The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-03

Are americans III udnSef III ma
vana %
The only truthful answer given by
well-informed resident or American Of
fetal or layman is, I'VE think not we
don't know
OF course, Spanish officials who Will
talk on the subject deprecate any idea
of danger. but they are as much in the
dark as the rest. A well Informed Gu
ban of high social position, and on good
terms with the government, said to
the correspondent of the associated
press:
'Of course, in the low dives and sa-
looms there are constant boasts by ire
sponsible persons as to what they in
tend to do to Americans. but these peo-
pie are only dangerous i'm case riotous
demonstration come from other quar-
tiers, such. for instance. as the volun-
teers. In the 10 years war the volun-
teers shot many innocent people and
were controlled with difficulty: but il
seems probable that dissatisfaction is
against the autonomists, or against
General Blanco and his staff than
against the Americans, since the inn
preston is daily stronger that only a
short time will elapse ere Cuba will be
annexed or under the protection of the
United States
There are no signs of demonstrations
against the Americans and stories to
the contrary. thus far, are without
foundation. Still Havana is no place
just now for those who have no calls
of business or duty. This season is
Indictment and the variations of tenn
perature are sudden and violent, caus-
ing much sickness.
Press Censorship.
All idea Of censorship is SO foreign to
an American mind that an American
can scarcely appreciate the difficulty of
sending news from Havana. The Span
iards seem equally to misunderstood
why censorship is not exercised in the
United States. One experience viii
serve as an illustration of others of
daily occurrence. A correspondent pre-
pared an early bulletin for cabling, Civ
ing such routine facts as could be gath
cred before 8 o'clock in the morning in
city Where the official business of the
day begins at 10 or later. Sickness
happened to deprive him of his inter
prefer and he tried to get the dispatch
stamped" by the censor in the orig
inal English. The regular censor hap
pened To be i'll and Commandant More
ma was acting in his place. Norena,
who does not know word of English,
declined to give his approval until the
dispatch was shown him In Spanish.
The correspondent hunted some one up
whom he could trust and finally Sc
cured a Spanish version. Norena scru-
tinized it carefully. crossed out SEN
fences perfectly harmless but which APP
peared to him to contain a double mean
ing, and after emasculatng the dis
patch, stamped the Spanish version.
The correspondent took the English
and Spanish copies to the cable office.
where they were compared by operators
who are held responsible for their per-
feet agreement. The dispatch, finally
approved as butchered, was then sent
Time pnsIInpI hnlIrc and min
utes
Later in the day the same cores
pendent may lose two hours of valuable
time in waiting for the censor. who
happens to be at lunch, while at night
the censor may put in an appearance
half an hour before the cable office
closes.
Greater demonstrations of welcome
could not have been accorded the
Vizcaya had she been the most power
full battleship in the world. Her Off
GERS and crew will be the object of
social attentions. 1t has been prophesied
that her arrival would be a signal for
demonstrations against this. that or
the other party official but as usual
this was nothing but prediction. A few
shouted for Weyler. but not enough to
attract the slightest attention from the
police.
News from the insurgents is scarcer
here since the Maine explosion than
usual. No official declaration has been
received from Gen. Maxine Gomez as
to the Maine disaster. so far as is
known, but, of course, his followers re-
gard the affair as due to Spanish
treachery.
Hot Fighting.
The fight in Puerto Principe as re-
ported by cable was probably one of the
hottest since the opening of the trouble.
1t is thought when the facts are known
the reyerses win be Spanish rather than
Cuban. This is believed here among
the Spanish themselves. and the Official /
reports admit greater losses on the part I
of the government troops than in any
engagement of the war. The insurgents
could not have had 1000 men engaged /
as the Spanish official accounts repre- +
sent. Probably they had thousand or /
under.
The insurgents continue to burn cane |
fields and destroy plantations wherever |
the owners fail to pay taxes To Presi- I
dent Massos government. They loot I
cattle under the very walls of Matan- T
zas, Cienfugos and other cities.
To-day it is reported from apparent
ly reliable sources that Gen. Calixto F
Garcia is in Santa Clara province with 7
1000 men. Early on the morning of the t
18th two dynamite bombs exploded and F
4 hundred yards of track was destroy
ed. Senator Proctor does not seem in
the least nervous over his trips into the
interior. If he intends to see one or
more Of the prominent insurgents he
does not say SO. In this. as in all other
matters, he keeps his own counsel and
observes closely.