The Columbus journal., 1898-05-18
SHORT OF AMMUNITION.
General Blauco Needs Powder
and Shot at Havana.
LONG ESTABLISHES CENSORSHIP,

Navy Dspartmsnt BullssIn Beard-Do.s
Profit BY Newspaper Tips.
WASHINGTON. May l7.-An order
posted yesterday morning and signed
by Secretary Long relative to the pub
lication of news emanating from the
navy department. had the effect Of con.
siderably curtailing the supply Of infor-
nation that heretofore has been rather
freely given ont. The secretary's order
was directed to Captain Crowinshield.
chief Of the navigation bureau, and he
In turn gave it ont by making an order
in his own name that NO person con.
nected with his bureau in any capacity
should have any conversation whatever
upon subjects in any way pertaining
to the navy. with the representatives
Of the press. As an Offset 1t was Or
dered that bulletins of such facts a.
have actually occurred and are proper
for publication and are not connected
with existing or projected movements
shall be prepared and posted ON the
bulletin board. The sum total OF the
information published by the bulletin
board yesterday under this rule was .
notice of the intention to start the Phil.
ippine relief expedition and Of the par
mission given to some foreign neutral
vessels to pass the blockade at Hayanes
Forced to Revise Plsns. .
In exclamation of the issue OF this
order the naval authorities say that
some of the leading American news.
papers have been SO far lacking IN
patriotism as to print plans OF cam.
paign and projected movements OF
naval ships with the result that the war
board has been obliged to completely
revise its plans. in the knowledge that
the Spanish had promptly taken notice
of the publications and were prepared
to profit by them. Complaint was
made to Secretary Long that the news
papers were working injury to the gov
ernment in such cases.
It is not the purpose OF the secretary
to prevent the press having any infor-
nation that is not calculated to cause
q miscarriage of the plans Of the de-
partment, bnt it remains to be seen
whether the naval officers to whom the
order has been directed will not by
their ironclad Interpretation of it bring
about q modification in the interest OF
iberality.
The opening of the blockade at Ha-
yana to certain vessels is rather cur
ious proceeding that may lead to very
considerable widening Of the blockade
itself, SO that in the end the neutral
vessels not loaded with contraband or
supplies, the carrying of which into
Havana would interfere with the naval
and military operations. laid down by
the United States.
The statement that the navy depart.
ment still hopes to make an exchange
of prisoners at an early day shows that
the mission of the Uncas was by no
means q complete failure as has been
stated.
| Six month"; R7ti0ns.
The troops going to Manila are to be
prepared for q six months stay accord.
| ing to the number of rations furnished,
2, ,2GO, 600, and preparations for their
departure are being pressed with the
| greatest energy. The Charleston should
have sailed yesterday from San Fran.
| cisco.
| The marines who have been lying in
! Kew West harbOr ON board the Panther
sweltering under q semi-tropical sun,
are to be transferred to a more comfort
able vessel, the ResOlute, which will
easily accommodate the 500 men aboard
Intimations have been received here
that Captain General Blanco at Ha'
yana is very short of ammunition, in
which case the powerful batteries at
the entrance of Havana harbor o1
course would be deprived of large
part of their defensive strength. Thii
state of affairs NAV lead to some des
perate attempts at blockade running OF
the mart of the Spaniards in the hopes
of getting more ammunition into Ha
yana. It is believed that the supple!
90 frequently referred to as being OF
the Spanish flying squadron were o1
this character, rather than food sup
plies, which makes it all the more I'm
portant that Sampson and Schley
should succeed in keeping Admiral
Cervera from reaching Havana or Glen
fuegos or any port in Cuba connected
with Havana by rail.
Good Quality Of Armor.
The navy department is getting bet
ter and better quality Of armor as tn
contracts expire. A l3-inch plate testet
at Indian Head Saturday with q III
inch gun showed itself to be equal o
superior to any piece Of armor that ha'
ever been made, with the highest veioc
ity at 1886 feet per second, the sho
penetrating only IL inches withou
cracking the plate. 1t was the very
last piece to be delivered under the ex
isting contract and is intended for tn
Kentucky.
The war department rushed ahea'
its preparations for the mobilization
and thorough equipment Of the volun
teer army and the progress which /
being made is most gratifying. Th
important development of the day wa
the definite selection of the corps com
manders. The announcement, how
ever, does not contain any surprises
Though Major General Merritt is &C
credited to the department of tho Pa
cific, such destination is made formally
but is known that he wa 60 to th
Philippines in command ol the arm
there and will be acco,a9anied b
Major General Otis. The designation
of General Fitzhugh Lee a. esmmande
Of the seventh corps with kssdquartel
at Tampa. would seem to tAaAicate tha
he is to accompany the arm Of invas
ion to Cuba.
TRIeUTE TO ENSIGN BAoLeY.