Evening star., 1898-06-07
The Trip From Key West to Santiago
de Cuba.
SCENES ALONG TEE SOUTHERN SHORE
Splendor of Sunset in the
Caribbean.
IN WIND WARD AGE
Copyright, 1881

orr SANTIAGO, Cuba, June /, 1898.
American troops may be camping before
long in the shadow of the blue-hazed noun
taiGs which first unfolded the panorama of
Cuba to Columbus. 1 do not know what
military or naval movements will have
taken place by the time this is printed. 1t
is enough that for while Havana is for
gotten and Santiago is on everybody's lips.
The train of events which brought the
sqUadrons of Admiral Sampson and Com
modore Schley into these waters as nat
ural sequence placed the fleet of newspa-
per dispatch boats in their wake. For
these the duties became more complicated.
1t is no longer an eight-hour run from the
fleet in front of Havana across the Flor
ida straits to Key West. Jamaican and
Haytien ports become the objective points
for sending cable news as well as for coal
ing and provisioning the boats. There is,
however, an occasional voyage back to
Key West as the base of operations.
From that outpost a choice may be had
of either the south or the north coast,
with little difference in the three days that
is usually required to reach Santiago. 1t
is day from Key West to Cape San An
tonic, at the extreme western point of the
island. When that is rounded the course
is taken eastward along the south coast
pretty we'll out to sea, past the Isle of
Pines, to avoid the reefs and keys. The
Slipit 10 lOO low ana nat 10 De interesting,
Back of Cienfuegos there is a hump
which the Cubans call a mountain, though
1t is hardly more than a big hill. Yet it is
enough to break the monotonous fiat coun-
try that lies hey ond and around. Cienfue-
gos harbor is so well hidden among the
keys that the shipping in it can be seen
only at close view. When he started in
quest OF the Spanish fleet Commodore
Schley thought he saw there the masts of
Admiral Cervera's ships. Definite word from
the insurgents on shore that this was not
so caused him TO proceed to Santiago with
better fortune The morning we were off
Cienfuegos no American warships were
pdtrolliEg. Through the glass l saw q
Spanish gunboat creeping along close to
the mouth of the harbor. Apparently it's
captain believed our boat was decoy. In
stead of coming out and giving chase he
was trying to avoid our sighting him.
Past Cienfuegos, it is a short course 10
Feep out to sea until Cape St. Cruz is seen.
Then it would be q loss of time to run up
the gulf to MarZanillo. which for three
years has been the base of Spanish military
operations against the insurgents Straight
ahead, parallel to the hills which soon be-
come a coast range Of mountains, lies the
course to Santiago.
If you should happen to be cruising in
these waters. it is well to drift along this
course toward evening and enjoy the
spiendors OF a tropical sunset off the
southeast coast of Cuba. / know some
persons not professional tourists or ar
down in all parts of the world. They are
practical men, not given to imagination or
sentiment who ere here because they can
write inteliSently about naval range.
twelve-inch guns, four-inch shells, six
Founders, secondary batteries and things
of that sort. Yet on certain evening not
long ago they forgot these technical mat
tiers, forgot also the keen lookout for Span
ish gunboats, and as their glances shifted
from the mountains to the western sky
and beck again they fell to quoting Moore
with reference to the dying hour of day
and sunbeam melting into the sea.
The Run East From Key West.
1t is worth rounding the western end Of
the island and following the south coast,
but the course from Key West through the
Bahamas eastward and around Cape Maysi
also has attrac tions, provided the edge of a
Vast India hurricane be not encountered.
/ took this trip when the conditions were a
little different from those that now prevail.
Then ii was guesswork that the Spanish
feet had bottled itself up in Santiago. The
common belief that Admiral Cervera
had spread out his squadron and was ma
neuvering to pick up stray American ves-
sells between the Windward channel and
the mainland. The chance of meeting a
Spanish ship Or falling in with some of Ad-
miral SIMPSONS scouting vessels was
thought to be equal. When the war is over
the experiences of the newspaper dispatch
beats will form an interesting chapter. At
present they are barely an incident. What
happens to one is likely to happen to all.
The boats which followed Sampson into
Porto Rican waters when San Juan was
bombarded had their adventures. When
the signs pointed to Santiago as probable
point of attack and before the combine
squadrons were lying off the city some of
the dispatch boats had their mshaps and
adventures.
Men on the Newspaper Boats.
1t is not mucn of a secret that some of
the craft utilized for this purpose may have
bsen used for filibustering. AS rule, they
do not have crews that are entirely igno-
rant of the sheltered landing places along
the Cuban coasts. While these crews had
contempt for the Spaniards, they feel that
real war with the enemys ships in sight
and sound is vastly different from fiIibus-
tering. In the present circumstances they
particularly dislike running in close to
shore They know the little Spanish gun
beats can run out and back with swiftness.
To them the Spanish ship is always "a
black one" Jimmie" Smith, who Is one
of the characters among the crews, gets
lots of sport by giving his companions false
alarms that "a black one" Is In sight. He