The Portland daily press., 1898-06-07
SPAIN'S RESERVE FLEET.
A German War Correspondents Sarcastic
Description.

Spain's preparations for war have not
excited the admiration OF German experts
who have had al opportunity to inspect
hheIns and the Army and Navy Journa!
reprints the following description of what
the Spaniards are doing at Cadiz, as seen
by Eugene Wolf, correspondent of the
Berlin Tageblatt: -
Three long days and tbs greater part
of as many nights I have spent in the
harbor of Cadiz and In ner dock yards.
saw some form liable intrenchments going
up at the northern end Of the bay, at
Rota- The dam at the south end of the
city is being strengthened and fortified,
and three batteries have been erected. a
naval officer told me Cadiz had fifteen or
sixteen new Krupp guns. Whether there
is any ammunition for these guns I could
not learn. The Cadiz people doubt it.
Another matter which is quite serious
Gun practice seems to be lost art in
Cadiz. l have not heard shot fired dur
ing the week | am here. The present
| Captain General does not think much of
so hard on ones nerves, and such a vast
of powder besides.
A waste of powder, indeed. The
Governor General of the Philippines must
| have been of the same opinion.
81 am almost ashamed of this letter.
was sent out to report war. or at least
war preparations; and, though I searched
high and low, cannot discover any. ]
came to this city from Cologne, the
Rhenish fortress, and l VOW that l saw
more war preparations there in day than
l did here in d week. The soldiery is
| lounging about; army officers are gamb-
ling. flirting and smoking cigarettes.
hoped to find the Captain-G General on a
| led of laurels and found him in forest
OF orange blossoms. His intimation OF
war secrets was mere bluff There are
no secret preparations. If there were any
l would have seen them.
''Ihe spot where Cadiz is mortal is its
water supply, or rather its want of the
commodity. The city has few wells, and
SO per cent of the necessary water comes
| from Santa Maria, which is six miles dis.
| tant to the north by sea and nineteen
| miles by rail. p"
Under date of May 9, Mr.. Wolf writes az
| follows:
'At last have seen the Spanish Arma.
da No. 2, or the reserve fleet The Span
| iards call it the new Armada. 1t consists
of the telayo, Alfonso XII, the Vittoria,
the Normannia, formerly owned by the
Hamburg line; the Columbia, one torpedo
boat destroyer and torpedo boat. The
Carlos V, an ironclad, Is on the way
here
"The Felayo is fine ironclad. 1t
makes good impression. There ara four
big guns on deck and q good many small
Ter ones at the sides. The Spaniards re-
veneration. Pictures of her are every
where; the general public thinks her the
fastest and most formidable craft afioat.
But l have been talking with people who
know the Pelayo we'll, and 1 gather from
their lntimation and hints that she is one
of those bellies who are beautiful only
when in repose. She has had walk on
| her, as they say. For that reason the
| Pelayo has never been taken around
much. She only shows off in the safety
| of harbors, and then is much admired.
Only once did she venture out to sea, I
| am told, and the experiment. was disas-
trous
1.-THE Alfonso XII is a good enough
cruiser, of which little good or bad is
lady of not uncertain age She looks
her years all over. They are fixing her
up. though. She has received new boil.
rers Of late and new guns; hut, after all,
to quote an English naval officer whom l
met here, She resembles one of the old
horses used at the bull fights. There Is
little doubt that she will tumble over on
the first rush Of the bull
But must not forget the brand new
ironelad which has been building opposite
the arsenal for the last ten years. A
week ago she was far enough advanced to
receive her boilers But the chain broke
and the boilers went down into the hold,
twenty -four feet deep. They went into
nithereens, of course. Now they are
erecting great derricks near by to haul up
t e pieces. This is the most important
W DIX going on in the harbor. All the
docks are full of old iron, old cannon,
dilapidated armor, old cannon balls, etc.
In the yards of Carrara Arsenal the gun
carriages and other accoutrementsefor The
Vlttoria, Normannia and Columbia are
being constructed amid great secrecy.
The Normannla will face the enemy I'M
der the name Of Rapido; the Columbia
the acquaintance of the commander OF the
Pelayo, who constantly wears civilian
dress. He looks like an old. dried-up
schoolmsster. But those Yankees should
look out for the commander of the Column
bla. This is one.eyed gentleman, and
everybody knows that the most successful
pirates in the story books had but one eye.
Capt. Osborn, who brought to New
York description of Cervern's boats as
they appeared in the ssharbor of Curacao
before they Went to Santiago, said that
they wers so poorly equipped that they
wore even forced to buy surgeons need
les. If the Tageblatt's report of the con.
dition at Cadiz is authentic, it would
seem as If the Cadiz fleet, if it ever goes
| sail, would go to sea equally unprepared.
BRAZIL'S FRIENDSHIP.
Washinutnn LIMA & a nnther eYidence