Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1898-06-25
IN DESPERATE STRAITS.
Rosidenta of CaImRnera Threaten to Fire
and Desert the Town-They are Starv.

Residents of CaImanera Threaten to Fire
and Desert the Town-They are starv.
Ing,
On Board the Dispatch Boat Dandy,
off Guantanamo, via Kingston, Ja-
maica, june 20.-Cuban scouts report
thatth inhabitants of Caimanera have
strewn streets with straw and oil,
with the intention of destroying the
city and fleeing to the hills.
Caimanera lies four miles up the
bay from Camp McCalla, under the
guns of the American ships, and the
situation is desperate. Starving and
famine-stricken, convinced of the ul-
innate triumph of the American arms
and without faith in the protection of
the Spanish soldiery, the people have
determined to leave their houses in
ashes behind them and seek safety in
the mountains of the north. The
scouts declare that the story is accu-
rate and say that every building of
the town is being rapidly prepared for
the torch.
The situation of the besieged is a
fearful one. The people are eating
horses and mules and are securing the
hills for fruits and herbs. Occasional
ly brief bombardments by the Ameri-
can fleet leave the helpless citizens
terror-stricken, no preparations for de-
fense being made.
1t is also stated that the Spanish
gunboat at Caimanera has been loaded
with inflammables and will be burned
with the city, her commander declar-
ing that she will never become an
American prize.
The scouts also say that the Spanish
soldiers are in almost as complete a
state of panic as are the civilians, and
that they could easily be induced to
surrender. Some of the prisoners
taken by the marines also say they
believe the Spanish troops are on the
verge of surrender, owing to the lack
of food. Captain McCalla, of the
cruiser Marblehead, and Lieut.. Col
Huntington, in command of the ma
rines, are not so sure, however, of the
reported Spanish rout. They received
information on Friday that general
attacked bya force of $500 Spanish SOL
diers and guerillas on Camp McCalla
is contemplated soon.
The coast in the vicinity of Guam
tanamo is dotted with the Cuban flag.
Numerous camps of the insurgents
which have been established along the
beach between Santiago and this place
are used by the admiral as means of
communication with the Cubans in the
interior. The aid which these men
have given has proved highly valuable
to the Americans. Their stories of the
destitution and revolt among the
Spanish soldiery in this vicinity have
been corroborated by interviews with
prisoners captured around the camp.
Another body of five Spaniards was
captured Friday by Ensign Pratt, of
the Marblehead. While cruising in a
steam launch outside the bay he
picked up 50-foot sloop containing a
Spanish captain and four sailors.
They said they were on their way to
Guantanamo to get supply of oil for
the lighthouse at Cape Maysi, but pa
pers found on sloop proved that they
had been sent to obtain information
relative to the American forces. The
crew of the sloop asserted that they
had been i'll fed and frightfully i'll
treated by the Spanish commander at
Cape Maysi.
There was brief bombardment of
blocllhouse up the bay by the battle
ship Oregon on Friday and it is be-
heved that during the firing at least a
score of Spaniards were killed. Scout
ing parties report that the blockhouse
was completely destroyed, but that
they were unable to discover any
bodies, the remains of the soldiers who
had been killed probably having been
carried off by their comrades