The San Francisco call., 1898-02-21
SOBRAL SPOKE NOT FOR SP AIN Am erica Cannot Take Offense at His Crit
 iciSnS. Were Made When He Was No Longer Spanish Naval
 Attache. News That He Was Retired a Month Ago Has Just Been Made
 Public.
Special Dispatch to The call.
Call Office, Riggs House,

Call Office, Riggs House,
 Washington, Feb. 20.
 When Secretary'S Longs attention was called to the reports that he had taken official cognizance of Captain Sobral's criticisms of the American navy, the Secretay said he had called the subject to the attention of the State Department with view of having an inquiry made by that branch. The par ticular expression to which the Secre- tary had directed the attention of the State Department was the following at tributed to Captain Sobral:
 Tt was the result of an explosion in- side of the ship. which took place in one of the forward magazines. The fact of the matter is that the discipline and the watch observed on the ship were very lax. This, as one English news paper the other day declared, is the case on American warships generally. This sort of thing has occurred on pre- vious occasions on American war ves- sels.
 The Secretary said he had not called attention to other features of Captain Sobral's alleged interview, in which he referred to the possibilities of war, and to the information he had gained while attache of the Spanish legation. As a whole, MT. Long did not treat the Sobral matter as profoundly serious.
 Assistant Secretary Day received no dispatches from Havana during the early part of the day. He would not stood, however, the State Department does not attach deep significance to the reported remarks of Sobral, owing to his minor position. At the same time it Is felt that he should not be making such remarks as are attributed to him. AS Secretary Long has called official attention to them the department would, doubtless, take steps to learn whether the interview was accurate by making a request on the Spanish lega- ton. It can be stated positively, how ever, that reports that the State De- partment made such request of the Spanish legation yesterday are incor- rect Nothing has been done thus far and an unexpected development of to- day so changes the aspect of the SObral case that the State Department may not feet that it is necessary to proceed further
 This development was that Captain SobraPs services as naval attache at Washington were officially terminated by Spain about four weeks ago. 1t came from Senator Dubosie, Charge d d'Affaires of the Spanish Legation who, when his attention was called to the Sobral case, gave to the Associated Press the following authorized state ment:
 'As regards this reported interview l know nothing about it beyond what have seen in the papers. I should i'm agine MT. Sobral far too prudent to say anything calculated to offend brothers in arms. At the same time, I should state that on the 24th of January last Captain Sobral ceased to be a member of this legation. according to royal de- crees, which gazetted as his successor Lieutenant Ramon Carrazay Guerrae' '
 Owing to the royal decree relieving Captain Sobral, it is said he now occupies the position merely of a pri- vate citizen. He is at present in New York, meeting his old naval friends on the Vizcaya, but his official status as Spain's naval attache to the legation Is said to have terminated when the decree was gazetted last month. It is usual to notify the department of such condition, but owing to the exciting events of the past few days this no- tification of the Spanish was not con- veyed to the authorities here at the time 1t occurred.
 Mr. Dubosie received no advices of importance from Havana to-day He expressed satisfaction at the plans by which the divers were operating, and said there was no Justification for talk about friction. Perfect harmony ex- isted he said, and on both sides. so fa1 as he could see, there was every dispo- sition to give the amplest facilities for investigation.