The San Francisco call., 1898-06-28
NOW READY TO SURRENDER
PREFER YIELDING TO DYING
 FROM HUNGER.
Police Force of the Cuban Capital on the Verge of Revolt and Are Watched by the Reg
 ulars.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

KEY WEST, Fla, June 27.-The most authentic and reliable news yet ob- tained of the true condition of affairs in Havana was to-day furnished in a report to the Associated Press by a British subject who left Havana on the British cruiser Talbot, and who ar rived here yesterday. He says a reign of terror exists at the Cuban capital. Captain General Blanco has issued a proclamation, announcing that any one daring to express an unfavorable opin- ion of or suspected of being dissatis- fled with the present policy of the Government will be summarily shot without trial or investigation. This proclamation, it appears, caused dissat- isfaction among the members of the orden publico, or police force. who threatened to revolt If full rations were not given them. It is expected that as the orden publico is a numerous body trouble will result It's members are themselves pohced while patrolnng the streets, Spanish infantry and ar tillery soldiers maintaining guard over them at every corner
 Famine, it seems, is imminent and the stories of the arrival of supplies at Havana, via Batabano, are pronounced to be untrue. The informant of the Associated Press thinks Havana can not possibly hold out six weeks longer. The city is said to be panic-stricken, it's inhabitants expecting every moment to be bombarded by the American fleet, as they realize that Captain General Blanco's attitude releases the United States from the obligation of giving the customary bombardment notice.
 Riots are daily expected at Havana, as the troops are suffering from hun ger and the volunteers see their wives and children dying of want. Un- der such conditions the captain general cannot much longer keep the military forces in check, and a rebellion is like ly to devastate Havana before the city is captured by the Americans.
 Captain General Blanco admits that the situation is desperate. He recog- nizes, 1t is pointed out, his inability to control his troops, gOaded by hunger, much longer, and he is reported to have said that he will never leave Havana alive as he is prepared to take his own life when the outbreak occurs.
 Senor Galban Rio, prominent Spap- ish merchant the refugee continues in his statement, had 5000 bags of flour hidden at Gueniados, a suburb of Ha- vana, and was retailing it to the public. General Arolas, the military Governor of Havana, was informed that Senor Galban's trucks had traces of fresh flour upon them, and he caused the ve- hicles to be followed. The store being thus disclosed, it was seized and dis tributed among the ravenouS soldiers.
 Referring to the strength of the Span ish forces, the BritOn says there are 120,000 men under arms at Havana, and that the greater number of them are ready to surrender rather than die of hunger. In conclusion, the gentle man says he credits the reports that the gunners at Morro Castle and at other Spanish batteries were taken from foreign warships and he says the Consuls including MT Collin, the Brit ish representative. are strong Spanish sympathizers. British Vice Consul Arastegoi, he continues, is a Spaniard by birth, and a reporter for La Lucha, the mouthpiece of the government. MT. Collin, the British Consul General, he further remarks, gave a dinner on the Queens birthday, at which all the guests were Spaniards, and three Brit ish subjects, prominent socially and financially In Havana, were, 1t is al- legged, relegated by MT. Collins orders to the forecastle of the Talbot when she left Havana because they were Cuban sympathizers. It is said that as a re- suit of the energetic protests of the Englishmen to the British Foreign Of flee and to the Governor of Jamaica, the Talbot will shortly return to Ha- yana with Mir Collins successor