Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-06-02
FROM THE INTERIOR OF CUBA.
Affairs as They Appear at the HeadquaEs
tiers of Gen. Garcia-Lieut. Row
ans Visit and Return.

ans Visit and Return.
WASHINGTON, May 27.-Secretary AL
| ger and Gen. Miles conferred yester.
day with two officers from the staff OF
Gen. Garcia, Gen. Enrique Collazo and
Lieut.-Col. Charles Hernandez, who
came direct from Garcia's headquarters,
| bearing credentials from him, to effect
a plan of cooperation with the Ameri'
can forces. They accompanied Lieut.
Rowan, of the United States army, Oh
his return from Garcia's camp, and
shared with him the danger of a tive
| days voyage in an open boat from the
north coast of Cuba until picked up by
a small sloop, which carried them to
| Nassau. They reported first to the
Cuban delegation here, and Secretary
| Quesada was careful to keep theil
presence secret until Gen. Miles has
made the fact known.
This relieved them from further So
crecy, and yesterday Gen. Collazo and
Col. Hernandez gave an interesting &C
count of Gen. Garcia's forces and sur
roundings and the general equipment
| of the Cuban army.
Col. Hernandez says Garcia has his
headquarters at Bayamo, one of the
large towns in the central part of the
| island. 1t was surrounded by the
| Spanish forces a few weeks, after Gar
cha had maintained a long siege. Gen
| Garcia and staff, with a bodyguard OF
! several hundred men, are CHARTERED in
the city.
The commanding generals head
quarters are in one of the principal
| buildings on the main street, called
Commercial street. With him is Gen,
Rabi and his staff and body guard.
| The infantry and cavalry are quartered
in the suburb of South Bayamo. Tents
are not used, but in their place the
men hastily construct coverings made
of palm leaves and guinea grass, which
are more effective than canvas as q
shelter against the hot sun. In all
| about 1900 men are thus quartered.
| They are well armed with Remingtons
and Mausers captured from the Span
| iards. Most of them have macheteS,
but only the officers carry other small
| arms
The cavalry have small horses, much
like the Indian mustangs, hardy and
reliable. Mules are used for pack pur'
poses.
Col. Hernandez says that the com.
missary and quartermaster's depart
ment is unknown in the sense used BY
army officials here. In lieu of These
| the companies not'fully armed are or
| ganized as ''predios." The duty OF
| the ''predios" is to bring meat, ample
supplies being secured from Puerto
Principe, and vegetables, which are
grown quickly in the woods. The sys'
tenn works perfectly, Col. Hernandez
says, and the troops are kept well fed
and in good spirits.
| There are no dress parades and none
of the regularity of daily drill used in
the United States army. The main
occupation is in making long daily
marches to keep the men hardened.
The Cuban generals say the arrival
of Lieut.. Rowan aroused enthusiasm
| throughout the Cuban camp. There
was no notice of his coming, and tbs
| first seen of Lieut.. Rowan was as he
galloped up Commercial street, fol.
lowed by the Cuban guides who accom-
panied him from Florida. He wal
warmly greeted by Gen. Garcia and
the two held a three hours conference
| 1t was decided that Lieut.. Rowan
should return that afternoon, and
Gen. Garcia assigned Gen. Callazo and
Col. Hernandez, with three guides, tc
accompany him He had come in from
the south shore, bat the party Went
out northward.
| They had expected to secure large
sailboat, but the best thing available
was an open yawl with a cubic ca
pacty of only 1O4 feet. Sails were i'm
provised out of the tents carried by the
officers.
| The first night out was stormy and
the small craft was barely kept afoat,
but after that the weather was good.
Col. Hernandez says communication
| is maintained with Gen. Gomez ana
with points along the coast. From
these he had a general idea of the Gu
ban forces, outside of those with Gen.
Garcia at Bayamo. He estimates thai
there are 1000 men all of them well
armed, east of la trocha, and cons IT,
tuting forces in the eastern division OF
| the island, under Gen. Garcia. These
include the 1000 at Bayamo, the Others
being scattered at various points. He
estimates Sen. Gomez immediate com
mand at shout 5000 men, with 5000
men scattered at various points. In
all, there are, according to the esti'
mates of Gen. Collazo and Col. Herman
DEE, about 10000 to $4,000 troops actu'
ally in the field.
| 1t is understood that the purpose OF
the present visit of Garcia's officers
is to give that generals assurances ia
the authorities here of his desire to
give every possible cooperation to the
| American movements. Similar aSSur.
Rnces have come from Gen. Gomez, anC
have been presented by Secretary
| Quesada.
The Cuban officers have made good
impression here, and the authorities
were agreeably surprised to find them
men of ability and soldierly bearing,
speaking English well. They will re-
main some days longer and then re.
turn to Gen. Garcia's camp.
Bound for Boston with Fifteen Men Ill.
Boston, May GA special to the
Herald from Provincetown says: The
cruiser San Franciscois bound for Bos
| ton, with Is of her men ill. :"