The record-union., 1898-05-12
ADMIRAL SIMPSONS FLEET.
NOT EXPECTED TO CAPTURE
PORTO RICO AT PRESENT.
Cuba Will Probably Be Attended to
Before Any Move on the Other
Island Is Carried Out.

| additional confirmation has been re-
ceived of the news from London that
the Spanish squadron which left the
Cape Verde Islands two weeks ago had
returned to Cadiz, the belief has great
ly strengthened in official circles that
| cruise to Porto Rican or Cuban wa
ters was never very seriously contem-
plated by Admiral Villamil, says the
Washington correspondent of the ''Tri-
bune"
No word has reached the Navy De-
partment from acting Admiral Samp-
son since the fleet under his command
was sighted off the north coast of San
Domingo but the failure of any of the
swift scouting cruisers sent in advance
to discover any traces of the Spanish
squadron and the nOn-appearance OF
the Spanish men-ofWar at any of the
usual coaling and supply stations of the
WindWard group have almost con-
vinced the naval authorities here that
the Spanish commander has thought
discretion to be the better part of valor,
and has actually sought the refuge of a
home port
AS the capture of Porto Rico at this
time has been held by the President
and his advisers to be of little or no
strategic Importance, complicating in
stead of simplifying the task of reduc-
ing Havana and eXpelling the Spanish
land forces from Cuba, it has been
virtually decided, as soon as the alb
sence of the Cape Verde squadron from
West Indian waters is definitely estab-
lished to recall to Cuba the greater
part of acting Admiral SIMPSONS fleet.
Gable dispatches instructing the Amer
lean commander to make no attack at
present on San Juan, but to await fur
ther orders off Porto Rico, have been
sent to the various cable stations in the
WindWard group, and will doubtless
be delivered within the next day or
two.
There is of course, no immediate de-
mand for the services of the whole Key
West fleet before Havana The small
er men-of-war left behind by acting
Admiral Sampson are competent to
protect the passage of the landing ex-
petition from Tampa and to cover the
lodgment of the invading army on the
Cuban coast. But should an effort to
reduce the Notifications of Havana
from the waterside be thought neces-
sary, the heavier fighting ships now off
Porto Rico would have to be called on
to undertake the bombardment; while
if the Vizcaya, the Almirante Oquendo,
the Maria Thresa and the Cristobal
Colon should, after ALL have passed
unnoticed into the caribbean Sea, and
should appear unexpectedly off the
west end of Cuba, the presence of the
full Key West fleet in that neighbor-
hood would be found Indispensable to
beat off the assailants and maintain
communication with the American
forces already landed.
Though Monday is the date now set
for the departure of the first division Of
regulars from Tampa, it would create
no great surprise if the troops were de-
tanned on Florida soil a few days long
er To take advantage of the compare
tive dryness of the season, a sharply
directed campaign against Havana is
considered advisable. But it seems GER
tain that the volunteers who are to
follow the regulars to Cuba cannot be
assembled on the Gulf Coast in fit con-
dition for field work within the next
two weeks, so that actual operations in
Cuba will scarcely be possible before
May 25th. BY this time, too all doubts
about the disposition of the Spanish
Acting Admiral SIMPSONS reunited
fleet can be employed to cooperate with
the American land forces in pushing the
siege of the Cuban Capital.
No serious weight is attached here to
the suggestion that Spain will send
fleet through the Suez Canal to attack
Admiral Dewey's forces in the Philip-
pines It is considered unlikely That
the Spanish Government would strip It's
home ports of adequate protectioa IN
order to undertake the reconquest OF a
distant colony. which could be held only
at the sacrifice of national interests IN
every other quarter of the world. More
over, with Government and Cabinet en-
crossed in a struggle for political exist
ence at home, Spain is scarcely IN
position to pursue for the present any
but a defensive and negative naval and
military nrOpramme