The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1897-08-19
BATTLE IN MATANzAS
insurgents Said to Have De.
feated Weyler's Army.
SPANIARDS MADE A HARD FIGHT
But Were Compelled to Flee Leaving
Many Dead on the Field-Havana
Officials Greatly Concerned.

many Dead on the FteId-Havan0
Ohicials Greatly Concerned.
New York, Aug. ia dispatch to
the Herald from Havana says official
information has reached Havana of a
decisive battle between troops and in
surgent forces in Matanzas According
to this information the Spanish troops
were routed, after hard battle, with
heavy losses. This news caused YER
liable sensation in Havana, as it is
generally known that Captain General
Weyler is now in Matanzas, and there
is belief that the Spanish troops
directly under him were those which
suffered defeat at the hands Of the
rebels. However, if this is true, the
Spanish officials here have taken great
pains to suppress the fact.
Then. too, the knowledge that Gen.
eral Gomez is due in Matanzas at about
this time with large body of insur-
gents added to the interest in the bat
tie. While there is no good cause to
believe that General Gomez was in the
battle in question, there has for some
time been a seemingly well-founded
belief in Havana that Generals Weyler
and Gomez would meet in Matanzas.
The Spanish loss in troops and Off
GERS was greater than in any recent bat
tie. The Spanish troops were COM
PEELED to give way before the rebels,
leaving many dead upon the field.
There seems to be considerable con-
Germ in the palace here about the result
of the battle. While the officials will
not talk, the Herald correspondent has
learned that detachments of Cuban
cavalry have been pouring into Matan-
zas from Santa Clara province, and, ac-
cording to some reports, Major-General
Francisco GARLIC, commander of the
fourth army corps, and Brigadier- Gen
erals Rego and Monteagudo are among
the leaders of the invading forces. A
concentration upon the Santa Clara
border of all the insurgent forces in
Matanzas was ordered some days ago by
General Aveline Rojas, the insurgent
commander of the province.
In view of this rebel activity and the
belief at the palace that General Gomez
or his lieutenant, Major General Garlic,
would attempt demonstration against
Havana city, large achievements OF
Spanish troops have been moved to the
font from Havana and Pinar del Rio
provinces. General Weyler intended
to establish his headquarters in Matan-
zas city and then in Guines, Havana
province, in case the Cubans should
succeed in pushing their way through
Matanzas into Havana.
A rumor reached this city last night
that railroad traffic has been stopped
on almost all the lines running through
Matanzas province.
The excitement was added to by a
later report that General Weyler has
ordered the Marquis de Ahumada, the
acting governor-general, to send as
large force of troops as could be
spared to the vicinity of Guines, near
the border of Havana and Matanzas
provinces. Additional artillery was
shipped last night to Guines.
The situation of General Weyler is
similar to that of Martinez Campos
when he tried in December, 1895, to
check the famous raid of Gomez and
Maceo and was compelled to fall back
successfully at Jovanellos and Closed
and Colon before the Cubans.
Those in position to know hint that
the chief source of alarm in the palace
is the receipt of a dispatch from Ma
tanzas. The names of Weyler and sew
eral other Spanish generals. as we'll as
those of Gomez and Garlic are often re-
peated in the course of the message.
The alleged information in the dis
patch, coupled with the demand for re-
enforcement at Guines and the ship
ment there of heavy artillery, leads
many to believe that the Spanish troops
will make further stand at Guines.
Jose Guasp has been arrested for de-
handing money and threatening the
life of Senior Sagra, a prominent Span
ish millionaire, in Havana.