The record-union., 1898-09-15
The Commander of Spanish Forces
at Santiago
fOTeSaW the USeIGSSness Of Holding Out
Against the Americans.
alton of His Army-Cabled to
His Home Government Giving
the True Condition of Affairs.

| His Home Government Giving
the True Condition of Affairs.
| Correspondence of the Associated PressJ
| HAVANA, Sept. S.-The following is
| literal translation of q. cable message
sent by General Linares on July 18th to
| captain Aunon, the Spanish Minister of
| War urging the surrender of Santiago
de Cuba. As it was sent by way of Ha-
vana it is safe to assume that it had
/ the Endorsement of General BIanco:
ITO the General-in- Chief. the Minis
ter of War: Although Frustrated in bed
by excessive weakness and sharp pains
l am preoccupied to such an extent by
! the terrible condition of these long-suf-
| fering troops that l consider it my duty
! to address your excellency. the Min
ister of War, in order to expose the true
| condition of affairs. The enemy'S posi-
| ton is very strong and his outposts are
| very close to the limits of this city
| The natural formation of the surround
| ing country gives our besiegers real ad-
| Vantages. Our lines extend fourteen XII
| lometers. Our troops are attenuared
and the proportion of sick considerable.
| but they are not allowed to go to the
| hospital, owing to the necessity of keep
4 ing them in the trenches Our horses
| have no grain or forage Under a veri-
| table deluge we remained for twenty
| hours at stretch in the trenches and
| breastworks, soaked to the marrow,
| with no earthly shelter or protection
| possible for the unfortunate soldiers
who eat nothing but rice and cannot
even change or dry their clothes. The
| great losses among our officers-either
| dead eli
prive our men of the necessary direc-
ton and command at critical moments.
| Under such conditions it would be i'm
! possible to attempt to break through
! the enemy's ranks, as one-third of our
men are too feeble to walk and would
| have to be left behind while the rest
would be decimated and routed by the
superior forces of the enemy. The re-
! suit of such an attempt would be
wholesale slaughter and a national dis
aster, which would utterly fail in the
object desired by your excellency,
which is the salvation of these eleven
| thinned and impoverished battalions
In order to attempt a sortie under
| the protection of the Holguin division.
1T is, in the first place, necessary for
those forces to break through the enc
my's ranks and reinforce ours before
we could move. On the other hand. the
Holguin forces would have ahead of
| them eight days forced march, and
would have to bring great quantity Of
commissary supplies and rations, which
it would be impossible for them to do.
Altogether. the gravity of the situa-
ton is appalling. The surrender of the
| town is inevitable; a prolonged resist
| ance would simply mean a protraction
| OF our death agony. The sacrifice would
| be sterile and fruitless. The enemy ap-
preciates our position perfectly, and
with lines circumvented and walled in
| as securely as they are, he is able to
| drain and wipe out our forces without
| exposing his own, as he did yesterday.
| cannonading US at vertical fire, while
| We could not see nor make out his bat
| teries. Moreover, his navy has our
! range down to so fine point that his
ships can lombard the town by sections
with mathematical precision.
Santiago de Cuba is not Geron,
which was defended inch by inch to
| the last drop of blood by women and
children, by the old and by the feeble,
all moved by the sacred spirit of inde-
pendence and animated and encour-
| aged by the prize of relief which they
did actually receive.
Here solitude alone remains.
THE total population, native as well
as Spanish, has left the city. Not only
| have private individuals abandoned it,
| but the public officials and Government
employees as we'll. The clergy alone re-
mains within our walls, and they. too,
are preparing to flee tomorrow with
| the Prelate at their head.
| Our troops are not starting to-day,
fresh and vigorous, full of energy and
! enthusiasm, on a campaign. They are
men who have struggled three long
years against climatic perils, fatigue,
hardships, disease and hunger, and
! who to-day, when called to face these
trying and critical conditions, are
wasted away in body and soul, with
no earthly means or possibility OF re-
lief. They are fighting without spirit
or nerve. They have no sacred fire no
ideal to defend for the very property
they are called upon to defend and pro-
! tect has been abandoned before their
eyes by its veritable owners, many of
whom are allied to the American
forces, strengthening those ranks
against ourselves.
The honors of arms and of war have
limits, and [ appeal to the Judgment of
| the Government and a whole nation as
to whether those troops have not given
repeated illustrations of courage, valor
and devotion, and whether they are to
be further sacrificed for lost cause.
'1f, for reasons of which / am ignor-
ant their sacrifice is demanded or if
some person is required who will as
sumo the responsibility for the inglo-
rious end already predicted in my for
mer dispatches, / offer myself to my
country to assume command and the
Responsibility in either case; and will,
| if necessary, be alone answerable for
the surrender of this place, as my
modest reputation is of small value
compared with the national welfare.
''LINARES."
Duty on Pulp Wood.
| MONTREAL, Sept. 14.-At a meeting