The herald., 1898-06-05

was heavy cannonading yesterday after
noon at Santiago de Cuba and that ex-
| traordinary commotion prevailed at tnat
place. All the Spanish troops, it Is said.
were concentrated at the fortifications in
the suburbs, and it is understood among
| the non-combatants that the insurgents
| and American forces were making grand
attack on the landward side.
In the evening, the dispatch goes on to
say, al distance of about eight miles off
the coast. twenty American warships, five
of which were cruisers, could be seen. It
was believed in Santiago de Cuba that
this was the United States fleet of Rear
Admiral Sampson and Commodore Schley.
The steamer which was blown up at the
entrance of the Santiago harbor was the
Merrimac, a former English collier of
1000 tons. 1t is now understood that this
vessel was sent in for the purpose of sink
ing it and thereby filling the channel so
that Spanish warshps could not leave the
port in case Admiral Camara's fleet ar
rived off the Cuban coast.
A Brilliant Victory
MADRID, June 4.-The version of the
sinking of the Merrmac which has reach
ed the Minister of Marine here from San
tiago as follows:
A Spanish vessel in front of Santiago
has sunk an American auxiliary cruiser.
All the members of the crew of the lat
ter have been imprisoned. The rest of the
enemy's squadron Immediately retired
The Spanish version also says: Two
ironclads were seriously damaged during
the engagement. The Spaniards describe
the affair as a brilliant Spanish victory.
1t is officially announced here that the
Spanish government has received further
dispatches regarding the alleged victory
of the Spanards at Santiago de Cuba but
they will not be published until they have
been conveyed to the Queen Regent. In
the meantime, the report has been circu-
lated that the Spaniards have captured
numerous Americans"
Removing the Wreck
PORT AU PRINCE, Hayti, June 4, $50
q. m.-Further news received here from
Santiago de Cuba confirms the reports that
the bombardment of that place began at
8 o'clock yesterday morning. After the
action the Spaniards blew up with dynamite
the sunken collier Merrimac ard have since
been at work clearing the channel so as to,
in all probability, permit Admiral Cervera's
fleet to put out to sea should the Cadiz
under Admiral Ganara, arrive in
Cuban waters to relieve the bockaded ships. |
In the meanwhile dispatches from San
tiago de Cuba say the Spaniards pay tribute
to the audacity of the Americans in so
cleverly attempting to blockade the chan
mel. According to the Spanish 1t would
be foolishness on the part of the Ameri-
cans to attempt to force the harbor en-
trance, which is described as being long
and narrow. and thoroughly mined, SEEM
lngly forming an insurmountable barrier.
There are a great number of insurgents
in the vicinity of Santiago de Cuba probably
waiting for some decisive action on the
part of the American fleet, which undoubt-
edly will be the signal for a land attack
upon the town.
The Cadiz Squadron.
NEW YORK, June 4-According to the
Cadz correspondent OF the Herald the
Spanish reserve squadron was still at tina It
port on Monday last and the expectations
then were that 1t would not sail for sew
eral days. Although nothing definite could
be learned about the probable destination
of the fleet. it was believed that the Phil
ippines would not be the objective point
Optical work; accurate fitting. ]. W. |
Fuller, 315 North Main street. 4