Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-07-16

gan to arrive in response to Secretary
| Ayers
RATHER IMPERATIVE REQUEST.
| They were not given out in full, but
such portions as were made public
| showed that the negotiations were still
in progress and that the Spaniards had
raised some rather unexpected ques-
tions. Most important of these was
an insistance that the Spanish troops
should retain their arms when they re-
turned to Spain. There was entire
willingness on the part of Gen. Toral
to turn oyer the arms to Gen. Shafter
| at the time if the surrender, but with
| this was to be the understanding that
| the arms were to be returned to the
! Spanish troops when Spanish soil was
reached. This was question which
had not been anticipated.
The authorities here did not regard
! it as serious, or as likely to overcome
final settlement, as it was attributed
to the Spanish sensitiveness against the
humiliation involved in the laying
down Of their arms At the same time
:. it was point on which neither side ap-
peared to be ready to yield. One of
the dispatches from the front, after
specifying that this difference had
arisen, added that it was believed a
settlement would be reached before to-
day closed. Gen. Shafter himself sum-
med up the situation by saying: "It
can not be possible that there will be
failure in completing arrangements"
No question whatever has been raised
as to the surrender itself. Not only
has Gen. Toral agreed to it, but this
agreement has been ratified by Gen.
Blanco, at Havana, and by the Span
ish authorities at Madrid.
Gen. Greeley received another de-
spatch at p. m. containing the infor-
nation that Col. Allen had landed the
shore end of the signal corps cable at
Playa Del Este from the cable steamer
Adria. Col. Allen was not allowed to
land at Playa on account of the Adria
coming from an infected district. All
were we'll on board, but no one was al
lowed ashore. Col. Allen returns this
evening to Baiquiri to repair the
French cable at that point and estab-
lish regular communication between
Playa and Santiago de Cuba so that
the army will be in Geographic COM
munication with Washington as soon
as the city is surrendered.
THE PERPLEXING PROBLEM
now to be solved is how to carry out
the pledge made by Gen. Shafter to
remove the Spanish soldiers who sur
render, to Spain. 1t would have been
no easy undertaking to remove the
twenty thousand men across the At
lantic under the best conditions, but
the reports that indicated the existence
of yellow fever among the Spaniards
threatened all kinds of difficulties
After all, it was decided to be only a
matter of money, and if the price Of
fered is large enough steamship lines
can doubtless be found to undertake
the transportation. At the best sew
eral weeks probably will be required
to remove the Spaniards. so that it
will be necessary to maintain a con-
siderable portion of the American army
in the neighborhood for some time to
come. Still, being under no care to
protect themselves against the foe, the
American troops can be so disposed
as to make themselves very comfort
able in comparison with what they
have undergone, and by removing them
into the hills just in the rear of San
tiago, it is believed that the danger
of an extension of the yellow fever
will be reduced so far that it will no
longer be cause for grave apprehen-
sions. The surgeon generals report
describes the disease as OF mild type.
and it is said that this will readily
yield to a change of location and
| cooler ground
| REPUBLICAN LEAGUE OFFICERS.