The record-union., 1898-05-28

ron this morning into state of fer
ment and anticipation.
She brought news that the Spanish
squadron under Admiral Cervera, for
which Commodore Schley is looking,
was at Santiago de Cuba. Commodore
Schley made immediate preparations to
go in pursuit of the enemy but as the
ships were somewhat short of coal, he
had to wait in o state of great impa-
tience while the battleship Iowa took
on 500 tons and the other ships 30
tons each
This coaling was conducted with the
aid of the collier Merrimac, which ar
rived at s o'clock this morning in
company with the gunboat Castine.
The squadron is to leave this afternoon
in a chase after the Spaniards, and it
is hoped that Commander Schley will
find them bottled up in the harbor of
Santiago
The flying squadron is now one of the
strongest aggregations of fighting ships
ever gathered together. 1t consists of
the Brooklyn (flagship), the battle
ships Massachusetts, Iowa and Texas,
the cruiser Marblehead, the gunbOat
Castine and the torpedo boat Dupont.
can stay for a long time at sea. The
men are not only anxious but eager
to fight, and they express great salts
faction at learning the whereabouts of
the enemy.
A close examination was made of the
harbor of Cienfuegos last night, but
nothing was seen which in Commodore
Schley's opinion would warrant an at
tack
Some concern is felt for the Scor-
pion, which left here last night to take
dispatches to the cruiser Minneapolis
at Santiago. The dispatches of Com
modore Schley are in cipher, and cam
not be read if captured.
About noon the British ship Adula,
bound from Kingston with orders from
United States Consul Dent to bring off
refugees from Cienfuegos, was hailed,
and Captain Walker said he had seen
the Spanish fleet at Santiago de Cuba
on the previous Thursday, but. under
stood it was bound for Cienfuegos
Tuesday: Still off Cienfuegos. q am
sending this by one of the Associated
Press dispatch boats.)
The flying squadron was reinforced
this morning by the addition of the
cruiser Marblehead and the gunbOat
Eagle. 1t was lying off the harbor, and
the arrival of these two vessels may as
sist in solving the question of what
is. concealed in the deep harbor which
lies at the end of a long and tortuous
channel, narrow enough at places to
prohibit an entrance being made by
a fleet, except in single column.
The information given by the refu-
gees is to the effect that there are
twenty-one mines laid in this channel,
all contact mines. When they were
originally laid the intention was to set
them off by electricity; but there was
some failure and they were changed
to explode by contact. 1t is also said
that there are sixteen gunboats of the
enemy in the harbor, and many thou
sands of Spanish troops on shore.
clear view of the harbor is not
available from the American ships, and
it is possible that the Spanish fleet is
far inside.
This would be much more advan-
tageous place to land supplies and
troops than Santiago, because of the
fact that there is railroad connec-
ton with Havana, while Santiago is cut
off by the insurgents.
strict censorship of news relating
to future movements of the squadron
has been established by Commodore
Schley
The cruiser Marblehead landed 5000
rounds of ammunition for the insur-
gents to-day (Tuesday), and knocked
down a block signal house of the
enemy.