The herald., 1897-01-28
WENER'S ADVANCE COLUMN
Meets the Enemy and Is
Defeated
REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE
And the Battle Results In a
Massacre
REINFORCEMENTS
ARRIVE
An Insurgent Hospital Burned, Together
With the Wounded 1nmates-The
Ill-Fated Elsa Expedition
,ssoc;oted Press Special Wire

Associated Press Special Wire
KEY WEST. Fla, Jan. 27.-News from
Weyler's advance column tells of a brler
but sharp fight near El Jobo. west OF
Guines. in which Weyler's vanguard was
! forced back A stronger column was
pushed forward and the insurgents driv-
en- back and a hospital that they were
guarding destroyed and all the wounded
| insurgents, twenty-three in number, two
| physicians and a female nurse Killed.
| This hospital was guarded by 200 insur-
gents under Captain Moragain. the men
being too sick to be moved. The insur-
gents knew their danger, but they de-
termined to sell their lives dearly IN
defense of their sick and wounded broth
ers in arms. AS one of the Weyler oe-
tachments came near the town they were
ambushed and forced to retire, losing
forty men and one captain. Reinforce
ments arrived and they came an hour
later. and after a desperate fight were
about to retire when another detachment
of Spaniards, attracted by the Hrlng,
came up and drove the insurgents on
in confusion. The two combined forces
then swept the field with loss or lOo
men all told. They set fire to the dwell
soon in flames. Few of the wounded men
were rescued and nearly all perished IN
the flames.
AN UNFORTUNATE EXPEDITION
NORWALK, O.. Jan. 27.-The follow
ing letter from George Lamkin, dated
Havana, received in this city, is the
first direct information from the III
fated Cleveland Norwalk South Amer
lean expedition. whose steamer, the Elsa
was wrecked off the Cuban coast
After leaving Pascagoula we had
beautiful run across the gulf up to 9:55
Saturday night when the Elsa struck
the dreaded coral reef off the coast OF
Cuba near San Antonio. | was on deck
at the time. The coral reef does not
show above the surface of the water ana
we could not see it. The captain was
away off his course.
well. the Elsa struck. We all got
away in small boats, saving nothing but
what we had on and what was in the
upper cabin. We waited until morning
and there being no landing in sight, we
started toward the east and roWed all
day, reaching the coast at night we
stepped on the beach and in the carry
morning of Sunday we pulled again up
the coast, looking for fresh water, as we
found none where we landed.
After an hour of hard rowing Span
ish man-of-war on patrol picked us up
and we We're taken to the nearest town,
Arroyo, on the northeast coast. Where
we were placed in a shed to await a
boat running along the coast that would
take us to Havana
we left Arroyo on Thursday and ar
rived at Havana on Sunday and were
taken to a kind of hotel, where we now
are. We were unable to find the Amer
| lean consul until Monday afternoon,
when he gave his subordinates orders
, to give us the necessary attention and
later gave orders to get us to the United
States on the liners when they came in.
How we escaped DEATH first by water,
then by the Spanish, we cannot under
stand, but we are now awaiting the snip
to come to take us away"
(The Elsa expedition was made up or
people from northern Ohio and Norwalk
to go to Cuba to assist the insurgents),
CONCESSIONS TO CUBA
NEW YORK, Jan. PA Herald dis
patch from Havana Gays: Your cor
respondent has seen an absolutely au-
thentic draft of the home rule measure
which Spain is about to concede to Gu
ba. The act provides for legislative as
sembly wholly selective by an enlarged
suffrage and composed of a senate and
lower house. Besides having the sole
power to vote an especial budget of the
island. thsi chamber has full power to
draw up ard control the budget of the
army ard navy Of Spain. in so far as they
are legitimately to be shared by Cuba.