Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1898-02-26
FkOM N ACHING ION.
Correspondence OF the Alexandra Gazette
VI rnmnn, Eth sc

FkUhl Admit iUN.
Correspondence OF the Alexandra Gazette
WASHINGTON, Feb. &c
Secretary Long said to-day, as to the
outlook, he thought things were look
ing much better. He said the public
ought not TO be under any misappre-
henslop with regard to naval move
ments; that 80 far they had mostly
oeen the ordinary dispositions which
are made tr, IN time to time; for in
stancs, the shipping of guns to New
York ia to supply the Chicago and
oil her vessels under reconstruction
here, aud they would 60 in any
event. The gun factory at Washing
toa is where they are made and
they are sent to various points as
The occa ion requires. So, too, The
call for more men, he said, is simply
the revival OF the recommends
ton in his annual report. The move
ments of some oil the war ships, such as
the Detroit and Marblehead towards
Kew West, had already been shown to
nave been in accordance with orders
not only made but published in the
newspapers as well before the Maine
disaster. 1t is again stated at the
Navy Department that the Mont
gcmery, which has been ordered
10 drop down TO Key West from
Tampa, has not yet received any orders
to proceed to Havana and it is not yet
decided when the orders will be
issued, if at all. 1t can be said that
inquiries that have been under way
for many months by agents of the Gov
eminent, do no reveal the slightest
evidence of the existence OF any plan Of
defense in the harbor of Havana by
means OF miDes or torpedoes, much less
to locate them, as has been reported in
some quarters. OF course the effect of
this statement if it is to be accepted as
conclusive on that point is almost GER
tain to negative the supposition that
the disaster resulted from other than
accidental causes, as the almost unani-
nous testimony Of experts here, based
on the history of torpedo work, is to
the effect that no single torpedo of any
type could have caused the terrific
wreck of the Maine. No word has yet
come from the court of inquiry at Hav-
ana touching the time when they will
leave Havana for Key West, nor, in
fact, mas the court been heard from in
any manner since the last published re-
port. Secretary Sherman spent some
time at the Capitol to-day. He said
that in case the Maine disaster was not
an accident he thought an indemnity
would certainly be demanded, and that
if it should be, good round sum would
be asked. What that sum should be,
would, however, depend largely upon
circumstances. He did not think the
Spanish authorities had been aware OF
the intentions of any one who may have
caused the explosion, but be advanced
the opinion that whether they were or
not, the Spanish government would be
liable for indemnity if it was shown
that sny Spaniard had caused it.
After being pronounced physically
unfit for promotion by one naval board;
too sound to be retired by another and
physically qualified for promotion by
third board, Capt. Henry B. Robson,
commandment of the Portsmouth, n.
H., navy ward, has at last been recon-
mended to the President for promotion
aud will succeed to the vacancy in the
grade of commodore to be created By
the retirement this month OF Admiral
Selfridge.
The Nicaraguan government has
made some changes in the concession
TO the English Atlas Company for the
construction of its railroads across the
Isthmus and these changes are reported
TO the State Department by the U. S.
Consul at San Juan del Norte. He says
that one of the amendments payes the
way for claims for damages by the Atlas
Company and for diplomatic contention
in the event of the construction of
canal.
This was the closing day of the Gen.
gress of the Daughters of the Ameri' an
Revolution. Some discussion took
place on the matter of the ancestral
bars worn above the insignia of the so.
ciety and supposed to represent the an
C ,stors of the wearers who served in
the revolution. One of the spesk ers re
marked that it was funny thing that
some ofthe patriots wore the ancestral
bars not only for their forefathers of
revolutionary fame, but also for their
Nothing was done about
the matter and it was allowed to lapse.
The Postoffice Department this morn
ing decided to allow Postmaster Nick
ole, of Leesburg, Va, to remove the
postoffice to the square below on the
same street, but on the opposite side.
Col. 'Lige White came here TO oppose
the change, but did not succeed.
The nomination Of MIR. King for col.
lector of customs at Alexandria was ex-
pected to-day and the republican ex
ecutive committee of Virginia were at
the Treasury Department to see about
it and other nominations in their State.
They also called at the Postofice De-
partment to see about postofices in
their State.
The following fourth class Virginia
postmasters were appointed today
Dragonville, r. n. Dunn; Rockville.
Eliza r. Rediord.
Ex-Congressman Trgg, of Virgins. is here
to-day, to promote the passage Of the bill to
pay the clsim of the Richmond Locomotive
Works. But hardly any bills OF that sort will