF the Spanish officials,
who claim that the second Cuban army
advancing from the east under Rabi ana
Jose Maceo. does not number ana VIII
never number 5000 men. They admit
however. that the insurgents commanded
by Garlic, Jose Aguira and Rego nave
air.ody ,oinea the Rabi-Maceo forces In
,ho pemodios district and consequently
q Ga N he presumed that all. or nearly
all tho different Cuban bands eastward
,,o,,d ioin tho army commanded by Rabi
and Iose Maceo with n view OF pushing
yes,ward with the strongest force posi-
hie s,nnosing. on the approach Of this
,oroo toward the proyInce of Havana,
Aha, the ips,rrrent columns now in this
,,Io,,,,,, r,.ra IN re,reot westward In a
-, s.a,,,ry oftar them all the span-
,eh troons nosslhle the inm,reent forces