Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-05-20
GREATLY HAMPERED
lots in Our Military s,r,
IS Service,
NOT. PREpAHsg FOR WAR
-. j1SSyfSEH9
In Spite of Earnest Efforts No Positive
/. Start Has Yet Been Made Toward
y sGoal nxrahe Army or Ill.,.
Occupation.
(By Teler1.aphl

-
(By Telegraph.l
WASHINGTON, May 1s.-With every
disposition on the part of the executive
to make the war short, sharp and deci-
slve, 1t is beginning to be realized that
the shortcomings of our military serv-
Ice are SO many that delays are iney-
table and that much work will be nee
eSsary to put the nation III efficient
lighting shape. Every day brings forth
some weak spot that has to be
strengthened OF some hidden defect,
such as the discovery at this late mo-
ment that every regular army officer
who accepted volunteer appointment
would forfeit.hs commission in the reg
ulars and SO become liable to be LETT
out of the service entirely at the end
OF the war. Few officers cared to risk
their future i'll that way, so rush was
made toward Congress to secure the
| necessary corrective legislation
Again it has been found that the
equipment of the army. small as 1t is
in comparison with the great army Of
the rebellion is sadly lacking. Nearly
month after the formal declaration Of
war the War Department today pur-
| chased number of shelter tents and
1t has just secured the hammocks that
experts say are essential to existence
| IN cuba. These preparations involve
delay. SO that it is not remarkable that
| in spite of the Herculean efforts Of the
| officers of the army no positive start
has yet been made toward Its goal by
/ the army CT occupation. Probably 1t Is
| this fact, rather than any unreadiness
I on the part of the navy, that causes the
campaign to drag in it's inception, for
the Navy Department has announced
that it stood ready at any moment to
furnish conveys for the troop trans
ports, provided they We're started from
natnt.
WIS Slis Dt g. sc,'u..he army of 200 coo men
To maintain will cost S3o,OO0.00o, ac-
for six months staseaEsPared by by Pay ay
cording to estimates =. 3H1 the lead
master General Station. a, ,sSar that
ing officials are beginning to " Ia this
hostilities may run along beyoris W
period. The reason is the growing coerc
viction on the part of some of the off,
GERS that they must not reckon any
substantial assistance from the Cuban
rebels in this campaign and moreover
must meet the Spaniards in Cuba in
their strongest sphere, that of the de-
fensive. @
Naval authorities are relieved of q
good deal of embarrassment by the
consent of the French authorities at
MartinigE-s.tn aii-s;;.s the scouting vessel
her repairs are compleIeu It WIS snthjl-
posed at first that she would be allows
ed only seven days stay, and at the end
of that time would be forced out to risk
attack at the hands of some ambushed
Spanish cruiser or torpedo boat.
Work on the three monitors, Maho-
pac CanoIicus and Manhattan at
League Island has advanced SO far that
the department expects to have them
in service within a week or two. They
have been supplied with tubular boil
ers in place of the ruSted out boilers
they have carried since the war These
monitors will be q valuable addition to
the coast defense ships.
The absence of official news of any
character from the fleets at the Navy
Department today gave the widest
field for speculation and all sorts Of sto-
,ies We're afloat as to the whereabouts
Of the vessels and the i1nminence of an
engagement.
The report that came from Madrid OF
the bombardment Of Santiago received
some credence. inasmuch as it seemed
to show that General Greeley. the chief
signal officer, has not set in motion the
machinery OF the navy to carry out his
declared purpose of cutting the cables
that afford the last connection between
Havana and the outside Worlu ana tHuS
isolate Blanco.
1t is not believed that the lombard
ment amounted to anything more than
this.
Judge Advocate General Lamley to-
day completed the circular defining the
chief characteristic Of the sixteen tor
peCo boat destroyers and twelve tor
pedo boats. provided for by Congress
in the present naval appropriation bill.
The destroyers are to be Oh a larger
type than any vessels of that kind we
now have in the service. about 400 tons,
but the torpedo boats will be about
the size of the average torpedo boat
now in use, namely, about $50 tons.
Bidders are left the widest liberty in
the matter OF original designs. but no
bid will be considered which fails to
guarantee a speed of not less than 2S
knots for destroyers and 26 knots for
torpedo boats. Not more than eighteen
and twelve months respectively will be
allowed to complete these boats, and
shortness of time of construction will
be an important element in determin-
ing awards. The long expected appoint
ments of officers to the staff of the
fourteen new major generals have bee1i
made SO that the way is now clear for
the entry upon active duty of the OFF,
GERS who have been obliged for several
weeks to remain in Washington.