The San Francisco call., 1898-05-15

 DISPATCH BOAT ALBERT F. DEW BY, off HAVANA, via KEY WEST, May 14-Matters have been ordinarily brisk during the last twenty-four hours inside the lines of the Havana blockad- ing squadron. Yesterday afternoon the gunboat Osceola and the torpedo boat Ericsson had lively skirmish between Cojimar and Havana with Spanish sol diers on shore.
 General Blanco no longer fears that Havana will be attacked from the sea- Admiral Sampson and his big battle ships and formidable monitors no longer haunt him. They have disap- peared. Blanco knows not whither they have gone, but any apprehension he might have entertained went with them.
 East of Morro and halfway up the slope that rises to old San Diego fort is now battery bearing on the approach along the shore from the direction of Matanzas. This battery is just com pleted. To-day 1 could see soldiers throwing up big sand entertainments to protect the guns. It contains four To- inch rifles, two of which are mounted in barbetteS. These preparations show that Blanco has not been sleeping. The sea defenses of Havana are twice as strong as they were a month ago.
 Lately, however, Blanco has begun to fear an attack by land. For this he is not so well prepared, but his soldiers are making extraordinary efforts to strengthen the land defenses. Ha- vana's principal defense from an as sault by land is the trocha which ex- tends around the city at an average distance Of ten miles. East of Ra- vana this trocha terminates at Coli mar where there is a battery sweep ing the little bay. The trocha is like the other trochas, only much stronger. It consists of series of stone forts with barbed-Wire barriers strung be- tween and protected by rifle pits and earthworks.
 For two weeks Blanco has had thou sands of soldiers working to strengthen those lines of defense. He has been constructing an inner line of redoubts and intrenehments. This will be com pleted within two weeks.
 Blarco has evidently expected an American army to land in Cuba before this, judging from his preparations For | the last week he has been moving large 1 bodies of troops and field artillery from | Havana to the outer line of defense 1 The movement of these troops has been | plainly discernible from the gunboats | which patrol close in shore. For con- l venience. and probably in lieu of bet ter roads, thousands of soldiers march | along the beach. They keep sharp l lookout for the gunboats, and generally | retire into the woods when one appears. |
 Sometimes they show their teeth In a funny way. Captain Purcell of the | Osceola observed a body of about 800 | Spanish infantry and cavalry march l ing eastward along the beach about 1 four miles west Of Cojimar. Captain l Purcell signaled the torpedo boat Ericsson, and the two stood in shore | at full speed The Ericsson has only | three small guns, and the Osceola, be- | ing one of the mosquito fleet, boasts of | only one three-pounder forward and Gatling aft.
 They did not look very formidable to the Spaniards. who drew up on the | beach and waited. When within 1000 yards both boats opened with shrap- nel. The first few shells flew wide | and the Spaniards defiantly replied with rifle volleys. Bullets splashed like hail about the beats, but did no dam age After a few shots our gunners got the range. In rapid succession shells burst among the Spanish, who promptly broke ranks and took to the woods. The Spaniards are known to have lost half a dozen men killed and wounded. It was brisk little skir- mish while it lasted
 This morning bodies of troops could be occasionally seen marching east ward between Havana and Cojimar. but they kept well under cover The Osceola steamed slowly within 1000 yards of the beach, with a chip on her shoulder. but the enemy appeared to have lost their inclination to fight gun boats.
 The Dewey had a lively experience with the blockading fleet last night. which illustrates the eternal vigilance of the gunboats. The Herald-CaH dis patch boat arrived off Mariel about dusk. When darkness fell no gum boat was to be seen and the Dewey lay to, for 1t is dangerous to cruise about off Cuba at night. Clouds obscured the coast line and the stars and a squali was brewing to the northeast About o'clock the man at the wheel reported ship to port With his glasses Cap tain Hyer could dimly see smoke some four miles off in the direction of Ha- vana. For ten minutes we remained stationary, except for our driftway,