Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-05-23

States and the independence of Cuba.
President Mckinley ordered 900
of the $50,000,000 defense fund trans
ferred to the secret service bureau
for operations against Spanish spies.
The bureau had previously had $4,000.
! An expedition for the Philippines is
being organized by the Spanish gov
eminent, a Madrid dispatch reports.
| Forty thousand of the Spanish re-
serves are saiG to have been called
out
Commodore Schley praised Admir-
al Dewey's attack upon Manila in the
highest terms He said that the
mantle of Perry and Farragut had de-
scended upon the Admiral's shout
ders.
Twelve bulls were killed in Madrid
amid popular reioicings to raise
money to help Spain carry on the
war. The Spanish colors (blood and
gold) were worn conspicuously by
everybody.
Captains of three incoming steamers
having reported that they had seen
Spanish warsnips Off Newfoundland
or even nearer, much fright has been
occasioned in New England's coast
cities.
General John L. Rodgers, senior Of
ficer of the artillery branch of the
army, was appointed chief of artil-
lery of the army and placed in charge
of the heavy artillery of all the coast
defenses.
| Gen. o. O. Howard does not look
for a speedy ending of the war, and
| he thinks that the government will
make a grave mistake if it does not
permit Admiral Sampson to capture
Porto Rico.
In the bombardment of San Juan,
Admiral Sampson did not silence the
forts, but he is said to have rem
dered them comparatively ineffective.
There is a rumor that San Juan has
surrendered.
Refugees who arrived at st. Thomas,
D. w. l., from Porto Rico, report a
famine in the island. Internal dis
orders are increasing constantly and
many fires have occurred in the towns
and country.
The navy department has declined
@. FL. P Belmont's offer to build,
equip and command a dynamite
cruiser to cost 100000. The offer is
said to have been hampered by too
many stipulations.
Tho fo fnopan 0or,o no
ported the war revenue bill to the
senate. It provides for an issue Of
greenbacks, coinage of silver seignio-
rage and eliminates the house provi-
sion for bond issue.
The state department denied in an
official statement the report that the
French steamship Lafayette, which
was permitted to go to Havana, VIC
lated the neutrality laws and landed
gunners and sontraband of war.
President Mckinley will ask France
to explain why messages from Ameri-
can officials in Martinique notifying
our government of the arrival of the
Spanish squadron were delayed, and
the Spanish vessels permitted to coal.
The most conservative estimate of
the capabilities of the Cuban army
as a fighting force IS as follows: IN
der GARLIC, IN Santa Clara, 1000
men; under Rodriguez, in Havana
Province, 5000 men; in Pinar del Rio,
| 5000 men.
The telegraph companies received
instructions to send by cable no mes
sages pertaining to the movements
of American men-of-war which would
in any way give the outside world
information of contemplated naval
operations.
Charles A. Cramp of Philadelphia
returned from a business trip to Rus
STA. With him he brought an order
from the government of that country
to his firm for the construction of two
vessels, one battleship and the other
an armored cruiser.
Gen. Wesley Merritt has accepted
the military governorship Of the
Philippines and will start for San
Francisco within a week. President
Mckinley is determined that order
shall prevail during the American oc-
cupation of the islands.
The speeches of Lord Salisbury and
Mr. Chamberlain favoring an Anglo
Saxon alliance have caused profound
uneasiness in Great Britain, as they
are thought to foreshadow an i'm
pending general war among the great
military powers throughout the world.
The large disbursements of gold,
Assistant Secretary Vanderljp eX
planned, were made because with
$180,500,000 gold in the treasury and
with the daily revenues being paid
substantially in gold, it is imperative
that disbursements should be made in
similar funds
The Span ards dropping spirits
have been revived by news of alleged
victories over our soldiers and sailors
in Cuba and Porto Rico. They now
demand that tho Game Verde fleet MIR