The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-12-18
UNCERTAINTY AS
TO MACEO'S DEATH
90:
o..
Reported Engagement With
the 1nsurgent Leader
in Matanzas.
Demise of the Gallant Antonio
Asserted in Order 10 Infu.
:. ence Congress.
Butcher 6: neral Weyler Compli.
menteG by the Queen Regent, Who
Seems to Approve His Tactics.

KEY WEST, FLA, Dec. 17.-Passengers
by the Olivette last night report great I'M
easiness is felt in Havana on account of
uncertainty of Maceos death. 1t is re-
ported on good authority that General
Prats, commander of Matanzas province,
has notified General Weyler by telegram
to cease all demonstrations on account of
the death of Maceo and that General
Bernal of said province had an engage
ment Tuesday week with Maceo, who
had 5000 men with him. The Spaniards
report a victory as usual. Passengers
state that the report of Maceos death is
we'll understood in Havana ana that it
was made mp by order OF the home gov
eminent to influence the Congress of the
United States. There was the widest
kind of excitement on the dock last night
: when this statement was made The
. cruiser Raleigh returned yesterday after
noon from her chase after the Three
Friends. 1t is reported that they did not
SIC any thing of her. 1t is reported on
good authority that small boat landed
at this port from the Three Friends about
o'clock
e. HAVANA, CUBA, Dec. 1.-THE bulletin
issued by the Government to-day regard
ing engagements of the troops is unim-
portant.
a correspondent at Guanaiay reports
. that the forces under Major La Costa 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 it. After landing in the province
=. of Havana Maceo met the forces of Lieu
tenant Vasquez. who was waiting at Mos
-:duito Beach, between Mariel and Banes.
The prisoner complains that he was i'll
treated by the rebels. His story is con-
tsidered suspicious, and he will be tried by
a court-martiaI.
:: The Queen Regent has sent Il dispatch
to Captain-General Weyler compliment
ing 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, in places that were consid-
cred impregnable by the rebels. The in
surgents had disappeared, so the troops
burned the huts that had been occupied
by them. A number of horses and cattle
were captured. The officers commanding
in Pinar del Rio have no idea of the pres
ent locality of the rebels in that province.
Scouting parties have failed to learn their
whereabouts, but the military profess to
believe that their abandonment of almost
unassailable positions is proof of the dis
organization 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. 1t is believed
that a concentration is intended in Santa
Clara province of rebels from the east and
west. The Government says it is watch
ing the movements and so far as can be
gathered from outside sources it is doing
little besides watching to prevent the reb-
els from carrying out their plan.
A colored woman named Francisco Her
rara has been tried by court-martial here
on charge of rebellion. The prosecutor
asked that she be sentenced to death. The
sentence of the court-martial, if it has
been passed, has not been made public.
The Diario de la Marina continues to
publish protests against the stories printed
in the United States regarding the man
ner in which Maceo met his death. 1t
maintains that the rebel leader was shot
in open battle. In leader it says, with
an unconscious reflection on the Spanish
character. that the stories of assassination
reflect more to the discredit of Maceo in
accepting the alleged invitation to parley
than to diminishing the tame, honor and
chivalry of the Spanlards.
In this sentence the Diario de la Marina
shows unintentionally that in its opinion
Maceo did not in trusting to Spanish
flag OF truce show the intelligence ex-
pected of him.
La Lucha bitterly comments upon the
news received from the United States and
claims that the American sympathy for
the rebels is due to subsidized press. 1t
saws that the Government is responsible
for not EN- pioying the press the same as the
insurgents, adding that if it did so it
would find the newspapers powerful
medium for the defense of the Spanish
cause.