The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-03-18
NEW NAVAL
SQUADRON
It Has Been Ordered to Assemble at
Hampton Roads.
THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON
viii Furnish Several Of the Vessels For the
New Rendezvous SPANS Evident In
tention to Disclaim All Response
bility For the Maine Horror.

yesterday in official circles was the i--
sue of an order for the formation of "a
new squadron of naval vessels to Doe
stationed at Hampton Roads. Tn,
squadron in the beginning will consist
of five ships, all the best of their types.
Two of them, the battleships MasHa-
chusetts and Texas, are Withdrawn
from the present north Atlantic fleet
at Key West and Tortugas. 1t would
be a grave mistake to suppose that, i'm
ordering this movement, the navy de
partment is animated by any purpose
of yielding to the representations or in
timations that may have come from
the Spanish minister as to the mischief
caused by the gathering Of so large
naval force as Admiral Sicard's fleet
in the vicinity of Cuba. on the con-
trary, the formation of the new squad
ron was brought about by purely
strategic considerations, although il
appears from the nature of the force
so far under orders to rendezvous at
Hampton Roads that this strategy is
of the defensive nature.
The new squadron cannot be called
a flying squadron" because the as
sociation of heavy battleships with
fleet cruisers like the Brooklyn, Co
lumbia and Minneapolis reduces the
available speed of the whole to the
speed of the slowest vessel, and the
squadron could not do much dying
in the naval sense. The indications
rather are that when reinforced by
smaller cruisers the squadron will con-
stitute an ideal naval defense.
Although the other ships to be added
to the squadron have not yet been def
nitely selected, it is surmised that
they viii include some Of the other
battleships at Key West and the ar
mored cruiser New York, in which case
Admiral Sicard, it is believed, will com
mand the new force. In place of the
cruiser New York the people of Key
West will look upon the grim outlines
of the big monitor Puritan, supposedly
the most powerful ship in smooth
water in the world. She will have to
assist her on guard the double turret-
ted monitor Miantonomah and the
monitor Amphitrite. The Puritan is
now at Norfolk, almost ready for sea
the Miantonomah is at League Island
quite ready, and so is the Amphitrite
at Port Royal, S. c. So the order will
in the end result in the gathering OF
the pick of the north Atlantic squad
ron at Hampton Roads.
It is announced that the commander
of the new squadron has not yet beer
selected, and pending that selection OF
the arrival in port Of Admiral SicarC
! 1t is expected that Captain Higginson
! the commander of the battleshiI
! Massachusetts, and the senior officer
will hold the command of the squad
ron. Remaining at Key West after the
! departure of the Massachusetts anC
the Texas, Admiral Sicard will still
have a fleet of his own in numbers
when the spectacle will be presented
of a fleet and a squadron on one sta
tion, something not seen since the civi
war.
The semi-ofIicial statement given on
at Madrid advancing the governmen
view that a demand for indemnit,
based on Spanish responsibility for tn
Maine explosion would be indignant,
repealed by Spain attracted much in
terest in official circles. There has beeI
little doubt for some time that Spail
was preparing for the contingency o
an adverse report by the American
court of inquiry, and to that end wa
preparing to anticipate and offset
by making clear the government pol
icy of standing by the report of tn
Spanish commission. The report of tn
latter body will find that the Maine dis
aster was due to accident resulting
internal explosion. This was foreshaG
owed in the advance utteranCes of Car
tain Peral, head of the Spanish con
mission, who stated publicly sever
days ago that the theory of extern
explosion was untenable.
Along with the semi-ohicial stat
t ment from Madrid that a demand f,
indemnity win be Indignantly repelle
is the further statement from reliab
sources that Spain has made it clear
the authorities here that interVentiC
may lead to war. The prospects
, such Intervention appear to be ser
Ously entertained by Spain, and stror
efforts have been made to avert it /
5 showing that the condition Of the T,
7 concentrates did not warrant the ste
and also that it would threaten to en-
all prospects of further pacific neg'
tiations.
Nearly every town in the countr
i large enough in its own estimation
Justify such a claim has appealed
Secretary Long to christen one Of II
newly acquired Brazilian cruisers i'm {
!, honor. Senator Platt called upon Sc
!, retary Long a little before noon to url
:, that the boat be called Albany, addiI
% in support of the application that A
,s bany was the natal place of CAPITA
=, SigSbee