The Mena star., 1898-07-06

The Inner Bay.
 WASHINGTON, July 5. There vii, ,. no bombardment of Santiago to-aac and possibly not during the nresaay week. This is the opinion of mem ha.' of the cabinet as expressed on leas;~s the white house after the cah;ss meeting. Secretary Alger and ronN have been in almost constant % %ooa
 munication with Gen. Shafter and as miral Sampson upon the situation ara the conclusion has been reached tha. it would not be advisabla " attempt to carry the city ot Santiago by storm with ors present force. Gen. Shafter in dis patch received last night confirmed the report that Gen. Pando with ahont 6, 900 Spaniards had arrived in the cit,. and were already distribu amons the Qualifications. This reinforeemar, makes the Spanish forces defenair. the city from 5000 to 1s,OOO. Tbs very great advantage of being ir. trenched adds materially to their strength and, in tine opinion of militia. ry men, makes their effective fghtinc force from a third to a half preatar than our own. Gen. Shafter. in bis dispatches, states that the excessive heat and rains of the last two weeks have contributed nearly as much as the Spanish bullets to the ineffective. ness of our army. Under these cir. cumstances it is his opinion it would be unwise to carry the city by assault This view is shared by the officials here and also, it is understood by Ad. miral Sampson, in command of the fleet At the cabinet meeting the president directed telegrams to be sent to Gen. Shafter and Admiral Sampson, suggesting that they confer as to the situation and particularly as to the advisability of the admirars at. tempt to force passage into Santi- ago bay and so be in readines to rem der effective aid in the assault upon the city.
 It is known to be Gen. Shafters de- sire to have the fleet enter the harbor Orders were given looking to the i'm mediate dispatch of troopships from Tampa with endorsements for Shai- ter, and others now off Santiago will be brought here at the earliest possi- ble moment to aid in the transports tion of achievements It is probable that at least l5, 900 will be sent for ward as rapidly as transportation can be provided. Thus augmented, there {xS l.. T |. 4l under Gen. Shafter will be able to storm and take the city without de- lay. These are the views entertained by members of the cabinet who talk freely on the subject. Nevertheless the orders under which both the army and navy are now operating gives the commanders wide discretion aud itis not doubted that should changed cir cumstances seem to warrant it an ag- gressive movement will be begun.
 A senator who talked with the mili- tary officials said there was no doubt of the outcome if the American fleet could get inside of the harbor and thus play on the city between the land and sea bombardments. The arrival at San tiago of Gen. Panda with reinforce ments for Linares occasioned some comment on the course of Gen. Garcia and his Cuban troops in not holding Pando back, particularly in view of the fact that Gen. Lawton's brigade was cooperating with Garcia, but it is believed the latter left Law ton in an embarrassed position. At the same time the disposition of the authorities was mainly to meet the now present rather than to question how it had come about.
 In meeting this the most active steps toward getting large reinforce hents to Gen. Shafter were in prog ress. Three regiments of Gen. Garret- sons brigade go from Camp Alger- one of them, the Eighth Ohio, under Col Curtis V. Hard, proceeding 10 New York, where they will embark immediately on the St. Paul. me other regiments of this brigade--tne Sixth Illinois and the Sixth Massa' to Charleston, $. Or where they take the cruisers Harvard and Yale. At the same time the DIT gades of Gen. Ernst and Gen. Hams now at Chickamauga, will move wlpn all possible dispatch to Charleston, Savannah, Mobile and other coas0 points, there to take transports lOi Santiago.
 Sampson to Try to Enter the Inner n'''
 WASHINGTON, July 5.-It is regaroe'u as likely that Sampson may atlaeA Notifications outside harbor of Sansi. ago and attempt passage to inner pay to-day.
 Has Sampson Entered the Harbcrs
 WASHINGTON, July 5..-An operator