San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-07-01
WEYLER WILL PREVENT THEIR
TRIAL AS LONG AS
- POSSIBLE.
He Knows That Spanish Sentiment
Demands Punishment While
That Of America Is The
Opposite And He Must
Please Both

the Herald from Havana says:
The rtial of the Competitor crew
will not take place today as has been
reported. 1t may not take place for
several months yet. unless the United
States government presses the matter.
The authorities here hesitate to bring
the men to trial for diplomatic reasons.
They realize the fact that If the laws
of Spain mean anything and are not to
be brought into disrepute, the sentence
of the Competitor filibusters must be
severe one. On the other hand,
Spain does not desire to aggravate
any hostile feeling that may already
exist in the United States against her.
1t was about the middle of June
that Consul General Lee, by direction
of his government, pressed for an early
trial. He counted out thai long de-
lay had already taken place and de-
clared it unjust. To the consul's let
ter General Weyler sent most indefi-
mite reply. He began by eXcusing
past delay on the ground that the
proceedings on the part of he prose-
cution had consumed much time,
and now, he said, the lawyer who had
been assigned to the prisoners had
been given until the end of July to
prepare his defense. In conclusion
General Weyler stated that il was i'm
possible to say when the trial would
be brought on" This means that it
has been thought best to delay the tri-
al indefinitely.
In the meantime the Competitor
crew are languishing in prison. Some
of them cannot stand confinement
much longer They are not treated
badly, so far as Spanish treatment of
prisoners in Cuba goes. Americans
cannot realize what confinement in
Cabanas during these hot months
means. When Melton, for example,
was taken prisoner, he was a remarka-
bly, fine specimen of man. Today he
is broken down beyond recovery. His
shoulders are bowed down and his
frame is wasted to skin and bone.
| Disease among Spanish troops in
Santiago de Cuba has been so severe
that when General Weyler ordered the
move into the interior against the reb-
els, the only soldiers available were
lconvalescents. All over the ilsland dis
ease among the Spanish trops is in
creasing at a fast rate. Out of the
thousand men in the Vegara battalion
in Pinar del Rio nearly 700 have been
rendered unfit for service by malaria
and dysentery. The hospitals in Ha-
vana are crowded to overlooking.
General Rus Rivera is dangerously
i'll. The prison doctors have perform
ed a delicate operation upon him, and
he is now in a critical condition.
TIL Herald's correspondent in Ma
tanzas reports a fierce engagement on
Saturday last between Spanish troops
and a large body of insurgents. Be-
tween sixty and seventy. Spanish were
killed. The rebel loss is not known.
General Molina, who was nearby with
a column of men, went to the assist
ance of the Spanish and was badly
wounded during the engagement.
There are in the vicinity of Matanzas
2, 200 insurgents well armed and equip
ped.
The rebel leader, Guaracha, captured
and killed two Spanish spies near the
city limits of Matanzas on Sunday
last. The correspondent also vouches
for the statement that Spaniards ma
cheted seventeen pacificoes, men and
women, who had left town for plan
tation to get food,