The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-06-30

WASHINGTON, D. c.. June eo.-The
opinion prevails here thattwithina a day,
or two at most, General shatter viii
have begun hisiattack upon the. city Of
Santiago proper The Important event
OF the day was the generals announce
ment that lie could take the city! In
forty-e.sht hours, but at considerable
loss. Taken in connec ton with the an,
ncurcener. contained, in another dis.
patch that he Is going to attack without
awaiting reinforcemerts, 1t win be seen
that the officials have ground for their
expectation that the first general en-
rascmcnt os the war Will begin In a
very short time. Numerically. the op-!
posing armies are not very different
the estimate Of the Spanish force being
/. placed at 1900 men. thoroughly ems
trenched and behind barbed wire fences
and biockhouses,' as against about 49,
Qoo men under Shafter's command, aId-S
ed By 1000 cuhans. One OF the gravest
clements In the problem, however, is
the Spanish warships, for unless Shaft
IL,
who might engage the full attention OF
the Spanish ships. their fire upon the,
American advance forces would be very
hard to meet. s J ~ - Al 81 y2
r.. All Etrtiuerv, fan.ied. ~
The military authorities here say that
General Ltnares has shown great mid.
tary tact In slowly retiring during the
last few days, as he has gradually
drawn our troops away from the protec-
t!os of the American ships and brought
them close to the FIRE of the Spanish
SHIPS In Santiago harhor. For this rea-
son It was with relief that the am
EouEcemert was received here that
Shatter lad succeeded IN landing his
artillery. Including his siege train. for
u..,tss Sampson can be relied upon to
force his WY Into the harbor and at
tack the Spanish ships, these Siege guns
PANIED on the heights commanding the
bay VIII be the main reliance OF Cen
erai ShaIter In offsettins the presence
o. the Spanish ironciads. 5sc.j
Undoubtedly shafter Is animated to;
attack as soon as possible by, his knowl-t
edge OF the approach OF the reinforce.
nlcrts for Linares from fManzanlllo, for
with this additional, force Skaters po-
sS,ion would be d!sasreeable II not per-
i!ous at least until he had received re-
Inducements. Il
Spanish Reinforce m c nts. 55!
The war department received the first
definite news to-day as to the approach
OF these Spanish reinforcementS This
was In an official dispatch, stating that
5000 men, with pack trains and droves
Of animals. were advancing from Man
zanillo, and were flfty-four miles from
Santiago It has been known through
reports from Lieutenant Joyce made
TO General Miles that the Spaniards
have ls,C00 men at. ManZanilloS and 49,
900 at Ho.guln, and every precaution
has been taken to guard against their
advance from either quarter. The ofil-
cial report to-day showed that 5000 OF
those at Aianzanillo had covered half
the distance 10 Santiago, and it Is the
belief OF military officials here thai
General Pando Is making q similar ad-
vance with his 10000 men from Hol-
gu!n: These advances. now practically
unopposed, are regarded as one OF the
most serious phases OF the situation.
spanlari. Strongly Entrnnci,eI
There is the further element to which
the military authorizes are giving care
ful atten:ion, that one man intrenched
behind eanthworks or in rife pits Is
worth three men in the open. 1t Is said
that the battles OF sChanceilorsville and
Spottsylrania afforded the most direct
proof on this point. y 80 ~.
1t was announced, ut the war depart
n 1,ag 40 eit
should be leaving Tampa to-day to Join
Sha0:er. They will be three or four
day2 on the voyage. and It is probable
that It Is this force that General Shafter
refers to as likely to arrive too late for
his action. vi IN, ~. Is Y ~ N i5$
The navy department to-day gave out
message from Admiral Dewey which
was brought to Hong Kong by the Nc
CullOch, so that It must have left Cavite
on the 23d. The admiral made no refer
ence 10 the landing OF German Marines
and the officials here are, satisfied that
Germany Is acting In good faith and
according to the rules OF, neutrality.
The report that the Egyptian govern
merit had finally refused conl to Ca
marn's, fleet at Port Said has not yet
been officially confirmed, but Its accu-
facy 10 not Questioned There Is still
some doubt whether this refusal In IT.
self VIII operate 10 prevent the further
movement OF the Spanish squadron tow
ard the Philippines. as Madrid advIces
aNegc purpose on the part Of the
Spanish government to send additional
golfers with the expedltiin to overcome
the refusal OF the various ports along
me waysto the Philippines to supply
coal There lis d strong impression,
however, that the Spanish government
VIA avail Itself if the pretext afforded
ey this refusal to turn the fleet bnck to! !