The San Francisco call., 1898-06-05
Seized Letter of Lieutenant CdrrdnZd Is Made
 Public.
Intercepted Information Enabled This Government to Keep Track
 of Spanish Vessels.

NEW YORK, June "A Washington special to the Herald says: Spain's spy system has sustained a serious blow as the result of the seizure by secret service agents of the United States of the famous Carranza letter. That let ter, with the exception of one para graph, was officially made public by Secretary Gage to-day. It has been in the possession of Chief Wilkie of the secret service here since May 2S, and its contents have been of inesti- mable value to the four branches of the Government, the naval, military, dip lOmatic, and secret service.
 This letter has enabled the military arm of the Government to take action with a complete. understanding of the position of the Spanish reserve squad ron, and of Admiral Cerveras S fleet, to both of which Lieutenant Carranza re- fers in his letter, and this knowledge may have been one of the reasons why naval officials confidently declared for the last week that Cervera was safely located in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba.
 Now that the letter has been made public officials do not hesitate to tell as to the manner in which it was ob- tained. Every day since the arrival of Dubosc and CarranZa in Montreal secret service agents have been in their home, either on pretenSe of examining the gas meter attending to sewerage or inspecting the water pipe. One of these men saw CarranZa writing on May 25 a letter, which he surmised might con- tain highly interesting information. He reported his discovery to Chief Wilkie, who arranged a call at the house next morning, and the officer, accompanied by a companion and woman, was ad- mitted soon after s o'clock and exam ined the house with view to renting it. Lieutenant Carranza was at break fast at the time. When inspecting the bedroom the American officer dis covered sealed envelope lying on the dresser. He slipped it into his pocket and left the house, mailing the communication to fellow detective. who forwarded it to Washington. On one side of the en- velope were three Canadian stamps, two Scent and one 2-cent stamp. The letter was written in a fine hand on paper bearing the seal of the former legation in Washington and was ad- dressed to Senor Gomez, apparently CarranZa's uncle.
 Appended is the full text of Car ranza's letter, with the exception of the paragraph withheld by Secretary Gage:
 Montreal, Que. May 26, 1S9S
 42 Tupper street
 His Excellency Senor Don Jose Gomez Imay-My Dear Son Jose: It was my belief that they would have ap- pointed you to command the Cadiz fleet and it was my intention to have sent you a telegram asking that you take me with you, to meet you in the Antilles or wher- ever you might say. The case has not turned out thus, however. and it seems as though God were not on our side be- cause the election of Senor Camara I fear wll be fatal, although he may have a good chief-of-staff No one could possi- bly suit him. because he is very cap ricious, and besides is not a very hard worker; on the contrary, he is lazy and would pay no attention to the advice of any one. You will not take this for flat tery, but to-day no one but you and Don Pasquale should have command of our fleet, and this is the belief of the younger element of the personnel. Now there is no remedy, and may God shed his light upon and keep him in his hands. I wrote to the Minister, and with the confidence due to my special duties l said to him, on sending a clipping from a newspaper containing a telegram from Cadiz. speak Ing of our fleet and of its admiral, that should command it and that we the lower personnel, who travel about a lit tie, know you very well. It may be that this action may have had a bad impress sion on him, but l don't care, because if l can do so I shall leave the service when the war is finished. l have been left here to receive and send telegrams and to look after the service which l have organized and had better say am. established here. because until a little while ago 1 was not permitted to do as 1 pleased
 We have had bad luck because they have captured our two best spies one in Washington, who hanged himself-or else they did it-and the other day before yes terday at Tampa. The Americans are showing the most extraordinary vigi- lance. do not wish to remain here with