Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-06-27
COUNTRY NEAR SANTIAGO
No Defenses of Any Account on the Land
Side.
From SibOney West the Army should
Make Good Progress Ma
neuvering Possible.

plete information of the ground around
Juragua. Baiquiri, Santiago and the entire
Held of present war operations. They are
Mr.. Geo. w. Pfeiffer, engineer of the
Spanish-American Iron Company, whose
headquarters has been at Baiquiri for
many years up to a short time ago, and Mr..
c. H. Ziegenfuss, general manager of the
Juragua Iron Company. They left their
respective stations after war had been de-
clared and when the Spanish troops were
beginning to center there in expectation of
an American invasion. Owing to their COM
plete acquaintance with the country, roads,
trails, railroads, bridges, landing places,
etc, the military authorities here are con-
suiting them, and the purpose is to have
them join General Skaters staff TO assist
in the advance of our army. Today they
were comforting with Brigadier General
Stone, on General Miles staff, as to the
best means of getting troops, light and
General Skaters present base. They are
able to clear up many misrepresentation
and confusion over the lay of the land
where our troops are now operating.
Baiquiri.
Engineer Pfeiffer resides at Baiouiri.
where the main landing of our troops oc-
Spanish troops there when he left and an
other LOCO at Siboney. They We're well
equipped, but there was no organization or
drill as in the American army. About the
only systematic action was when the bugle
sounded for rancho" or ration. With war
declared. the Spaniards began their depre-
dations. and considerable of the mining
property Of the Spanish-Amercan Com
hat ~ no In
pany, was destroyed. But the fine ocean
pier Of the company. being built of steel.
resisted all efforts at destruction, and mas
proved an effective means for landing our
troops and stores. Mr.. Pfeiffer describes il
as similar to one of the big steel piers along
the great lakes, where iron ore is dis
charged. 1t is thirty feet wide and runs 200
feet into the sea, at which point there is a
depth of tWenty-siX feet of water. This Is
deep enough to accommodate any of the
transports except possibly the Yale and
Harvard. and they could get to the outer
end. 1t Is admirably equipped for landing
supplies as well troops, as there are ele-
waited tracks along which gondolas carry
freight between the ships and the shore.
Mr.. Pfeifer says the coast shelves pre-
cipitously, SO that there is little or no shall
low beach through which men could reach
the shore through the surf. The town of
Baiquiri is at the pier landing, and consists
OF scattered huts used by the mining en-
ployes. A number Of ragged and hungry
Cubans sought relief there, and were kept
alive by the company. Tha mines are four
and a half miles inland.
JurnEun.
Mr.. Ziegenfuss resides at Juragua, and
is thus able to throw light on the very
point where Skaters main body of troops
is now located. He says Juragua exists
only in name, there is no such town
whatever. There is a mining plant, but
the town proper is Siboney. This lies
shore, while the so-called Juragua is four
miles inland. 1t is between Siboney and
the Juragua mines that Skaters troops
lie. Mr.. Ziegenfuss says the ground is
densely covered with underbrush, with
very few patches of open ground. There
are no roads this far east. The only things
in this line are trails, wide enough for a
horse or one man. They would be of no
service for light or heavy artillery, or for
an army, unless the engineers cleared the
way.
But from Siboney west to Santiago the
prospects fer the rapid advance of our
army are much better. Instead of trails,
They were built some fifty years ago, and
are out Of order. having been rsu1 in re-
cent years only for horses and cattle. But
they form the basis, it is believed for good
progress toward the main point of attack
Besides these Mr.. Ziegenfuss says the
company has a good railroad plant run
ming from Siboney directly into Santiago.
While the Spaniards have destroyed the
Santiago end, considerable part of
track remains, as means of carrying for
ward our troops and supplies. There We're
nine locomotives and several hundred flat
cars, gondolas, etc, up to the lime Mr..
Liegenfuss left Siboney. There is but one
bridge along the route. 1t crosses the San
Juan river, and is regarded as so essential
ioi the use Of our troops that three war
ships from Admiral SIMPSONS feet are
covering it with their guns
Around Santiago.
Nearing Santiago, Mr.. Ziegenfuss and
Mr. Pfeifer say, the country begins to h.
level, good roads appear and the ground
Is free from that heavy underbrush near
the coast. There is practically an open
neld around Santiago well suited for the
maneuVering OF troops and for a fight in
the open.
MI. Pfeiffer came here by way of Santf-
ago. He says the city has practically no
defenses on the land side. There are no
walls, no Notifications, no block houses,
no 1ntrenchments. Anything in this line
Must nave been put up hastily since he
left few weeks ago. He says that the
only thing at that time in the way of de-
tense from the land was a double line of
barbed wire, about five or ten feet apart,
WIN tangle of the barbed wire in the in
tervening space. This was good enough to
guard against surprises from the insur-
gents, but it is thought it will amount to
nothing against the devices of the army
engineers.
Mr.. Pfeiffer thinks that the country from
Holguin down to Santiago is not such as
to make it difficult for Gen. Pando to get
through large army of reinforcements.
He calculates that with forced marches
Gen. Pando might reach Santiago within
five or six days. Mr.. Pfeiffer doubts also
whether the Cubans could stop this adj
vance of Spanish reinforcements as their