The record-union., 1898-05-24
AT NAVY DEPARTMENT.
Officials Anxious1y Await a Meet
ing of Hostile Fleets.

ing of Hostile Fleets.
WASHINGTON, May 23.-The Navy
Department has settled down to quietly
wait for definite results in the naval
programme in the West Indian waters.
Every inquiry is directed toward the
location of the respective squadrons,
and the chances of an early conflict.
But the sum total of the official ad-
vices throws little or no light on the
time when a battle may occur It is
said by those best acquainted with the
situation that the decisive fight may
occur within the next few hours, or
may not occur for several DAYS. pos
sibly weeks
At the same time the authorities
claim that the chances are greatly les
sened of Admiral Cervera's prolongfng
his elusive plan for any considerable
time. There are several reasons for
this, but the main one is that the Span
ish ships have made inroads on their
coal supply. The run across from Cape
Verde used up the greater part, if not
all, OF this supply. Since then stops
have been made at Martinique, Cura-
Goa and Santiago, but at no one of
these places has it been possible to take
on more than enough coal for tempo
rary uses. AT Martinique the French
decree of neutrality prevented the
Spanish ships from getting more than
enough coal to carry them to the next
port, which would be 800 to 400 tons at
the most. At Curacao the amount of
coal secured did not exceed 700 tons
At Santiago there is no COAL unless COL
liers have brought it there recently,
which is not believed to have occurred
AS against these small supplies the
Spanish ships have been consuming
much coal on elusive runs.
There is no other coaling points in
the West Indies for the Spanish, except
for their most temporary needs The
British islands are closed against them
by the decree making coal contraband
of war. The Dutch islands will give
them no further coal relief, as a result
of negotiations with the Dutch authori-
ties following the coaling of the Span
ish ships at Curacao The Danish ISL
and of ST. Thomas is similarly closed
against them. Guadaloupe and other
French islands have the same restric-
tions as Martinique. Haytien ports
are closed to them by a strict treaty
provision between Hayti and the
thorities will see is not waived in the
present instance. Santo Domingo ports
are similarly protected against the
chance of recoaling by Admiral Ger
Vera's fleet
In short, naval officials believe the
Spanish Admiral is now inside the
Caribbean Sea with his original stock
of coal, with scant additions already
oil hat wifi i,,
sight for a complete recoaling. This
in naval parlance would starve Spanish
ships before long. The only relief pos
sible for this dangerous condition is a
juncture with GOLFERS from the other
side. A good collier carries from loo
to 1000 tons of coal, and two or three
of them could completely recoal Ad-
miral Cervera's fleet Whether the
Spanish will succeed in accomplishing
this is still in doubt, and a doubt on
which large results depend.
There have been unofficial reports
stating that British colliers We're sight
ed off Martinique and also off the Vene-
zuela coast, and reports from London
have stated that Spain took the precau-
tion of buying and shipping large guam
titles of British coal before the declara-
cial confirmation that these GOLFERS
made juncture with Admiral Ger
vera's fleet and the naval authorities
are inclined to the belief that the Span
ish commander is dangerously near a
coal famine. If this condition exists or
is likely to arise in the near future,
Admiral Cervera's position will be crit
icaI, even though he does not meet the
American ships. He will be much in
the position of Commodore Dewey af-
ter being warned away from Hongkong.
and before his subsequent attack on
Manila. If the Spanish Admiral is in
the Caribbean Sea he will be unable to
get out of it. No less than 1000 tons
of coal would be required to take him
safely back to Spain or the Cape Verde
Islands.
A prominent naval officer said to-day
that naval strategy consisted mainly in
knowing just what the condition of the
enemy's fleet was. 1t is for this rea-
son that the condition of the coal sup
ply on the Spanish ships is vital not
only in foreshadowing any aggressive
tactics Admiral Cervera may be en-
boldened to adopt, but also in disclos-
ing his chances of escaping from this
side of the water now that he has got
here.