The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-07-05
NE WS FROM
GEN. SHAFTER
How AdviceS From Him
Reach United States.
THE CABLE OvERwORKED.
Long Distance From Station to Mill
tary Headquarters.
CAPT. JOSHUA sLOcUMS TRIP.
THE CABLE OvERWORKED.
CAPT. JOSHUA sLocUMs TRIP.

NEW YORK. July s. Especial. 1-Some
surprise has been expressed that news
from Santiago de Cuba, particularly def
mite news concerning the condition Of tho
wounded should be SO slow In reaching
New York and Washington, especially In
view of the fact that the United States
government now controls a cable connect
ing directly with the naval and military
forces thereabouts
But the fact Is that such news IL re-
ceived much more promptly than might
with reason be expected, onoe the circum-
stances ars fully understood. In the 1irst
place, it must be remembered that there Is
only one cable, and that all the govern
Inent dispatches relating to naval and mil
itary operations, all the newspaper dis
patches sent direct and all the private mes
sages between the United States and the
scene of present activity must be transmit
ted over that single wire That is enough
of itself to cause great delay, and the table
of the operator In the little cable Office on
the beach at Playa del Este is undoubted-
" piled high just now with messages
awaiting their turn. OF course messages
to the secretaries of war and the navy on
matters Of vital Importance take prcc-
edence over all others, and in some In
stances this must cause delays OF many
hours.
Busy Dispatch Boats.
But there are other legitimate causes for
delay besides clogged up cable office. For
one thing, 1t must be remembered that
General Skaters headquarters are at least
30 miles away from the office and that
until the completion of the new telephone
limo the delivery Of message to him In
yolved the passage back and forth of dis
patch boat covering at least 40 miles every
round trip This would require two hours
of steaming by a tremendously fast boat;
in actual practice es6h round trip has
probably taken up three full hours and
possibly four.
To put a message like the one recently
sent by tho secretary of war regarding
wounded correspondent through to Gen.
eral Shafter and secure the filing of his
reply would undoubtedly consume the bet
ter part Of whole day without making
any allowance for unexpected delays. 1t
would involve at least 90 or go miles of
stcaming by the dispatch boat and possi-
bly, good deal more, since, while Shat
ter's headquarters is 20 miles from the ca
BILE station, the hospital ship Olivette, on
which tho wounded lie, Is several miles
from headquarters, though just how far Is
not known definitely either here or In
Washington. 1t is more than likely that
tho Olivette is kept moving slowly at
least part of the time, and this would Of
course render the distance over which the
dispatch boat would have to steam an un-
certain quantity.
In addition to all the delay involved by
the circumstances explained above, trans
mission itself Is slow. Every reader Of the
newspapers must have noticed that most
published dispatches to the government
are dated at least "a hours earlier than
their reception in Washington, and have
IL ON tho best authority that the war de-
-partment Is very well satisfied when It
receives an answer to given inquiry as
early as 4s hours after the question is ask
ed. Better time has been made in some
instances, but these have been the excep-
tion and not the rule.
Captain Joshua slocum.
The arrival of Captain Joshua Slocum
at an American port after circumnavigat-
ing the globe in a craft only slightly lar
ger than canoe brings to mind his first
voyage In small boat. II was made nearly
or quite ten years ago, and. unlike the lon
ger voyage which he has just completed,
was by no means premeditated. 1t came
about through his suffering shipwreck
somewhere on the coast of Brazil.
The captains luck at that time was all
against him. He not only suffered ship
wreck by going ashore, but what little he
managed to save from tho broken vessel
was taken from him by Brazilian wreck
ers Of the worst type. Had these thievish
gentry left him unmolosted he might have
sold what part Of his cargo floated ashore
for at least enough to pay the passage of
himself and wife to 1.-THE States, but as
IL was he was absolutely pcnnilcss. almost
without clothes and thoroughly isolated
from civilization on strange coast.
At first he appealed to the Brazilian
government, but this resulted In nothing.
Then he tried as best he might to secure
assistance In pressing his claim against
Brazil through our diplomatic officers
there, but they pursued the do nothing
policy that has often characterized our
representatives abroad Then he built
n seaworthy boat out of virtually green
timber, having an ax for his only tool.
He named this boat the Liberdale, and,
though 10 could not have been more than
80 feet long and was of exceedingly rude
construction, he made 10 serve for voy-
age of months from the point of shipwrcck
to New York. OF course he had to hug
the shore all the way, and he had to beg
at many port for enough to live on till
he should make the next. The story OF
this voyage has often been told in print
and hardly need be repeated here but
there was one incident connected with his
landing at this port which has never been
related.
The Captains New start.
On arriving here, practically pcnnilcss,
he tied up his boat somewhere near tho
Battery and walked up Broadway to
certain newspaper Office. Entering, he
asked 70 see TIE editor, TO whom he offered
10 sell n moro detailed story Of the Libcr-
dalc's voyage than had yet been printed.
1t was good story, the captain said be-