Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-12
OFFICIALS WAITING
Expecting Announcement of Santi-
ago's Surrender.
GENERAL FEELING OF EXPECTANCY
Secretary .AIger Encouraged by
Gen. Skaters Report.
GENERAL MILES POSITION
GENERAL FEELING OF EXPECTANCY
GENERAL MILES POSITION


The expectation was general today that
| the surrender of Santiago is about to be
secured. The dispatch received from Gen.
Shafter this morning. was basis for this
| belief.
Secretary Long said, on entering the
| cabinet meeting, that no reports had been
received during the day as to the condition
| at Santiago, and he regarded the situation
| as of waiting for actual developments.
Secretary Alger was particularly en-
couraged. He says he can see reason
Why the Spaniards should renew their
flag of truce at o'clock yesterday after
rcon after being finally informed Of the
| intention of this government to accept
absolutely nothing less than the uncondi-
tional surrender of the town of Santiago,
unless they had come to the conclusion to
accept substantially those terms. The main
source of apprehension today was that the
Spaniards may have succeeded to a con-
siderable degree in evacuating the towl
before the American lines of investment
were completed, SO that when the Ameri
can troors entered it would be found
mere empty husk. with perhaps nothing
more than desperate rear guard of Span
1ards left to protect and conceal the re-
treat of the main body of the troops.
There were several indications OF some
such move, which is supposed to have been
in progress for the rast three or four days.
Gen. Shafter himself reported under date
of Sunday that the Spaniards had evacuat-
ed small town on the west side of the
bay, one of the suburbs of Santiago, while
The Stars dispatches of yesterday referred
to the departure of a body of Spanish
troops from Santiago toward Holguin.
Of course, these facts are not conclusive
that the town has been evacuated by the
Spanish army, but it cannot be concealed
that there is some apprehension that the
main result of the investment of Santiago,
aside from the important achievement Of
driving the Spanish squadron to its de-
struction, will be the inheritance by Shaf-
ter of several thousand wounded Spanish
soldiers and many more thousand hungry
mouths in Santiago
Status of Gen. Miles.
Gen. Miles. w1o arrived at Siboney on the
Yale yesterday, made the following report
to Secretary Alger this morning:
Arrived at noon. Had consultation witn
Admiral Sampson and with General Shafter
by telephone. Troops brought from Tampa,
Charleston and New York arrived and leav-
ing for the front. Line Of invest tment being
extended. (Signed) MILES,
Gen. Miles, it may be stated has not
taken and will not take charge of the oper-
ations now being conducted against Santi-
ago. Whatever credit IS to be derived from
the capture of that town, If it results from
the prosecution of the present plan of op.
erations by Gen. Shafter, will rebound to
that officers credit for Gen. Miles has ex-
pressly declared that he does not assume
the conduct of these operations. He is
there simply in his capacity commanding
general of the army to look over the field
and ascertain whether the operations are
going along as they should But with Gen.
Miles was very substantial assistance for
Gen. Shafter. He took with him on the
Yale more than LOCO men and considerable
artillery. while the Columbia, which formed
part of his expedition, is expected to report
her arrival at any moment with the re-
mainder Of the troops. AS Gen. Shafter
has referred to the thinness of his lines, it
Is expected that these reinforcements will
bs very gratefully received.
Relations of Sampson and SchIey.
Secretary Long has been in receipt of
kilograms of a personal nature from Com
modore Scnley, and it is believed from Ad-
miral Sampson well. 1t is supposed they
have been called forth by the newspaper
controversy over the credit for the VIC
tory over the Spanish squadron, controver-
sy which is most earnestly deprecated by
the officials of the Navy Department. as
well as by the real friends of both of the
officers concerned. Secretary Long de-
clines to make public these cablegrams
though it is believed that they tend to
demonstrate the existence of good rela-
tions between the two officers and a dis
position on the part of both to be judged
strictly according to the canons of naval
law
Admiral Sampson has cabled to the de-
partment he believes the wrecking plant
wh1ch Is now on its way down to Santiago
to endeavor to save some of the Spanish
ships is sufficient for the purpose so far as
the question of mere capacity is concerned
The naval officers are particularly desirous
that the Cristobal Colon shall be saved and
placed on the American naval list under
the Anglicized name of Christopher Co.
lumbus
The admiral also telegraphed to the de-
partment today that Capt. Concas of the
Spanish navy, who was reported to have
been killed in the destruction of the Span
ish squadron, is alive. wounded and on
the hospital ship Solace. This officer is
well huoWu III lue United states. having
brought the Columbian caravels across the
Atlantic to Chicago for exhibition at the
worlds fair. He was very popular at the
time, but lost the regard of good many Of
his American admirers when. just before
the outbreak of the war with Spain, he
delivered before the Geographical Society
in Madrid a bitter diatribe directed against
the personal qualities of the American
people
Condition of the Wounded.
Surgeon General Van Reypen of the navy
has received a report from the surgeons
with the fleet showing that there has been
no rise of temperature or an accumulation
of pus in single one Of the many cases
of wounded soldiers. From a medical
standpoint this is said to be marked ad-
vance from the conditions during the civil
war. 1t is attributed to the Introduction of
antiseptic treatment of wounds. Expert
ence shows that no fever follows the
wounds. and that with the absence of pus
the wound heals rapidly without complica-
tions. Considering the great number of