The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-07-14
RAINS STEADILY.


been known to be the weakest portion of
their line. During the weeks truce they
have strengthened it, but their entrench-
ments at this point have beeng construct
Cd raggedly and wi hout definite
plan. General Lavton anticipates little
difficulty in driving the Spaniards from
thelr position. Under the present plans,
the American army and navy will begin
the attack at the same time. Tho feet
Will hurl shells into the city, while the
great coil of American soldiery will grad
ually tighten about the Spanish positions,
me DIVISIONS advancing from all along
the line. sm-As the semi-circle narrows the
batteries In the rear will maintain Il
heavy fire.
The American officers feel confident the
city can Withstand. this terrible assault
but short time.
Illness battery yesterday did some
frlng on the bull ring at the northern
end of the city and also on the trenches.
The shTapnel seemed to have little effect
ON the Spanish in the trenches and ap-
parently did very little damage. General
Miles went to the front today and will
probably remain there the greater part of
tomorrow. He went ashore early this
morning and telephoned to General
Shafter. The latter advised him not to
start out until later, as the roads were in
a frlghtful condition from the rains and
badly blocked by supply trains. The
General waited until noon and then set
out, accompanied by troop A, of the
second cavalry the only n ounted troops
OF General Skaters army. 1t was rain
Ing heavily when the start was made.
The General was attired in long black
macintosh and wore rubber riding boots
and black SLOUGH hat ornamsnted with
narrow strand of gilt cord.
Owing to the deep mud it was almost
dark when he reached the front. General
Miles was much interested in the war
maps and information regarding the
trails and the chances of gsttingtartillery
TO Gne front. His journey was very try
ing one owing to the rain and mud, the
latter IN many places being up to the
horses knees. The last two days have
been tho worst of the campaign, SO far as
me weather is concerned. Fierce tropical
thunder storms have been frequent, with
an almost continuous downpour of rain.
The rifle pits and trenches at the front
have been flooded and last night few men
IN the besieging army were able to sleep
owing to the amount of water on the
ground. The already heavy hardships
endured, have been greatly increased and
much illness is likely to result as no ade-
quate shelter is possible.
The trail to the front is in frightful
shape The streams and fords are swollen
and soft soil is cut into an almost i'm
passabe condition by the wheels of the
supply wagons. One of General Ran.
dolph's light batteries occupied a whole
Gay. in getting to the front.
The rain is coming down in torrents to-
night and thunder storm is raging
along the coast II the storm continues
1t is likely TO delay operations seriously.
troops from the auxiliary cruisers Yale
and 81: Paul have been landing in the
rain all day and have been going into
camp, wet and miserable. 1t has been
bitter experience for the raw troops, but
they will be pushed right on to the front
tomorrow. The beach tonight is dotted
with the spluttering camp fires of the
new arrivals. The men are clustering
about the feeble flames in dismal groups,
many of them without the slightest
shelter from the tropical downpour. The
feet lay inactive all day. The Brooklyn
occupied position about five miles west
of the harbor entrance and the remainder
of our Warships were strung along the
coast as far east as Juragua. At the
latter point the flagship New York lay
nearly all day.
Rear Admiral Sampson and General
Miles were frequently in communication
during the forenoon. General Miles went,
on board the New York at about nine
O'Clock and frequent exchange of notes
between the two commanders occurred
later. The nature of their conferences
could not be ascertained, but, it is sup
posed to have related to concerted at
tack upon Santiago.
Several of our ships, including the
Newark, with Commodore Watson on
board spent the day coaling at Guam
tanamo bay.