The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-01-01
COMMODORESAILSAWAY
Loaded with War Material for the
President Of Cuba.
CONSUL SOILS MAKES A PROTEST

On the Ground That the Vessel Has No
Permit from the Spanish Cuban Au-
thorities-The Consul Issues Permit
Under Protest.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla, Jan. 1. - The
steamer Commodore cearc1 at the GUS
tom house at b o'clock ye5l Fey afternoon
with cargo of arms ana ammunition
consigned to Salvador Cisneros, president
OF the Cuban republic, at Cienfuegos,
Cuba. A crew of twenty-seven men was
carried, despite the fact that tho Commo-
dore is of only SO tons register. Most of
these were Cubans. Among the number
was Stephen Crane, the novelist who
signed as seaman ut $40 per month. The
cargo consists Of 1000 pounds Of dyna-
mite, 2 boxes electrical apparatus, 200
rifles 100000 cartridges, 800 machetes, II
boxes of drugs and bundles of clothing.
Clearance papers were issued, notwith-
standing that formal protest was made
by Senior Soils, Spanish consul for Florida,
which was made in writing to the collcc-
tor. The grounds were that the rules and
regulations of ports Of entry in Cuba pro-
hibit the importing of munitions of war
except upon the written permission of the
government Of the island, and also upon
the ground that 1t Is the belief Of the con-
sui that the arms are to be used by the in
surgents against the kingdom Of Spain
and also the port to which they are con-
signed.
The Spanish consul also refused to wise
tho clearance papers, which Is q necessary
t..1 t.~s Gov thf.
reason that the regulations do not permit
the importation of arms upon the island
without permit, and this Captain Muir
ply did not have The consul issued q
certificate, however, stating his refusal
and the reason therefor. The Commodore
went down the river about s O'clock an
officer from the revenue cutter Boutwell,
having been placed on board to see that
no one should be taken on board while
going down the river. The officer was in
structed to leave the boat at the mouth Of
the river.
1t is not believed that the Commodore
will make an attempt to land its cargo at
Cienfuegos, but will make landing at
some convenient place along the Cuban
coast.
The Three Friends arrived In port
shortly after noon yesterday from Key
West, with Peter Knight, deputy collector
of customs at Key West on board. Mr..
Knight reported to Collector of Gus
toms Bisbee, and the latter, acting under
instructions from Washington, had an
officer from the Boutwell, placed on board,
The boat will be held until it shall be
libeled by the district attorney.
The officers on the Three Friends decline
to make any statements concerning tho
trip Despite tho denials however, the
reported chase Of the boat by "a Spanish
cruiser has been we'll authenticated, and
also that the Three Friends returned the
fire of the cruiser. Also the fact that the
men and cargo were afterward left on one
of the keys near the southern part of the
state The Dauntless has gone after the
mon and cargo, but has not as yet been
heard from.
A dispatch from Key West states that n
yacht has returned to that place with u
party of Cubans believed to have been the
men who were left there by the Three
Eripn1s