The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1898-06-25
IR00PSNe cuba.
The War and Navy Departments
Advised of the Fact by Shat
ter and Sampson.
The WARSHIPS' GUNS CLEARED THE WAY.
The First Landing Effected at BaiquirI
Meeting with OnI. Nominal Resistance,
the spaniards Being Kept Guessing
Where Landing Would be M~ade-CIear-
ing Guantanamo Bay of Mines.

WASHINGTON, June 23.-Oficial dis
patches received last night by both
Secretary Alger and Secretary Long
indicated that the landing of troops
near Santiago was progressing most
favorably. The first landing was eff
fected at Baiquiri yesterday morning
and met with comparatively slight re-
patch received last evening by Secre-
tary Alger, which, though brief, was
full of news and meaning. 1t follows:
PLAYA DEL ESTE, June p.
Secretary Of Tar, WlSliHJtoR, d C:
OFF BAIQUIRI, CUBA. June 22.-Landing at
Baiquiri this morning successful. Very little,
f any, resistance. SHAFTER-
Secretary Alger expressed himself as
delighted at the expedition with which
the landing of the troops was being eff
fected, and with the fact that no seri-
ous obstacle IA being offered by the
enemy. He construed the text of Gen.
Skaters message to mean hat the
enemy had made merely a nominal and
ineffective resistance by firing from
The hills at long range.
Shortly after Secretary Alger re-
ceived his dispatch Secretary Long re-
ceived a more extended cablegram
from Admiral Sampson. 1t, too, was
dated at PLAYA del Esta, at $50 last
evening. The text of the dispatch
translated from the navy department
cipher, is as follows:
Landing Of the army is progressing favorably
At R1iouiri Thara H. rn-r IittIa 10 ms "a
~sistance. The New Orleans, Detroit, Castine.
Wasp and Suwanee shelled the vicinity before
The landing. We made Il demonstration at Ca
oanaS to engage the attention OF the enemy.
The Texas engaged the west battery for some
hours. She had one man killed. Ten subma-
.ine mines have been recovered from the chan
mel OF Guantanamo. Communication by tele-
graph has been established at Guantanamo.
SAMPSON.
In both army and navy circles the
information contained in the dispatches
Of Gen. Shafter and Admiral Sampson
was received with intense satisfaction.
The landing of so large a body of
troops as Gen. Shafter at present has
under his command is a task of i'm
mense proportions. A prominent Off
cial of the war department said last
night that the complete debarkation of
the troops, animals, field guns and sup.
plies within a week after their arrival
off the Cuban coast would be a task
well accomplished. 1t is probable, in
the opinion of the officer referred to,
that only a partial landing of the
troops was effected yesterday and hat
the landing will be continued from day
to day until completed. 1t is not IN
likely, too, that the troops will be
landed at several places along the
coast, of course, within a short distance
Of the headquarters which Gen. Shafter
will establish for himself.
Admiral SIMPSONS dispatch indi-
Gated that he was carrying out his iu-
structions thoroughly to clear a way
for the landing of troops. The demon
stration which he made with the Texas
before Cabanas, which is just east of
Guantanamo, may easily have led the
Spaniards to suppose that a general
landing was to be attempted in that
immediate vicinity.
1t was evident from the text of
Admiral SIMPSONS dispatch that a
considerable landing had already been
effected neal Guantanamo. as he noted
that communication by telegraph had
Oeen re-eStablished at this point
and that the channel had been
cleared of submarine mines. In
the opinion of naval Off
,ers the landing at Qua ntanamo
was of marines rather than of land
forces. The cable station, through
which the American commanders will
communicate with the department in
this city, has been established as shown
by the dates of the dispatches received
last evening at Playa del Este, a
small town directly on the coas and
about Is miles east of Santiago. The
change was made from Camp McCalla
20 Playa del Este, in order that the
station might be nearer the scene of
action