The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1898-07-21

Cuba surrendered to-day. Menaced by
American forces on land and sea. dis
heartened by past defeats and without
hope of victory, Gen. Toral yielded his
city to save his people. With the final
stroke OF the Spanish generals pen,
the only stronghold in the province of
Santiago has fallen and the power of
Spain in eastern Cuba is crushed.
What the terms of the surrender were
is not yet known. They may be made
public when Gen. Miles returns from
the front tonight and they may be
suppressed for days. On board the
flagship New York it is believed that
the surrendered Spanish officers would
be permitted to re tain their side arms
and that the Spanish army will be
given safe convoy to Spain. Admiral
Sampson has not yet been informed of
the details of capitulation.
The end came swiftly and unexpect-
edly. The Santiago campaign, with
its deeds of splendid daring and dark
with the record of slaughter, had been
believed by many men high in rank to
have only just begun. The refusal of
the Spanish TO surrender has been so
emphatic and so recent that both army
and navy had forsaken the idea of vic
tory without further bloodshed, and
noon to-day had been set for the final
desperate assault upon the stubborn
defenses of the city. That its fortifi-
cations were strong and that its forces
were brave all knew, and to-day had
been looked forward to as likely to be
the bloodiest in the history of The
,.t pI
o'clock this afternoon Admiral Samp-
son received by signal the news that
Gen. Toral had surrendered, the ad.
miral and his officers scarcely credited
the story.
When Gen. Toral on Monday last re.
fused absolutely to consider the terms
of unconditional surrender, ard when
Gen. Shafter announced negotiations
at an end it was believed that the TAX
ing of the city without further fight
ing was an impossibility. The artil-
lery of the federal forces was ordered
to be rushed to the front, the invest
ing line was extended to hem in the
town completely and every prepara-
tion was made for the final assault
Acting under instructions from Wash
postponed surrender yesterday and at
a conference at which Gen. Miles and
Gen. Toral were present, it was pro.
posed to allow the Spanish officers to
retain their side arms, and the Ameri-
can commander offered to send the de-
feated army to Spain, under convoy
and on parole.
At about IL o'clock Gen. Miles sent
an aide-de-camp from Juragua to Rear
Admiral sampson, telling him the
chances for a surrender were good and
that NO shots must be fired from the
fleet without definite orders from the
shore, AS the hour of noon approached
the New York ran close in shore at
| Aguadores and took up position in
readiness for the expected lombard
ment of the fleet hidden by the city
The Brooklyn ranged in the rear of
the New York and the other vessels
took up positions previously assigned
to them. The swift little Hist steamed
down to Juragua to await word from
Gen. Miles Noon came and although
the expected call to quarters was not
issued, the men fingered anxiously
close to their places, eager to begin
the work of bombardment From the
bridges of the warships the officers
trained their glasses alternately on the
signal station ashore and on the fleet
of transports off Juragua, behind
which the Hist had disappeared. As
one and two o'clock passed without an
order To begin bombardment the eX-
citemeut among the officers who knew
the significance of the delay became
intense.
II was n few minutes after three
o'clock when the Hist pushed her way
from behind the anchored transports
and started on the short run from
Juragua to Aguadores. Rolling and
pitching in the rough sea, the gallant
little yacht dashed for the flagship,
signalling as she pressed onward. The
battleship Oregon was the first vessel
in line and the signal, 1.-The enemy has
surrendered" was first made out from
the bridge of Capt. Clark's ship. A
cheer burst from the officers on the
after deck and it was echoed by the
men clustering forward. At almost
the same instant the other ships in
the fleet caught the momentous mean
ing of the bright-colored signal flags
which flashed at the llist's masthead
and "A great cheer from host of Amer
lean throats swept through the squad
ron from ship to ship, while answer
ing pennants flew from each vessel in
response to the New Iork's repetition
of the Hist's signals. Eventually the
Hist ran alongside the flagship and de
livered her dispatch. 1t contained nc
details, being simply a brief messag,
by wire to Admiral Sampson from
Gen. Shafter saying that the enemy
bad surrendered.
Gen. Toral surrendered in the nick
of time, for had the plans of to-day's
battle been carried out the city of San,
.iago would have been torn to pieces
before night The fleet had the exact
range and although the city was about
eight miles away and hidden by the
hills along the shore, Commodore
Schley said that shells could be
dropped in the heart of the town ev
cry two minutes for as long time a:
Gen. Shafter thought 1t necessary
Aside from the work of the feet, sever
batteries of artillery were in position
and so placed three-inch shells could
} have been hurled into the town from
all sides The Spaniards, however
had made careful preparations and
had even erected barricades in tn,