Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-07-21


empress of India from Hong Kong,
the chief news Of the moment Is that
Manila is ready to surrender. Not
that the archbishop and captain
general are going to voluntarily capit-
ulate before they are compelled TO do
so, but that the backbone Of resist
ance is unquestionably broken, and
upon a real show of force and inten-
tion TO lombard the town, II the Off
cials do not give in, the Spaniards
Will haul down the Spanish flag. In.
timations to this effect are received
from many sources.
The correspondent OF the Hong
Kong Press, writing under date Of
June %, says the chief subject Of dis
cusslou 10 Manila, in Cavite aud in
the American fleet is the meaning OF
the presence Of five German meu-of.
war and one transport or supply boat
in port. A leading Englishmau,
when interviewed on the subject,
unhesltatingly said that all the for
eigners in Manila, as well as the
Spaniards, regarded it as remarkable
demonstration.
~ am sure" he continued "tllat
the Spaniards haYe received great en-.
couragement from such a naval dis.
play. A Spaniard today told me that
the coming Of large German squad
ron was construed by him and leading
Spanish officials as direct act of
friendly interest, and to warn the
Yankees that they could not go too
far. Now, when a SpanIard of in.
fluence, as this man was, will talk like
that, l think 1t is high time to ask
what the Germans mean by ;appea' -
ing here in such force"
81 am familiar" the Englishman
continued, "with all the German in
terests In Manila, and my relations
with the Germans are very agreeable,
and am positive that one German
cruiser would be fully able to protect
them to every extent they required"
Further details Of the great fight Of
May filter through from high offic-
ials Of Manila as time passes. 1t now
appears, according to authentic in
formation, in the hands of Consul
Williams, that out of 49l men on the
Reina Christina 1854 were killed, and
that only l27 left the ship. An officer
who was aboard the ship says that
person could not step foot in any
direction on her decks without COM
ing IN contact with pieces of flesh or
dead bodies, such was the power Of
the American guns and the skill of
the American guEners.
Manila papers publish monstrous
stories about the Americans, and do
not hesitate to employ the most con-
temptuOus epithets, all of which a~e
whetting the appetltes of the Amer
leans to get even with them for un.
called for insults
More seizures of arms are reported
from Hong Kong. 1t is suspected
that the arms and ammunition were
to be shipped to the Philippine insur-
gents, The seizure consists Of half
a million rounds Of Mauser ammunl-
tion. POS breech-loading Mauser rifles,
and ll2 muzzle-loading Enfield rifles.
An Engllshman at Kobe wanted to
pass through the customs for ship
ment to New York 122 japanese
swords, II spears and suits of armor.
The customs authorities held con-
sultation as to whether the articles
were not contraband of war. Not
being able to satisfactorily decide the
question, they wired to the govern
ment in Toxic for instructions. None
had been received when the Empress
left, and the local paper sarcastically
remarks that probably the japanese
government is perplexed as we'll as the
customs officers.