The record-union., 1898-06-29
BLOCKADE OF CUBA.
Proclamation Extending 1t Along
the Southern Coast.

Proclamation Extending 1t Along
the Southern Coast.
WASHINGTON, June 2S.-By proc
| lamation issued to-day the President
gave notice of the intention of the Gov
ernment to assume the formidable task
of blockading about 500 miles of Gu
| ban coast line in addition TO the sec
tons already blockaded, thus extend
| ing the blockade of Cuba's southern
coast from Cape Frances to Cape Cruz,
| inclusive, also blockading San Juan,
Porto Rico. The proclamation is as
| follows:
Whereas. for the reasons set forth in
my proclamation of April %, 1S9S. q
blockade of ports on the northern coast
of Cuba from Cardenas to Bahia Hon
da, inclusive, and of the port of Glen
| fuegos, on the south coast of Cuba, was
| declared to have been instituted; and,
Whereas, it has been considered de-
sirable to extend the blockade to other
southern ports;
Now, therefore, /, William McKin-
| ley, President of the United States, do
hereby declare and proclaim that. III
addition to the blockaded ports speci-
| fed in my proclamation of April -,
| 1898, the United States of America has
Instituted and will maintain an effect
| i've blockade of all the ports on the
| south coast of Cuba from Cape Frances
| to Cape Cruz, inclusive, and, also. of
the port of San Juan, in the Island OF
! Porto Rico.
Neutral vessels lying in any of the
ports to which the blockade is by the
present proclamation extended will be
allowed thirty days to issue therefrom
with cargo"
This increases the extent of the block
ade fully four fold, it having been con-
! fined heretofore to a stretch of a lit
/ tie more than 100 miles on the north
and the single port of CienfuegoS ON
| the south coast of the island.
The demands upon the navy will not
be nearly SO heavy in proportion to the
| territory to be covered as in the case
of the initial blockade, for the reasons
| that the new blockaded coast line lies
entirely within the great blight on the
| south Cuban coast, in which the wa
/ ter is generally very shallow and the
| ports are few into which vessel of
any draught could enter. The most i'm
portant OF these ports is ManZanillo.
| Trinidad and Tunas.
West of Trinidad is Cienfuegos, which
is already blockaded effectively. From
| that point westward for nearly 14O
miles there is no port to be blockaded
until Batabano is reached This port
| is only about forty miles from Havana
| by rail- and is believed to have been
! the principal source of food supplies for
the Spanish capital. For $50 miles west
| of this, clear over to Cape Frances, the
western edge of the blockaded territory.
there are no ports for deep vessels of
any considerable draught, and even if
there they could not enter, as Pinar del
Rio is in the hands of the insurgents
and supplies could not be sent through
to Havana.
The purpose of extending the block
AIDE westward to Cape Frances was to
command the channel between the west
side of the Isle of Pines and Cape Fran
ces, and thus render much easier the
task of blockading vessels.
The reports which have. reached the
President as to the exact state of af-
fairs in Havana are conflicting. IN
some cases the town was declared to
be on the verge of starvation; in 9th
ers, food supplies We're said to be still
abundant AS a matter of fact, the
truth probably lies between these ex-
trernes, and while supplies of a certain
character are very scarce in Havana,
there is no lack for others. 1t is known,
for instance. that while flour may DE
scarce. large quantities of beef have
reached Havana. Most of this has
come from Mexico, and it has usually
been brought over to the Isle of Pines
and trans shipped in light draught
boats to Batabano, whence it is carried
by rail to Havana. Only day or two
ago word reached here that 500 head
of cattle were rounded up at a point
on the Mexican coast near yucatan,
waiting transportation to Batahano.
There has been no running of the
blockade by these cattle ships, notwith-
standing the Spanish stories TO the con-
trary All of the ships that have enter
ed Cuban ports with supplies have done
SO at the places not within the blockade
such as Batabano and Manzanillo.
The vessels for the additional block
ade service will be supplied entirely
from the patrol fleet, which, under
Commodore Howell, has been guarding
the North Atlantic coast from Maine
to South Carolina. This service has
| been abandoned because the only
available Spanish warships are with
Admiral Camara, thousands of miles
away from the nearest point on the At
lantic coast The vessels are already
on their way southwark. having been
reinforced by several of the new tor
pedo boats, which are particularly
adapted, because of their light draught,
for blockade duty in the shallow waters
lying between the Isle of Pines and
Cuba