Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1898-07-08
avy department. SO far as was disclosed.
J TO what dele: l.lir a lion had been reached

navy department, SO far as was disclosed
| as 10 what dete: niiration had been reached
at The conference. 1T the same time Ii Is
| the clear Expectation os the authorities here
| that the conference VIII resillt in de-
termination by the admiral TO take his
| fleet through the narrow neck CT the haP.
| Dor. make his way past the shore batteries
and Notifications. ard take position before
| the city for a bombardE:ent. There Is rea-
| son to believe that the instructions sent
] to Admiral Sampson at least conveyed the
aeaire, 4 not the Instructions, that he
| enter the harbea. But II !; said that the
| admiral and theigenerai continue to be the
| supreme officials in authority, and that, be-
| ing on the scene. fully alive to all the con-
| ditions. their Judgment will be taken az
\ Hnai In the course to be adopted. IS
4 Can Enter the Harbor.
There is said to be no obstacle so far as
! navigation is concerned, to the entrance OF
The larhor by the American fleet The
| lcrtstobal Colon. which cleared the Merri-
mac and got out of the harbor Sunday,
inches Of the draft of the battleships Iowa,
Indiana, Embellishments and Oregon, and is
greater than the draft IS tie battleshir
Texas Moreover, the navy department
| has known for the last ten days that the
neck of the channel was open, despite the
| sinking 9f tAe AIerrimac. and that there
| was a clear sea way ri seysn fath9ms
| through which any ship in opr navy GOULD
sail. This removes ali difficulty, except
from submarine mines, or from the shore
| batteries
! Al to the mines. little account is taken
of them since the Spanish fleet passed over
them. The Spani1.sds are In the habit of
| using contact mines, SO that snere Is litfle
likelihood of there being mines operated "
ELECTRIC cpnneetion with the shore
A Terrific Fire eossiBls.
The forts and batteries have been badly
weakened by the constant fire of the fleet
for many weeks past. and while still a
factor, they are greatly disabled. Once
up to the city. the fleet and army could
combine in terrific double fire. No less
sthan 292 heavy guns would be trained from
the American ships on the city, and at the
same time the big siege guns. which 1t is
expected have been brought to the front
of Skaters line, would rain down tor
rent of steel from that quarter. The siege
guns throw shells OF 1875 pounds. Aside
from them there are four Morton howitzers
and large number of smaller howitzers.
These are in the heavy artillery. while the
light artillery embraces a great number
of guns of 3.2 caliber Combined, this fire
from land and sea would be terrific in its
effect.
Further Reason for Delay.
The action of the foreign representatives
| at Santiago has been an additional reason
for deferring the bombardment. 1t was
made known late Tuesday that one of Gen.
Skaters dispatches stated that these rem
resentatives had joined in a request to him
TO put off the Smelling of the city for an
other brief period, until their respective
colonies could be removed. This accounts
for the departure of the foreign warships
from Santiago harbor, as they are bearing
away the foreign residents in the period
before bombardment begins. The activity
Of the consuls at Santiago has led to no
diplomatic complication which has rea che d
the state department thus far, and the
authorities here feel that nothing of that
nature will develop.
Pnndo at Santiago.
The war department has been Informed
OF the arrival OF Gen Pando at Santiago
With reenforcements for the enemy The
very great advantage of being intrenched
adds materially to their strength and, In
the opinion of military men, makes their
effective fighting force from third to a
half greater than our own. Gen. Skater,
IN his dispatches, states that the excessive
heat and rains of the last two weeks have
contributed nearly as much as the Spanish
bullets to the ineffectiveness of our army
Under these circumstances it is his opin-
ion that 1t would be unwise to attempt to
carry the city by assault. This view Ia
shared by the officials here and also, 1t
is understood, by Admiral Sampson, in
command OF the fleet.
Disposition of Cervera.
The disposition Of Admiral Ceryera and
the 1900 prisoners is receiving the atten.
ton Of naval officials, but no exact de.
termination has yet been reached. Ad-
miral ceryera will be treated with consid-
Grafton due his rank, and the department
officials expressed sense OF qualification
that Lieut. Commander Wainwright had
shown the galantry characteristic of the
American navy, when he received the des
feated Spanish admiral OH board the lit.
lie cruiser Gloucester and rendered him
the pse Of his cabin.