Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1898-07-21
A CLEAN SW EEP.
Triumph of American Army
is Complete.
DETAILS OF SURRENDER.
TOral is Disposed to Quibble Over
the Terms.
MILES TOOK NO PART INIT.
Refugees are to be Allowed to Return 10
the City of Santiago and "A Close Guard
of American Troops viii Keep Cuban
Soldiers Out.

With the United States Troops Be-
fore Santiago de Cuba. July 16.-The
reverse to the Spanish arms in eastern
Cuba is complete. Santiago has fallen,
and with it all the, eastern end of the
island.
All the Spanish troops in the Fourth
corps, the military division of San
tiago province, from a line drawn
north from AcceraderOs, 1S miles west
of Santiago, through Las Palmas and
Alcantara, to Sagua de Tanamo, on
the north coast and eastward to Cape
MaySi are surrendered and the terri
tory is abandoned. Between $4,000
| and 10000 Spanish prisoners are taken,
about 10000 of whom are in Santiago.
The remainder are at Guantanamo and
others are garrisoned in the towns of
eastern Cuba. All these troops are TO
| be sent back to Spain under parole.
Gen. Toral must have realized that
| he was trapped and TO hold out longer
must mean Il useless sacrifice of his
men, but he made one last effort to
gain more time. While nominally
yielding to the terms Shafter pro-
posed, before s a. m. Thursday he
sent a communication to Shafter en-
| closing a copy of a telegram from
| Gen. Blanco explaining that the sur
render of Santiago and the abandon
| ment of eastern Cuba would require
the direct sanction of the Madrid gov
ernment and requesting more time to
hear from Madrid. At the same time
Gen. Blanco authorized Toral, if it was
agreeable to the American general, to
appoint commissioners on each side
| to arrange the terms of the capitula-
tion of the forces under his command,
on the condition of their parole and
transportation to Spain, pending the
sanction of Madrid. He also sent the
names of the commissioners he had
selected, namely Mr.. Robert Mason,
the British vice consul; Gen. Toral's
| chief of staff, Col. Fontaine, and Gen.
Escarajo.
This communication was so ambigu-
Gus that it might all be upset by the
refusal of Madrid to sanction the
terms agreed to by the commissioners
and Shafter resolved to have all the
ambiguity removed before proceeding
| further. At II o'clock he mounted his
horse and together with Gen. Miles
and their StatfS he rode to the front.
At Gen. Whcelcr's headquarters Gen.
Shafter, Gen. Miles, Col. Maus and an
interpreter left their retinue and
passed on over our trenches with a
flag of truce, to the mango tree under
which the interview was held Wednes-
day. They were soon joined by Gen.
Toral, his chief of staff and the two
other commissioners appointed by
him. Gen. Miles took no part in the
negotiations.
Gen. Shafter insisted that the COM
missioners to be appointed should
have paramount authority to make
and conclude the terms of surrender In
accordance with our demands. Gen.
Toral acccdcd to this, explaining that
since his last communication he had
received authority from hen. Blanco to
do so. This being the main point, the
interview was soon concluded.
Gen. Shafter appointed Gen. Wheel
er, Gen. LawtOn and Capt. Miley to be
commissioners on his behalf to treat
with those appointed by Gen. T9ra1.
He then issued orders to permit our
troops to retire from the trenches, but
forbid any soldier or civilian from GO
ing into the Spanish lines. The refu-
gees are to be permitted to return to
their homes, but neither our troops
nor the Cuban auXiliaries are to enter
the city at present.
The order as to the Cubans is very
specific. They have shown a DISPOSE
tion to loot everything, but they are
not to have the privilege of Cutting
their appetites for plunder.
\ guard is to be maintained about
the city and the camps of our soldiers
are to be removed just to the front or
to the rear of our lines.
The whole purpose of the American
commander now is to protect the
health of the army, especially from
the dreaded contagion. 1t is claimed
there is no fever in Santiago. but the
city is full Of filth and if our men
are allowed to go in it will undoubt-
edly become peSthoIe.
Gen. Shafter appointed Col. Astor
and Capt. Mckittrick to convey the
welcome tidngs along the lines. Some
of the officers favored celebrating the
victory with bands and Il noisy dem
onstration, but Shafter vetoed the
proposition. He said there was no oc-
casion to humliate the enemy, which
had fought bravclN. Not even cheer
ing was to be permitted, but before
Astor and McKittrick could warn the
soldiers the latter broke out into wild
hurrahS.
Gen. Toral requested that his men
be provided with food. saying there
was very little food in Santiago.
Our commissioners, accompanied by
an interpreter, entered the Spanish
lines shortly after . o'clock and had
not returned when the correspondent
left with this Dispatch
Washington. July 16.-After a CON
ference with the president last night
at which three other members of the
cabinet were present, Secretary AIger
said: "The situation is just this. The
Spaniards AT Santiago are prepared to
surrender. but they want to carry
their arms We have determined to
grant no such concession nor any con
cession except to transport them to
Spain"