Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-05-11
THAT SPANISH FLEET.
Its Return to Cadix Will Hasten Ex-
pedittoEs to CaLa.

1t is hard to tell whether the naval Off
| Gals were relieved or disappointed by the
| news that the Spanish flying squadron
| had arrived at Cadz Spain The safety
| of the Oregon from attack is now COM
| pletely assured and the WAY is clear for
military operations in Cuba without run
ming the risk of having the occupying
armys line OF communication cut OFF ON
the other hand, ii is believed that no on
during peace can Ice secured antil the Span
lsh navy has been destroyed. and il now
appears that TO do this our sailors must
make up their minds to go after the Span
l2rdS, a task very much more difficult than
that of meeting them near our own shores
1t was suggested b. some of the mem
bers of the war board that there was Just
a possibility that the Spanish squadron
might MAKE a quick passage into the Pa
cific through the Sucz canal and attack
Dewey at Manila. 1t is said that contrary
to the common understanding. the Suez
canal is open to the warShips of beiliserent
powers, that if the Spanish choose 10
take this course they would have a long
start OF any pursuing fleet from our side
of the Atlantic. 1t is scarcely believed,
however that the Spanish are willing 10
take the great risk of exposing to our at
tack their own home ports by the with
drawal Of So considerable portion of their
naval strength as would be required to
overmatch pcwey.
One effect of the retreat of the Spanish
fleet has been to hasten even more the
preparations alread! unuer luli headWay
for the dispalching of military expeditions
TO Cuba. 1t also has caused a complete
change in the concentration plans. Time
is now believed to be the great factor.
There is no longer opportunity to indulge
in extensive drilling and practice maneu-
vering. The regular army troops do not
need these and are to be thrown at once
into the fray. Many of the regiments of
the National Guard which are entering the
volunteer service are felt to be sufficiently
trained from a military point of view TO
follow the regulars immediately, and the
department indicated its purpose today of
dispatching these volunteer troops directly
TO the gulf coast for shipment instead
of sending them to Chickamauga. This
disposition was shown blythe changes in
the new orders issued to the troops, al
though there yet may be return to the
original program OF concentration IL the
plans show signs Of weakness as they de-
Velop. The quartermaster general has al
ready gotten under charter twenty-scNen
merchant steamers for the transport OF
troops and. roughly speaking, these should
carry about 10000 men. Others are be-
ing procured as rapidly as possible. The
plan of the War Department is To have
these vessels assemble at the different
gulf ports. Tampa, Mobile. New Orleans
and Galveston, to take on troops which
will be sent there. The Navy Department
is expected to furnish conveys for these
transports, which would be absolutely
helpless against Spanish attack. At this
point there are signs of friction First
the transports will be obliged TO await Adj
miral Sampscn's return in order TO secure
proper convoy, and secondly, the navy OBJ
jects very decidedly 10 undertaking the
task of conveying number of transports
1t insists that to assure the safety of the
convoy of the troops all OF the transports
should be gathered in one feet to start
from Tampa. and the navy is likely to pre-
vail in this.