Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-05-21
AY Be At PORTO RICO
,hoble Present Location of the
Spanish Fleet.
:, ,d That the Reserve Spanish Fleet
nm No Sent TO Join It--NO Tidings
From the American Ships

rrom the American ships.
.smNGroN, May l1-The govern
received a cablegram today an
,c;nv the arrival of the Spanish
,dron at San Junn, Porto Rico. Be-
Erc in the correctness of the report,
naval war board is taking measures
,.bt ia hasten the formation OF the
or.clad fleet. This action is re-
he'd as especially necessary in view
h, official information which has
lbcd the author ties here that the
&leship Pelayo and armored cruiser
as Y. have sailed from Cadiz, not
the Philippines, but for the West
es, where they will reinforce Ad-
i Ccryera's command.
he effect of the junction of these
lcs will be to give Spain six armored
.of.war in Western waters, against
Rying the American flag.
bforc the arrival of the Pelayo and
os v. however, the battleship Ore
will be at Key West and attached
ear Admiral SIMPSONS command,
ch will give the American navy "a
bonderating force of one armor'clad'
|hilc having an eye to the future it
he immediate present that the naval
board is thinking of. Information
cd by Consul Smith, from Caracao'
ounccd that the Spanish fleet had
linalIy headed to the westward, bnt
kequcntly turned and headed east
d. San Juan is to the northeast OF
hcao, and naval experts say that il
natural thing for Ccrvcra to &c
irst steam to the westward, out oi
T., Of land, and to double on his track
fox, so as to deceive an enemy
might be watching his movements
Distance Is Easy.
he distance between Caracao ant
,Jnau is about i15 miles, and, steam
at speed of eleven or twelve
tS it would have been an easy mat
for the Spanish fleet to have GOV
the distance within forty hours
enemy 5 men-of-war were last scel
Caracao at 6 o'clock on Sunda,
ping.
he armored cruisers Nizcaya and In
Ia Marie Teresa, which were in tn
Dor, had received dispatches from
rid from the govcrnor-gcneraIs o
% Rico and Cuba, and no doubt cN
that these dispatches informed Ad
i Ccrvcra of the departure Of TIL
Frican fleet from San Juan, en- rout
hba. and of the disposition of th
frican vessels along the north Al
ic coast San Juan, therefore, wa
patural harbor for the Spanish mer
ar to make, especially AS the Port
IN authorities, without doubt, hav
iwed the Notifications Of the harbc
have replaced the guns knocke
n by the projcctilcs fred by TIL
of Admiral SIMPSONS fleet.
addition, the fact that the Madri
frnmcnt has seen fit to announ(
there are no men-of-war at Sa
is considered in the nature of
irmation of the information tn;
Spanish fleet has arrived at tn;
t,
is believed that the Spanish tle'
make its headquarters at San Jua
ng its future operations, or at lea
1t is enforced by the Pclayo al
os v, which are now on their w;
from Cadiz These two vessels,
Npectcd, will touch at the Canari
pill their coal bunkcrs. 1t is cs'
Fd that they should reach their dc
lion within two weeks.
Raises u Problem.
the meantime the problem co
ting the naval war board is how
roy the Spanish fleet before its l
rcemcnt arrives, while aifordil
|eetion to the cities along the Goa
maintaining the effective blocka
he cuban ports. In view of t
ll number of effective vessels at t
oSal of this government, the task
difficult, and the board thorough
feciates this fact.
lere will be junction tomorrow
lleetS under the command of Re
plral Sampson and Commod,
ey, so that by tomorrow night t
1--WE force which will be co
lded by the former officer will
e the battleships Iowa, Indial
sachusetts and Texas, and armoi
Sers New York and Brooklyn. 7
Will be coaled and fully ammu
"a, and on account of its compa
y Slow speed will have to be $
ga at a central point in order II
ny Isovidc the blockade and co
ample protection. The preside
impressed upon the naval auth'
The absolute necessity of mainta
'he blockade, for the reason q
IL is broken Thousand inter
ai questions will arise, which ,
e the United States a great dea
arrassmcnt.
This Comes From Madrid.
AURIn Nn,t- m - H.,