The record-union., 1898-04-15

oughly acquainted with explosives of
all sorts, and who knew all about it.
1t was very. well done
Senator Foraker-A man who had
expert knowledge necessarily?
General Lee-Yes, sir.
Senator Clark-And who must have
knowledge bf the torpedo location?
General Lee-Yes; ! have never been
certain that the submarine explosion
was placed there prior to the entrance
OF the Maine into the harbor. 1t might
have been done afterwards. The Maine
was anchored to a buoy by some little
chain The vessel swinging around
that way sometimes gets at various
places all around the circle. When
she would swing off that way with the
bow next to the buoy, and with boats
plying about the harbor all the time
anybody could go pretty we'll in front
OF her on dark night and drop one
of these submarine mines of 500
pounds. That might have been done
after the Maine got in there, and not
been discovered. One or two men row.
ing quietly in a boat could drop it off
the stern on a dark night, even if Cap
tain Sigsbee had his patrols out. The
| boat would not be noticed, because
boats go there always to a late hour
of the night The harbor is full of these
little boats. A mine weighs about oOO
pounds, and I suppose it would take
two or three men-one man to row and
probably three or four to handle the
mine
/ In reply to a question from Senator
Gray, General Lee said that the Span
4 ish population is not especially hostile
towards the United States. The Span
ish people are principally the merchants,
shopkeepers, and all this agitation Is
affecting very much their business.
I A great many of them, whilst they
give expression to great loyalty. are
really annexationists, because they
think it is the only way out of the trou-
BILE and they would prefer annexation to
the United States to a Cuban republic
J AS to the Cuban part of the population,
they are generally all for free Cuba
The condition of reconcentradOs out in
the country is just as bad as in General
Weyler's day. 1t has been fed by sup
plies from the United States, but that
has ceased now.
General Blanco published a proclama-
ton resembling Weyler's bando, as they
call it there, but it has had no practical
effect, for in the first place, these people
have no place to go; houses have been
burned down; there is nothing but the
bare land there, and it takes them two
months before they can raise the first
crop. In the next place, they are afraid
to go out from the lines of the town, as
the bands of Spanish guerrilas, as they
are called, would kill them. So they
stick right in at the edges of town, with
nothing to eat except what they can
get from charity. The Spanish have
nothing to give.
! Senator Lodge asked: What does
! this cessation of hostilities invoked in
the last few days amount to-"
| General Lee responded: Nothing,
practically nothing The armistice
amounts to nothing" ~
! In response to an inquiry from Se11a+
| tor Frye as to his reasons for saying
that the insurgents would pay no at
Itention to the armistice, General Lee
said: Because every attempt so far to
make terms or to make peace or to buy
the insurgents or their leaders has met
with signal failure, and whatever may
be said about old General Gomez, he is.
in my humble opinion, fighting that
war in the only way it can be done
scattering his troops out~because to
concentrate would be to starve, having
no commissary train and no way to
get supplies. They come in sometimes
for the purpose of making some little
raid where he thinks it will do some