The news & observer., 1898-06-28


of the two Spanish torpedo boat destroy
ers.
The officers Of the eastern squadron
are as follows: Commander-in-chief,
Commodore J. G. Watson; battleship
Iowa, Captain r. ID. Evans; battleship
Oregon, Captain Charles II. CLARK;
flagship Newark, Captain Albert s.
Barker: cruiser Yosemite Commander
w H. Emory cruiser Yankee, Com
mander w. H. Bornson: cruiser Dixie.
Commander G. III. Davis; collier
Scendia, Commander Il. w. Watson;
collier Alexander, Commander w. T..
Burwell collier Abarenda, lieutenant
Commander w. III. Buford
When the American fleet sails for
Spain. it will take with it complete in
formation as to the entire stretch of
Spanish coast, with detail maps of every
harbor and its Notifications. The War
Board has a mass of this information
before it to-day aud spent n good
part of the day studying Spanish charts
and fortifications with view to out
lining d series Of blows which are to
be delivered Mt Spain mt home The
Spanish coast line il 2.122 kilometers
long. of which 100 kiI0meters is ON the
north coast. while 1853 kilometers is
along the MediterreAn. and the Atlantic
on the south coast. The coast is de-
scribed by naval strategists as abrupt
and mountainous, with sinuous inlets and
gnlfs, resembling the tiords of Scandi-
nayia. In general the fortifcations of
the coast are relics Of the medieval
greatness Of Spain, and many Of these
old defenses are tumbling ruins
The Gnani1b apacf 10 dixyido1 inf fhroo.
captain generalcies, namely: Ferrol, on
the north; Cadiz on the south, and
Carthagena on the east.
AT Ferrol is the Naval School, and
the School of Naval Application. At
Carthagena is the School of Ordnance
and the Torpedo School. Cadiz is the
point where most of the fortifcation
guns are made. Each of the three naval
provinces has certain number of coast
towns under its immediate care. The
Ferrol division includes the ports OF
Ferrol, Corruna. Vilagareia, Vivero,
Rivardeo, Santandar, Bilbao and st.
Sebastian.
The Cadiz division includes the ports
Of Cadiz, Algecia, Malaga, Montiril,
Almeria, Seville, Huelya, and the
Canaries. The Carthagena district i'm
cludes the points of Carthagena, Ali
cante, Nalecia, Vinaroz, Todosa, Bar
celona, Mataro. Majorquet, and Mahon.
The total artillery of these ports under
the normal conditions prior to the war.
is as follows: 119 Krupp guns, 55
Armstrong guns and large number of
HontOria guns. The main reliance Is
on the Ordonez guns, which are special
" for fortification purposes. They are
81 a and 80 centimeters.
A separate division of the coast is
made for the purpose Of placing torpe-
does and submarine mines This work
is divided into four districts, with Fer
rol, Cadiz, Carthogena as headquarters.
Each town along the coast is allotted a
certain number Of torpedoes. For I'M
stance, the allotment for Barcelona alone
is 500 torpedoes.
Many Of these ports are connected by
cable, which forms an additional feature
Of naval attack. A cable runs from
Barcelona to MarseilIes. Cadiz has
three cables, one TO the Canaries, anoth-
er to Gibraltar and another to villa
Real. Vigo is the cable station for two
lines. The information is in minute de-
tail as TO the defences Of each port.
For instance, Ferrol is protected on
the north by a series of three batteries
and two chatcaus, the chateaus occupy
ing ports which command passes from
the sea.
The town is encircled by bastions and
redoubts, Of ancient patterns. but re-
Gently remodeled. The defences of
Cadiz consist Of circle Of eleven power
FIJI ports. The other harbors are simil-
arly defined with detail information as
approaches, channels. depth of water,
batteries. etc. etc. With this full in
formation at hand the nature Of the
assault upon the coast of Spain will
be pretty well outlined before the Ameri-
can squadron sails. AT the same time
much will be left to the commander-in-
chief OF this squadron. Some naval an-
thorities believe that the Canary ISL
ands will be the first point of attack,
and that the next move will be to es-
tablish n naval base mt Ceuta, a point on
the African coast, opposite Gibraltar.
With this base our ships would be with
in easy striking distance Of the long
stretch of Spanish coast.
One short telegram received by Gen.
ward his plans Of bringing his
officers with the army under General
Shafter, was all that came to the War