The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-23

II there was o good map of the interior
of Cuba IL would have been possible to
illustrate THE Suns graphic description Of
the recent two days battle with q map
that would have shown every valley
through which our troops marched and
every eminence they stormed. Minutely
detailed survey maps like the topographic
sheets issued by our Government would not
be necessary. Maps as excellent as Russia
made for military purposes Of q part of the
Balkans, or as the Austrian staf map Of
Thessaly, the scene Of the latest war in
Europe, would have served every purpose.
A map Of q battlefield showing at .
glance tho physical features that influ-
enoed the plan or course OF hostllities
would be instructive and interesting. But
there are no data for such o map Of any
battle scene o few miles inland In Cuba.
Spain has not mapped her home domain,
to say nothing of her former colonies. Her
school aliases are made In Germany with
Spanish nomenclature Her Topographic
survey of Spain has hardly begun, while
the surveys Of most countries Of Europe are
completed. The British and Dutch have
made the charts that Spanish sailors have
used along tho coasts Of the Philippines ;
and British Admiralty and American ny
geographic Once charts have long been
the chief dependence of mariners sailing to
Cuban and Porto RIean ports.
No wonder, therefore, that the topog-
raphy shown on our Government military
map. even on the comparatively large scale
Of eight miles to the inch, is almost worth
less. The map shows that mountains arc
numerous in the neiRhborhood of San
tiago, but no idea Of the part which the
hill features and valleys played in Gen.
SHATrER's plan Of campaign can be de-
rived from 1t. The map is moro valuable
than the ordinary maps Of Cuba simply be.
cause 1t shows the approximate position Of
a far larger number Of towns and hamlets
and the paths that connect them. We are
indebted for this information to Spanish
assiduity in the rougher sort Of mapping
during the three years the Spaniards have
played the pureuer or the pursued up and
down the island.
In the fighting of our naval reserves at
Guantanamo Bay, however, It was posi-
BILE to follow the operations with q good
map. The scene was among the noun.
IdInb OOFueTlnR inc sea, anu Cney are
sharply defined, with the intervening val.
leys, on the chart OF the bay. THE SUN
correspondents based their graphic de.
scription of those stirring days upon the
topographic features of the region Of
conflict; and as the chart gives an ex-
cellent and well-detaIled idea of these
features, 1t was easy to find the hill
on which Camp McCalla stood, the val
legs and mountain sides by which the
enemy approached the camp, the ridge
where the ~Spaniards were hemmed in, the
bluff across the bay where their infantry
fired at our warships, tho hill up the bay
where the fort stood, and other details of
the land that helped to make the history
OF our first land battle in Cuba. When
such material 10 at hand it is possible to
make even a small and hastily prepared
newspaper map very serviceable In illus.
trating the events of war.
Good maps will be among the manifold
blessings that will come to Cuba In the
era now dawning. No part of the interior
will continue to be painless and unknown,
as many large districts have remained dur
ing three centuries Of Spain's scandalous
misrule.