The times., 1898-08-08
A RELIEF EXPEDITION.
VIII Carry Provisions to the Army
of Gen Gomez

The last Government reh # expe I'll
viii leave Tampa t5day on the Wanderer
in charge Of Lieut.. George r. Ahearn. of
:he Invent tytffft3f Infantry. Gen. Nunez
and DR.. Mendcz capcre. vice president Of
the CUBAN reIqo-tc wiz acc moany tae
expedition No arms or ammunition will
be taken, but qlaI.i.tes cf c'o.hes and
prov ,sions of an kinds will O +. TAee y
five regular soldiers go on the Wanderer.
Will will be convoy ed by an American
man-of-war.
Lieut. Ahearn will assume c5mmand Of
Ngie regulars in that pa t of Gu; "a on :
arrival, relieving Lieut.. johnson, viii is
now in the camp Of Gen. Gomez, in
charge of az out fly Ame lean to ps.
Lieut.. Ahearn Is familiar VIII ,hst part
OF Cuoa. having commanded a previous
expedition TO Gen. Gomez, and made i'm
self acquainted with the peop and the
country. He left Gen. Gomez only a few
weeks ago to return and f. GU The pes
ent expedition. At the time of his de-
parture nothing had been lhea. d of he
surrender of Santiago or any of I h bat
ties there. owing to the difficulty Of get
ting any hing past the t0ocha.
DR.. Capote was in Washington several
days last week holding daily confere. C 5
with Assistant Secretary Meiklejohn and
clher officials relating TO 1he exist ng
government of the Island. II IS probable
in view of his conferences. tia af-er the
war is CIV. r the ,pr.ncpal res denss Of
Cuba will be assembled il a C nve tion
and given an oppo -tun:ty 20 nd cate oy
vote their pr ference as TO gove n I. n
The impression prevails taat If f.he pre-
ent provisional government finds emo gh
supporters and gives some Ind cation of
stability it will lbe recognized by the
Ur.ted S ates The trip of DR.. CaDota to
Washington was for the purpose of n
forming the officials fully as to the condi-
tions of the government on the s AMI
now.
Another important matter which was
discussed was the disposition of the Gu
ban army after the war. The army
amounts in the aggregate to a large
body of men, and unless the Cuban SOL
diers are officially recognized and given
some official standing in the army of oc-
cupation it will become a serious prob
lem how to care for them. it is proba BILE
that they will be made a part of the
army of occupation, however, and will
aid in the work of the reconstruction Of
the island.
The officials here have been favorably
impressed with the representatives of the
Cuban government who have been re-
ceived in Washington. Dr. Capote espe-
cially made an excellent impression. He
is a prominent lawyer and a man of ex-
tensive learning and considerable execu-
tive ability, and possesses in common
with many of his countrymen a keen
diplomatic instinct Nearly all of the Gu
ban officials now in Office from President
Masso down, are representatives of old
and wealthy Cuban families have been
educated in Europe and have shown ex-
cellent capacity for government
Assistant Secretary Meiklejohn has
made himself very popular with the Gu
ban officials by his work in connection
with the relief expeditions. The present
expedition was fitted out under his or
ders, although it had been decided that
no more should be sent The necessity
for another expedition was made. appar-
ent, however, and he authorized Lieut..
Aheain and Gen. Nunez to proceed with
it.
The landing place of the expedition is
kept a secret, as there are many Spanish
regiments in, the western part of the is
land which would like nothing better
than to swoop down on a ship load OF
much-needed provisions.