The record-union., 1898-06-29
DIFFICULTIES OF ENTERING
FROM THE SEA.
An u1-Built City In Bad Sanitary
Condition-An Easy Capture
After the Harbor il Forced.

| VI HOU-eAiSlGIiCc VI d uOSlllG IltSJ OC-
lieved to be anchored only six or seven
miles away. But it was really a matter
fraught with the greatest difficulty
Properly to appreciate the situation 1t
IS necessary to know Santiago. Any
one who has steamed into the haroor
can we'll understand that dozen fleets
might lie there for months, completely
lost to the outside world, so far as it
was possible to ascertain their location
by cruising off the entrance.
The willy old Spaniard, VelasqueZ,
when he fixed upon the site for the an
cient capital of Cuba, twenty-five years
after the discovery of the New World,
displayed sound Judgment He quickly
recognized the great natural advan-
tages afforded by the harbor as a safe
refuge and secure hiding-place. From
the open sea neither harbor nor city is
visible.
The entrance itself cannot be dis
covered, except at close quarters. and
no skipper is mad enough to attempt 20
make his way in by night 1t is usual
to lie off for daylight, and in the event
of two or more thus waiting all kinds
of tricks are resorted to in order to get
to the entrance first since only one can
safely pass in at time through the
narrow channel, 1S0 yards wide, be-
meath the frowning walls of Moro. The
Spanish warrior Pedrodela Rosca, as
far back as 1910 built this fortress. 1t
looks it's age, though, of course, vari-
Gus additions have been made from time
to time. Adjoining the Morro is a small
fortification resembling a star in shape
and known as La Batteria de la .1srrel-
la, while on the mountain opposite is
T.nS no 10 xxrJ,i
recently, of much consequence as a
defense.
Before one reaches Cayo Smith,
little island once held by the British,
used by the residents of Santiago in
two more batteries may be seen on the
east side of the channel Perched on
the shore of a tiny bay under the guns
of the forts is the cable hut of the three
companies-F'rench, Cuba Submarine
and West India and Panama-which are
represented in Santiago. On point
further down the harbor where it is
necessary for vessels to make a sharp
curve, tug sometimes being utilized
TO push around the ships bow, is the
Punta Gorda battery
EASY SAILING FURTHER IN
After passing this spot it is somewhat
easier sailing. The bay opens to a
width of two miles, and the remainder
of the six miles, which is the distance
from end to end, can be determined at
a speed faster than the slow and eau
uoUS movement necessary to pass the
tortuous channel and avoid the shoals.
Just at the entrance to the bay is a
small island known as Isla de Ratoneo
Nhe Isle U Rats), on which sometime
ago was a building used as a powder
| magazine, where the explosives since
utilized in mining the harbor and its
approaches We're stored. 1t seems i'm
probable, however, that any quantity
of explosives would be there now.
There We're no forts on the western side
| of the Earbor, but nearly opposite the
| city is the coal depot and a GONZALES
cent hospital. To the east is a modern
| fort of masonry, Punta Blanca, and it
IS almost certain that at spots in the
city, like the market place. command
| ing the harbor, guns have been mount
| ed.
| Unless within the last two months
| the Spanish authorities have received
additional guns, the writer would not.
from Information given him in Santi-
ago, be inclined to take a serious view
OF the strength of the Spanish batter
/ les A few years ago several fine
| krupp guns We're sent to the military
authorities, but, like their fellows m
| San Juan, they We're allowed to lie out
ON the ground, exposed to wind and
weather. Some officers We're seen ex-
amining these guns not long ago. and.
| If not completely ruined, no doubt by
this time the guns have been placed in
position. Most of the guns are of an
old fashioned type, but they are ca
pabie of doing considerable damage to
vessels attempting to force an entrance
owing to the easy target the ships pre-
sent as they slowly steam in one by one
under conditions that render it eX-
| tremely difficult to them to return the
fire with effect
! PICTURESQUE, BUT ILL BUILT.
The city is built on hill, and pre-
! sents picturesque appearance from
the harbor. On close inspection, how
ever the buildings do not realize the ex-
| pectations one might have formed, be-
ing far inferior, architecturally and
otherwise, to those of Havana. while
/ the streets and sanitary conditions gen
orally are wretched. When a visitor
| spoke to some of the citizens on this
hope that the city would be bombarded,
if only for the sake of getting, eventu-
| ally, new and cleaner city
! Mountains surround the city on three
| sides. Those to the westward would
afford magnificent base of attack. but
the difficulties of porting artillery
| will be immense. What roads there are
have been allowed to fall into shocking
disrepair, and troops landed westward
of Santiago will encounterAno ordinary
hardships in making a descent Upon
the city. The railway lines into SAL
tiago from ST. Luis and Cobre would
not be the same service, if it is possible
to utilize them at all. as that running
oub eastward to the Juragua mines.
There is a wharf at Baiqulri, few
miles west of Santiago, where the iron
ore is loaded. This might be a point
suited for making am effective landing,
and the railroad, being close at hand
could be put to good use.
If the harbor has been forced the
batteries silenced and fleet defeated the
capture of the city will be a matter
attended with slight trouble, especially
| in view of the fact that both inside and
outside of Santiago insurgents exist in
strone force. The worst feature of the
bombardment, if one occurs, will be
1 the slaughter of thousands of unfortu-
nate reconcentrados, who already must
have been suffering unspeakable ago.
ries and can find no means of max
-. f1.<>x IA.