The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-06-14

can fleet just how many vessels az the
Spanish squadron were there.
On Friday afternoon. Lieutenant
Sharp. Of the Vixen. went u the place
of Rendezvous and received from the in
SurGeufs a may of the hartor. showing
the entire Cape Verde fleet. with he
exception If the destroyer Terror. inside
and close MP 10 the city under the pro
lection Of the guns mounted IN Blauco
battery NJ the northern extremity 81 the
harhor. The ships there. according 10
this chart. are the ChrI>tobaI Colon. The
Nlzcaya. the .Aimirantc Dqurndo. the
Maria Teresa and the Rcina Mercedes.
DESTROYED by the American var~hipS
since this dispatch wnS writtcui. ali
cruisers of thu tir>t-cla~> and heavily
armed. with three torpedo boats. The
dchnitcncS> Of this information naturally
gave Commodore Schicy great sati>fac
tion.
Although he had known that several
ships Of the enemy were there. IT, MAS
not certain that some others had not
succeeded in getting away ar had not
been sent in another direction.
With Admiral SIMPSONS arrival on
"Wednesday. the blockade was much
strengthened. and the plans 70 starry" ont
the city. its troops and the enemy : tIcct
were pushed vigorously. y cable boat
was sent 10 find and cut the cables com
municatin- from Santiago u Jamaica
and Hayti. cables which it had been Ill
legged had been cut by the auxiliary cruis
or ST. Louis.
The boat was put to work, hut NJ Is
today had not found the cable for which
She was searching. Guarded by the lat
tleships Massachusetts and Texas, She
worked on Friday morning within two
miles of formidable fortihcatlon> on
shore. and TRANCE to say. without any
attempt of the Spanish gunncrs 10 III
them. although in the morning tn" hi@
guns were fired at Commodore Schlcy's
flagship.
Just how long Santiago can stand the
seigc is Il matter Of conjecture. Three
weeks ago it was claimed ut Jamaica
that food III Santiago was very poor ana
that it was also very scant. The country
about the city is ~unproductive ami
mountainous. and the insurgcnt camps
are SO close that there is littlc or n
communication between the city aud its
environments.
1t is thought that only 4 short time
Will he needed to bring Santiago To 4
starvation basis. Naturally. the fleet
has n supply. perhaps for two months.
hut the Spanish Soldicry cannot he SuS-
tanned on this.
One important fact was learned today
from the insurgents on shore with whom
communication has been opened up.
L acre are not 10000 soldiers. rs has
been stated. in this part of the province
Of Santiago. but only about 5000 badly
fAl ,,,l p,,l1 1;.Jn, rtn,A1 II bn. Hon,
the intention to scnd the cruiser Marble
head and the cable steamer east to
Guantanamo to cut the cable ut that
point. word having been brought that the
Spanish fleet evidently was i'll commu-
nication with Spain. The ship left AT
midnight. but Il subsequent order de
layed the matter: in the meantime the
Spanish seemed to he profiting by the
delay. Active work is being prosecuted
on the carthworkS and now guns ar,
| being mounted. On Sunday morning the
fleet lay outside the harbor. II quiet. i'm.
Notwithstanding lot of innocents. ready tC
fight at Il moments notice. At half past
ten Il tug boat bearing Il flag of truce
was seen by the lookout on the Iowa Il
he Stcaming down the entrance. Grasp
ing the situation Immediately Captain
Bob Evans. commander of the battlcship
! oit III al Iobi ~ IlitiI ne TUX
at the same time instructing the office
III charge to 90 aS close as possible 10 til,
mouth of the harbor so aS to see whor,
the Mcrrimac was sunk. and if her hui
was successfully blockadin- the harhol
entrance. The boat succeeded in ccttin.
near enough to observe that the Spanish
tug had to 90 in shallow water AND
around the wreck before she could get
out.
When she emerged. the Spanish officer
on board. after an exchange Of compIi
mcnts said the Spaniards had secI
what they believed to be Il flag Of truce
on the Iowa and had come to answer
It. They were politely informed that
they had been deceived by the AWNING
on the lookout foretop. and that The
American fleet had no occasion to Scnd
up 4 flag of truce. The Spanish tuo
returned TO tho harhor