The age-herald., 1898-01-14
Two Hundred Thousand People on Island A re in the Last Stage of fStarvation-Contrib tions Already Received Would Not Go
 Tar in Relieving the Destitute.

| Washington. Jan. 1S.-United States Con- l sul General Lee has reported to the state department from Havana under date of yesterday the facts connected with the rioting there yesterday. While the state department officials do not divulge the text of the dispatch, it is said that they cor roborate the news that has been received on the subject. According to General Lees report the disturbance has been quelled | for the time being, but he was apprehen- | sive of another outbreak at any moment Nothing has been heard from the consul general today, it is assumed at the state department that the situation is changed in Havana.
 General Lee did not ask to have , war ship sent to Havana, and in the opinion of the state department officials, there is suf- ficient reason for the assumption that there is no occasion for sending one. The off, cials are evidently not apprehensive of any trouble in the immediate future that will require the forcible intervention of this government. The disquieting feature of | the situation is the horrible condition of
 l the poor in Cuba. | According to General Lees advices no
 less than 100000 people on the island are in l the last stages of destitution and are wholly dependent upon charity. To feed | these people on ten cent ration per day would cost 900 daily, which sum is double the amount so far received in con tributions during the past ten days by the state department. In the opinion of Gen eral Lee no less than 20 per cent of these poor people are really doomed to death from starvation and disease. In such a | state of affairs the existence of any form l of original government is threatened and | the autonomy plans of the Spanish govern ment command little attention.
 Maintain Their Serenity.
 1 The naval authorities here maintain their l serenity, notwithstanding many rumors, l such as the dispatch of warships and other I like stories.
 Secretary Long was asked whether any | of the American ships had been ordered to | be ready to sail for Havana. He replied
 1 that while he could not discuss the matter,
 he would say that he had not made any
 | change in the orders to the battleship
 Maine, now lying at Key West.
 l Inquiry developed the fact that the l Maines last orders were to go out for tar- l get practice and upon falling in with the l North Atlantic squadron to attach her | self Although there is no expectation at | the navy department of any trouble just | now, still in case it should occur, the navy | Is more strongly represented in Florida and West Indian waters than it has been | in the past ten years At Key West there l is the second-class battleship Maine; at
 | Jacksonville the dynamite cruiser Vesu-
 | vius; at Saint Kitts is the Annapolis, and
 | at Guadaloupe the Wilmington. The De-
 | troit is on the way from Cape Haytien to
 l Key West, where she is now due. The l Marblehead is at Port Tampa, Fla. She l has been wired to remain at Key West in- stead of sailing for Navassa, according to | original orders.
 The Naval Force.
 l Washington, Jan. 13.-This naval force is made up with one exception of the Maine, of unarmored but lightly protected cruisers | and gunboats. It will be powerfully re-in- | forced however, in a few days by the North Atlantic squadron under Admiral F Sicard, composed of heavily armored ves- sells, the most powerful of the fleet that the United States has had together in many years. The vessels are now dis tributed as follows
 The flagship New York and battleships Iowa and Indiana, in Hampton Roads; the battleships Massachusetts and Texas at New York. The former are to sail on the 18th for Florida waters, while the last two are to leave New York Saturday and Sun I day respectively, falling in with and join | ing the squadron on the southern drill grounds off Chesapeake Bay.
 | It is stated that this southern movement
 l of the squadron is in no degree attributable
 | to the troubles in Havana, but the move ment is a part of the programme for win- | fer manouyres of the squadron prepared by 1 the navy department months ago, after l consulting with Admiral Sicard and Cap l tain Taylor and duly announced through the daily press.