Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-08-23
MILES COMING HOME
He VIII Turn Over the Command
in Porto Rico to Brooke,
MACIAS SHOWING GOOD SPIRIT
he Is Aiding In the Work Of EXpe-
ditins Evacuation Of the Island.
HENRY'S MEN NEED PROVISIONS.
sixth Massachusetts and sixth IIIi-
nois Regiments without Shoes
Our Volunteer Troops Anxious to
De Returned to This Country.

| August N.-AfternOOn.-(Delay in trans
mission.) .)-Major-G Miles has de-
cided TO leave. with his staff, for Wash
ington. in a few days. possibly tomorrow.
He will turn over his command to Cen
eral Brooke, who is expected to reach
| here tomorrow for a conference.
General Miles has arranged matters gen.
orally with Captain-General Macias, pre-
paratory TO the meeting of the Peace
Commission at San Juan.
General Macias, while maintaining his
outposts. is steadily retiring his forces 20
the capital, preparatory to their embark
alton.
Mail communication between Ponce and
San Juan has been established, and the
telegraph wires, which have been severed,
will be connected Immediately.
All that will remain for the commission
to do. General Miles says, will be TO Sc
cure an inventory of government property
transferred to the Americans and to give
receipts to the Spanish authorities.
MACIAS ALL RIGHT.
Captain-General Macias, in his various
communications with General Miles, has
shown the best spirit. He is anxious to
cooperate in bringing about an evacua-
tion at the earliest moment possible. and
is placing no obstacles in the way Of the
volunteers returning home.
Lieutenant-Colo Ramery, the high
est Spanish volunteer officer in the island,
reached here last night from AibonitO.
Other officers have been coming through
our lines all day. Lieutenant-Colonel
Ramery says that the Spanish forces at
Aibonito were short of ammunition and
water, and depended upon Cayey for
food. They must have euccumbed as
soon as General Brooke struck Cayey.
According to a letter from San Juan,
the Spanish residents who had fled from
the city nave returned, and there is great
rejoicing among them that the war Is
ended, a feeling that Is shared by the
soldiery
SAN MARTIN STILL LIVES.
Colonel San Martin. former Spanish
commander at Ponce, who abandoned the
city on the approach of the Americans
and who. it was reported had been shot
for forsaking the city, is in the hospital,
sick. He has been stripped Of his rank. |
The Ponce merchants express their |
gratitude at his course, because the |
flight of his command prevented the de- |
struction of their property, and they are
raising a subscription for him.
General Miles will advise General !
Brooke to embark the Spanish prisoners |
here and send them Immediately to San |
Juan.
II is expected that Rear-Admiral Schley |
will be here in a few days.
Most of the troops in the island will |
remain stationary until the final details
have been settled, and they will then |
march to San Juan, where they will en-
bark.
VOLUNTEERS WANT TO COME HOME
General Miles will consult with the au
thorities at Washington as to the force
that is to remain. The volunteers are
anxious to go home.
To-day Sunday the liquor-saloons were
closed. and for the first time in the his
tory of the island there was a public
Protestant religious service.
The officers and men on the monitors at
Guanica think it unnecessary to keep the
ships there any longer. The vessels are
absolutely unsuited to a tropical climate
like that here, and the Puritan's officers
have sent formal complaint TO Secre-
tary Long.
At Aguida, north of Mayaguez, the
Spenish troops killed two natives last
Friday.
MILES TO LEAVE LAST NIGHT.
PONCE. PORTO RICO. August o.
Morning General Miles and his staff will
leave for nome on the steamer Aransas to-
night. He Is now holding a final confer
ence with General Brooke. who arrived
from Arroyo on the Saltwater this
morning, and General Wilson, whose head
quarters have been moved here.
Senior Lopez, editor of the San Juan
Correspondence, is hers He reports that
the Governor General. Macias is pushing
for the evacuation of the is
land. The obstacles in the habor of San
Juan are being cleared away, and a ship
loaded with dynamite has been removed. |
General Macias, Senor Lopez says, will
return to Spain In a few days, leaving
the details of the evacuation TO his sub
ordinates.
HENRY'S MEN IN NEED.
General Henry's men are badly in need
NJ provisions The garrison here says il |
is impossible to transport supplies over
the mountain trail. and il has been ar
ranged TO send them 10 Arecibo, an open
port.
The Sixth Massachusetts and the Sixth
illinois regiments are without shoes.
General Brooke, who is TO be I'm COM
nand of the island. may leave General
Wilson in direct command OF the troops,
while he Brooke) is attending the ses-
,ions of the commission for Porto Rico.
4