The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-07-19

TO washington 1t shows an aggre-
gate Of 1,914 officers and men killed.
and missing. The killed num-
Der 246, Of whom q were officers:
1884, of whom 90 are officers;
and missing "a, including no officers.
Of the wounded only IS have died.
Colonel Pope. the surgeon in chief.
says this is a remarkably small num-
Der Of fatalities, considering the large
number Of wounded. In the field hos
pitfalls there have been a remarkably
small number of septic wounds, and
but two cases Of gangrene have devel-
oped, one Of which resulted fatally.
Eben Brewer, who was in charge OF
the postoffice affairs in Cuba and
whose headquarters were at Siboney,
died on Thursday night, after a brief
illness. -
THE COMMISSIONERS MEET.
At General Wheeler's Headquarters,
Before Santiago de Cuba, July Is. 10
a. m, via Kingston ia, July Is, 1925
a. m.-The preliminary basis for the
c~apitulation Of the Spanish forces in
eastern Cuba was agreed to and sign
ed under a picturesque cieba tree, half
way between the lines, shortly after
midnight. Our commissioners were
invited to enter the city by those rep
~resenting General Toral, but the invi-
tation was declined and the onfer-
Az was - liz CadAA5
cieba. just such a tree as that under
which Columbus assisted at the cele-
bration of mass on his first landing
in Cuba, near Havana
HITCHES BY THE SPANIARDS.
At the very outset a hitch occurred,
owing to a misunderstanding Of what
was said at the personal interview
between General Shafter and General
Toral at noon. At that time our in
terpreter, translating the language
of General Toral, had given Generals
Shafter, Miles and Wheeler distinctly
to understand that Captain General
Blanco had consented that the COM
mission should have plenary powers
to negotiate the terms Of surrender,
such terms as they agreed upon to be
binding upon both parties. Something
was said about a notification to the
Madrid government, but General Shat
ter insisted that the c~apitulation had
been actually agreed to and that no
further consent of the Madrid govern
ment was required.
IDEA OF SURRENDER COMBAT
When the commissioners met short
ly after 2 o'clock in the afternoon,
| those in behalf OF General Toral Gen
eral EscariO, Lieutenant Colonel For
tan and Robert Mason, the British
| vice cOnsuD, COmbatted at once the
! idea that the capitulation had in fact
| actually taken place. The consent of
Madrid, they insisted, was still nee
| essary but at the same time they
| claimed strongly that it wOuld be
| forthcoming, as Captain General Blan-
CO had authorized it and the home
| government wOuld do the same. Cen
| eral Toral, who was personally pres
| ent and who, in fact, directed the ne
i At - 80 1890 h4I@1 800 L.
| had never been Overruled by the cap
| tain general; still, he added, until Mad
rid had sanctioned it, Santiago had
| not capitulated.
All this was extremely unsatisfac-
tory to our commissioners, who chung
tenaciously to the understanding that
General Shafter had received earlier
in the day.
Finally, with the question of wheth-
err of not the Spanish forces a ac-
tually surrendered still open, the com-
missioners proceeded to the consider
alton of the preliminaries.
THE ARTICLES.
Captain Miley had drawn up thir-
teen articles of a general nature and
these were submitted to General TOral
personally. He made a strong appeal
that the word "capitulation' be used
instead of the harSher term "Surren-
der" and hat his army be allowed
to march out, the officers with their
side arms and the men with their
small arms. He said the arms could
afterwards be sent to Spain, either on
the same ships with the troops, or
on some other ships. General Toral
further remarked that he expected our
commissioners as representatives of a
brave and chivalrous people, would
not seek to humiliate his army or
make it appear that he was vanquish-
ed. AS brave men, his soldiers desired
to go home with honor. They had sim
ply yielded to superior force and they
would prefer dying to going home
without their honor.
Our commissioners could not resist
this appeal, but they said it lay be-
yond the terms laid down by our gov
eminent and they could only recon-
mend the matter to Washington.
At 4 o'clock General Toral returned
to the city to consult with Genera
Linares, who had been enormously re
ported dead.
GENERAL WHEELER'S FIRMNESs
General Toral and the Spanish com
missioners returned at $50 o'clock
aging they desired a still furthe
change in the p~hraseology of the ar
ticles and suggested a ~postponemen
VI llO hCSoIldI1oIAo III AIlOI Ala .
This General Wheeler firmly declined
Thereupon a recess was taken unit
$50 o'clock. The commissioners re
turned at that hour and the article
were again gone over in detail. Vari
Gus changes of verbiage, which tend
ed only to soften the sound of tn
terms without affecting the sense, wer
proposed by the Spaniards and on
commissioners accepted practically a.
of them.
:, TESTING THE SPANIARD'S GOOI
FAITH.
Shortly after midnight, Genera
Wheeler suggested that the good fait
of the Spanish commissioners be test
ed. Ali the articles were re-read an
each commissioner in turn was aske
if they were satisfactory. When the
l replied in the affirmative, Genera
l Wheeler asked them to affix thei
t signatures. This they appeared re
luctant to do, but they could not we