The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-06-21

patch Boat Wanda, Off
Saturday, June 18, 5 p. m, via Kings
ton. Jamaica, Sunday, June 10, $3.50 a.
m-Cuban scouts report today that
the inhabitants of Caimanera have
strewn the streets with straw and oil,
with the intention Of destroying the
city and fleeing to the hills.
lies four miles up the
bay from Camp McCalla, under the
guns Of the American ships and the
situation is desperate. Starving and
famine stricken, convinced of the ulti-
mate triumph of the American arms
and without faith in the protection of
the Spanish soldiery, the people are
believed to have determined to leave
their houses in ashes behind them and
seek safety in the mountains to the
north. The scouts declare that the
story is accurate and say that every
building in town is being rapidly pre-
pared for the torch.
h situation of the besieged is a
fearful one. The people are eating
horses and mules and are securing the
hills for fruits and herbs. Occasion
ally brief bOmbardments by the Amer
lean fleet leave the helpless citizens
terror-stricken, no preparations for
defence being made.
1t is also stated tina the Spanish
gunboat at Caimanera has been loaded
with inflammables and will be burned
with the city, her commander declar-
ing that she will never become an
American prize.
The scouts also say hat the Spanish
soldiers are in almost as complete a
state Of panic as are the civilians, n
that they could easily be induced to
surrender. Some of the prisoners tax
en- by the marines also say they be-
1ieve the Spanish troops are on the
verge of surrender, owing to the lack
Of food.
A NIGHT ATTACK EXPECTED.
Captain McCalla, of the cruiser Mar
blehead, and Lieutenant Colonel Hun
.tington, in command of the marines,
are not so sure. however, of the report
ed Spanish rOut. They received infor-
nation yesterday that a general at
tack by a force Of $500 Spanish SOL
diers and guerillas on Camp McCalla
is contemplated within a night or two.
Every preparation was made last
night for an expected assault.
When the Associated Press dis
patch BOAT Dandy arrived in Guantan-
amo harbor, at 8 o'clock, the Mills
wv (III L l. "cIC llliI1
under the shifting rays of the search
lights of the Marblehead, Dolphin and
Scorpion, and the marines were lying
in the rifle pits, at the guns, ready and
anxious for battle, but the night pass
ed without the firing of a shot. The
same Watchful care was exercised to-
lay, as Captain McCalla is convinced
that an attack is likely to occur at
any moment.
The Iowa Joined the fleet here this
morning, and, later, the admiral came
over on the flagship to inspect the for
tifications and confer with captain
McCalla and Lieutenant Colonel Hun
tington.
The coast in the vicinity of Guam
tanamo is dotted with the bright hued
Cuban flag. Numerous camps OF theS
insurgents which have been establish
ed along the beach between Santiago
and his place are used by the admit
raj as means of communication with
the Cubans in the interior. The aid
which these men have given has prov
ed highly valuable to the Americans.
Their stories of the restitution and
revolt among the Spanish soldiers in
this vicinity nave been corrobOrated
by interviews with prisoners captured
around the camp.
General Perrejo, who is in command
of the Spanish forces here, is undoubt-
eddy in a bad way in regard to obtain
ing food for his men. The prisoners
who have been captured appear to and
have been ill-fed and are apparently
indifferent to their fate.
Another body of five Spaniards was
captured yesterday by Ensign A. A.
Pratt, Of the Marblehead. While cruis-
ing in a steam aunch outside the bay
he picked up a 50-foot sloop containing
q Spanish captain by the name of
T@cn- o~I TD,,~ -o;J1~c T1axy co;I thnxy
were on their way to Guantanamo for
a supply of oil for the lighthouse at
Cape Maysi, but papers found on the
sloop proved that they had been sent
to obtain information relative to the
American forces. The crew of the
sloop asserted hat they a been ILL
fed and frightfully ill-treated by the
Spanish commander of the Cape Maysi
forces.
There was a brief bombardment of
a blockhouse up the bay by the bat
tleship Oregon yesterday and it is be-
1ieved that during the firing at least
a score of S~paniards were killed.
Scouting parties report that the
blockhouse was completely destroyed,
but that they were unable to discover
any bodies, the remains of the soldiers
who had been killed having probably
been carried off by their comrades.
Late this afternoon the flagship New
YORK returned to the fleet off Santiago
de Cuba.
The marines are growing very rest
less, owing to the delay of the arrival
OF the achievements of troops, but it
is generally believed here today that
the transports will reach Santiago not
later than Monday.
A rumor to the effect that Lieuten-
ant Hobson and his fellow heroes of
the collier Merrimac had been on the
walls of MORO castle, under a Span
ish guard, caused much excitement
among the fleet off Santiago today,
but the story is disredited on Commo-
dore Schley's flagship. The officers
there say that Spanish se.ntries were
mistaken for the American prisoners.
DESTRUCTION WROUGHT BY OUR
FLEET.
On Board the Associated Press Dis
patch Boat Dauntless, Off Santiago de