The record-union., 1898-05-25
The Censorship Tightly Drawn in
Cuban Waters.
No Longer Allowed TO Follow American
Warshlps in Their Cruises.
Hereafter News of Movements OF
the Fleets or Possible Engage
ments Can Only be Learned
When the Commanders Have
Officially Advised the Navy De-
partment at Washington.

! NEW YORK, May pa special to
the Times" from Washington says:
Letters from Key West arriving late
or becoming public to a limited extent
| long after they have reached Wash
! ingtOn convey the information that
/ about everything that can steam, sail
or be towed has been forced into the
service to assist Admiral Sampson and
Commodore Schley to box up Admiral
Cervera and force him to give battle,
/ if he has not escaped. Not a word OF
the elaborate preparations, except by
! way of roundabout hints, has come
| from Key West, the newspaper cor
! respondents having been put on their
! honor not to give intimatiOnS of opera
| tiOns that can assist the enemy in the
! slightest particular.
All the talk in the Cabinet to-day in
! dicated the confidence of the Admin
! istratiOn in the early receipt of good
news frOmAdmiral Sampson. One Cab
! met officer who expressed the greatest
| eagerness to hear from Sampson and
| Schley, and who has no doubt that the
| news, when it comes, will be great,
| admitted that the outside limit of time
/ in which it was expected that the yes
| sells of the United States and Spain
must meet had passed, and that official
! information might arrive at any mo-
ment either that Cervera was bottled
up, or that his fleet was at the bottom
of the ocean.
Il do not look. first for unofficial in
formation" he said, for the reason that
the commanding officer of the United
| States forces has concluded that he
can get along quite as well and without
SO much possibility of injurious OBJ
serVation if he excludes newspaper
boats, as he has DONE
The Administration is determined
that if Cervera will not fight, but mani
tests determination to get away and
return to Spain, to follow him up and
kill" his fleet before it can reach it's
own side of the Atlantic. To do this
might require the sending of coal ships
along with the United States fleet for
some distance, but if any accident
should happen to any of the Spanish
vessels, or the supply of coal should run
out Admiral Cervera would have to run
the risk of destruction or else abandan
a disabled vessel in the hope of getting
off with the others, or, perhaps, be
overtaken by single ships until the
! whole fleet was gObbled up.
1t is calculated by naval officers that
| the Spanish fleet has now about eX
hausted it's fuel and that it cannot
undertake the difficult task of retreat
ing The only honorable outcome to
Spain is for Spains ships to try con-
clusions at once while the coal bunk
ers and the food supplies are not COM
pletely exhausted
There will be no news from Sampson
or Schley until one or both of them has
tested the inclination of ability of Ger
vera to fight. Naval officers laugh at
the suggestion that if Cervera should
give the United States the slip the yes
sells of SIMPSONS and Schley's fleets
would be again withdrawn to Key West
to be used as conveys to protect the
transports in moving the army to Cuba,
leaving Cervera to stay in these waters
or to return, as he pleases.
Admiral Sampson" said naval Off
Ger of experience and spirit, lis reason
ably free to move and act as he choos-
es. He has the opportunity to carve a
place in our history alongside that of
Dewey You will not catch him coming
back empty-handed to hear the jibes of
disappointed people Explanations
will be of no avail if he does not render
a good account of himself under his
instructions to seek and destroy the
Spanish fleet If he does that eXplana-
tions will never be asked for by any
body. And | think that it will bring
the opportunity for us to cheer Samp-
son and Schley along with Dewey"
! In addition to the belated policy of
| censorship adopted in regard to the
! transmission of reports of naval move
ments by telegraph, it appears that the
Navy Department has decided to dis
| pense with the attendance of neWspa-
| per dispatch boats upon the fleet in
Cuban waters. The information reach
ed here that before the beginning of the
! recent operation of the squadrons OF
Sampson and Schley against the Spanish
fleet, notification was given to all the
! newspaper boats which have been
! watching and reporting the blockade
that they would not be allowed to fol-
| low the warships on their cruise. The
| notice was peremptory, it is understood,
! and it's strict enforcement is supposed
here to account for the lack of news
from the fleets, which has amounted to
| a famine for the last week. Had news
paper boats, with Sampson and Schley
on their cruise in pursuit of Cervera,
| it is reasoned that the telegraphlc cen
! sorship at Florida points would have
prevented the receipt of information by
other routes from someone of the many
cable stations in the West Indies.
| The permission given by the Navy
Department to the dispatch boats to
follow the fleets on previous cruises
has been very seriously criticised here
as inimical to the best interests of the
service and altogether an undignified
proceeding. 1t has given rise to con-
siderable unfavorable comment abroad
also. and has been the particular butt
OF sarcasm from the German Emperor,
who is said to have derived considera-
bic amusement from the spectacle of a
fleet of warships attended by a convoy
of newspaper boats. Whether these
CRITICISMS have resulted in the decision
the boats is not known. but the de-
cision is generally commended as
wise one.
The presence of the newspaper craft
may not have done any harm, it is
pointed out, so long as the naval oper-
fations We're confined to peaceful
blockade. but now that a serious naval
campaign is on, it is recognized that it
lis the part of wisdom to free the fleet
from such espionage.
Serving Sentence for Wire Tapping
CHICAGO, May 24-Oscar NJ. Stone
| to-day began serving six months SEN