Sistersville oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1896-1901, 1898-07-20
AN ANXIOUS DAY
Spent by the Government Omciais-De
Law i'm Receiving News From the
Front-Hitch In the Details Owing tG
Spain's Supersensibilify.


Spain's Supersensibiiity.
Washington, July 15.-There
was long and anxious wait today
to hear further news from the COM
missioners who had charge to make
arrangements for the surrender OF
the Spanish army at Santiago. For
eighteen hours no word came from
either General Shafter or General
Miles, although it was the keenest
desire on the part of the President
and cabinet advisers to learn what
had been done. and particularly. to
know whether the actual surrender
of Santiago and the Spanish troops
had been carried out. When the
cabinet met at II o'clock there was
positively nothing from the front
which would serve as guide tor
the deliberations.
1t was thought the cable had
been interrupted, but on inquiry OF
General Greeley, chief signal officer,
he gave assurance that the cable
was intact Thereupon Secretary
Alger sent a dispatch asking for the
situation up to the latest moment,
and particularly inquiring as to
how far the surrender had pro-
ceeded. No answer came while the
cabinet was in session. In the
meantime General Greeley had ca
bled and he was the first official to
hear from the front. A dispatch
from Lieutenant Jones, military
censor at Playa del Este, reported
t at the message from the secretary
of war to General Shafter was only
six minutes in passage from Wash
ington to Playa. The message re-
ceived by General Greeley came al
2:23 p. M, and indicated that ne
gotiations were yet in progress, but
! as the dispatch was submitted to
the President no details were given
out.
Toward the middle of the after
noon, dispatches from General
Miles and General Shafter began to
arrive in response to Secretary AL
gers rather imperative request.
They were not given out in full but
such portions as were maze public
showed that the negotiations were
still in progress, and that the Span
iarts had raised some rather un-
expected questions.
A STICKING POINT.
Most important of these was an
insistance that the Spanish troops
should retain their arms when they
returned TO Spain. There was Ell.
tire willingness on the part of Cen
eral Toral to turn over the arms to
General Shafter at the time of the
surrender, but with this was to be
understood that the arms were to
be returned to the Spanish troops
when Spanish soil was reached.
This was question which had not
been anticipated.
The authorities here did not re
gard it as serious, or as likely to
overcome a final settlement, as it
was attributed to the Spanish SEN
sitiveness against the humiliation
involved in the laying down of their
arms. At the same time it was a
point on which neither side ap-
peared to be ready TO yield. One
of the dispatches from the front,
after specifying that this difference
had arisen, added that 1t was be-
lieved settlement would be
reached before today closed. Cen
eral Shafter himself summed up
the situation by saying: at cannot
be possible that there will be fail
ure in completing arrangements" "
No question whatever has been
raised as to the surrender itself
Not only has General Toral agreed
10 do it, but this agreement has
been ratified by General Blanco at
Havana aud by the Spanish au-
thorities at Madrid
General Greeley received an
other dispatch at 5 p. M, contain
ing the information that Colonel
Allen had landed the shore end of
the signal corps cable at Playa del
Este from the Cable steamer
Adria. Colonel Allen was not al