The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-07-25
MILES,
MOVEMENTS
.',ss,~.-- .i----.---.-- .-..,-..
Now Probably at the Rendez-
VOus Off Porto Rico.
THE LANDING OF TROOPS DELAYED.
A Scarcity of Lighters Will Pre-
vent Immediate Action.
RUSHING THE REINFORCEMENTS.

They Will Be Hurried to Miles Aid With
the Greatest Possible Dispatch General
Shafter Sends Cheering Report Regard
ing the Condition Of His Soldiers-Shaf-
ter Now Feeding Eleven Thousand Span
ish Prisoners of War.
Washington, July est is said at
| the war department that no news can
be expected from any official source as
| to General Miles movements until this
! evening at the earliest 1t is calcu-
! lated that he arrived last night at the
! point on the coast Of Porto Rico Sc
! lected as the rendezvous for all the
vessels Of the expedition. Whether or
not he will undertake to make a land
ing in advance of the arrival Of the
! whole expedition will probably depend
| entirely upon conditions as he finds
| them. Should there be no Spanish
| force, or at least an inconsiderable one
on the coast, the troops will be landed
to relieve them in the disastrous effects
of being confined closely on shipboard
under the tropical sun.
The general has with him sufficient
artillery to hold any position he may
occupy, supplemented as this artillery
will be by the guns Of his naval CON
vuy. Meanwhile the department is
making every effort to hurry along the
remainder of the expedition. Some
troops are now on their way from
| Tampa and Charleston, and should
reach Porto Rico by the middle of the
week. Naval officials are assisting ac-
| lively in getting the troops off, and
were engaged yesterday In sending the
necessary orders to that end to the
commanders of the naval auxiliary YES
sells which have been placed at the
service of the war department. In the
course of a day or two the troops
brought from Chlckamauga by General
Brooke will sail from Hampton Roads,
where they have been arriving all day
and are ready for the transports.
There is a probability that General
Miles may be delayed for several days
in his landing operations for lack of
lighters, but several Of these. are now
on their way and others will be hurried
forward as rapidly as possible. How
ever 1t may be as to his speedy land
ing on Porto Rico soil, 1t will be well
along towards the end of this week
before the active land campaign can
be begun in Porto Rico.
General Shafter reported by cable
yesterday that the condition of the
troops at Santiago was rapidly improv-
ing, and said he hoped in the course
of a day or two to have them all To-
Gated in comfortable camps, where
they my rest and recuperate and where
the sick may recover. He is feeding
IL 900 OF the Spanish prisoners Of war,
and although he has not yet been able
to furnish them with tents, yet this
deficiency is being made good, and
meanwhile their present condition Is
no worse in this respect than was their
condition before the surrender. The
general makes no mention Of the al
legged letter from Garcia to himself,
nor does he speak of any friction be-
tween them, whence the department
has come to doubt the authenticity of
published stories on these subjects.
In his report to the war department
relative to the conditions at Santiago
General Shafter has thrown some light
upon the difficulties in which certain
of the newspaper correspondents there
have involved themselves. From his
report it would appear that, animated
by an ambition to take a prominent
part In the important events follow
ing each other in rapid succession at
Santiago after the initiation Of the ne
gotiations for the surrender Of the city,
a few of the correspondents were
guilty Of grave breaches of military
law, necessitating prompt corrective
action by General Shafter. Thus, for
instance, one correspondent in his ef-
forts to take part in the flag raising
over the city hall, resisted the mill
tary officers In the execution Of their
duty, and even attempted a personal
assault upon the commanding general
This made him subject to summary
and severe punishment, even death,
yet General Shafter probably realizing
that ignorance of military law was the
explanation of the action, contented
himself with expelling the correspond
dent from Cuba.
A more serious offense, from the fact
that II might easily have led to rioting
and loss of life, was that of three other
correspondents, who, It appears by
General Skaters report, by circulating
inflammatOry reports stirred up the
town. They were likewise deported,
and as evidence that he has no personal
i'll feeling towards the paper represent
ed by them but desires only to exer-
else such control as is imperatiVely
demanded in the interest of safety of
our troops and protection of the people
under their care, General Shafter has
declared that these correspondents may
be Immediately replaced by others by
the same newspaper who viii observe
the rules of prudence No mention is
made of any other cases requiring at
tention, and 1t Is indicated that the
relations between the newspaper men
and the army of officers at Santiago are
generally amicable and satisfactory.
In a very dignified manner General
Shafter takes notice of some OF the
severely critical newspaper articles that
have appeared touching the condition
of the troops before Santiago while
they lay in trenches. He admits that
there was a shortage Of tobacco for a
time, but shows conclusively that there
was no lack of necessaries of life and
that the troops were adequately sup
piled with hard bread, bacon, sugar
and coffee.
With the week just closed the United
States saw the end of the third month