The San Francisco call., 1898-02-20
A Statement Made by Gen. eral Miles, However, to
 Allay Excitement.
While High Officials Continue to Talk Calmly Uncle Sam's Forts, Armies and Fleets Are
 Strengthened.

York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Maryland and the District of Columbia are considered the most ef- | ficient in the country, and it would be from these that the most efficient aid could be drawn. The President how ever, is not empowered to call for portion of the entire militia of any or all States as such. He can either call for certain number of troops from the country at large, or which would be unlikely to be done, he may author ize the impressment of any citizens of
 States selected by enlisting officers. In order to enlist in the United States
 army the militia of States as at pres- ent organized an order of the Cover
 nor of the State to that effect is ne- ceSSary.
 Beyond making necessary precau-
 tions to meet any emergency that may
 arise the Navy Department is not dis
 turbing itself over the many war ru-
 mors which have been afloat since the De Lome incident and the destruction
 of the battle-ship Maine. As the Her aid and Call have stated, it is pro-
 posed to keep the monitors Puritan and Terror in commission, and the work on
 repairs to the former vessel is being pushed at the Norfolk navy-yard, and it is expected that she will be ready for active service in two weeks.
 The Terror is ready for sea. Depart
 ment officials say the only significance which can be attached to this is a de- sire to keep the navy up to a certain strength and that by the loss of the
 Maine it was reduced below minimum. Consequently it was determined to place the two monitors in commission. One of the most interesting precau- tionary steps which the department has recently taken is the mobilization Of vessels in all portions of the world. Under instructions given a Long, the battleShipS Indiana, Massa- chuSetts and Iowa, the second-claSS battleship Texas the cruisers Marble head, Detroit and Montgomery, and the | gunboat Nashville will be assembled i between Key West and Dry Tortugas 1 some day next week. It is highly prob 1 able that either the Montgomery or | Nashville will take the place of the Maine in the harbor of Havana. Of the remaining vessels of the North At
 lantic squadron the Brooklyn, Annap- olfS and Wilmington will be at La Guayar the first of next week; the Vicksburg will be at St. Ketts, and the Newport either at Colon or at Grey town, Nicaragua.
 In accordance with orders issued by the department several weeks ago, the Cincinnati and Castine comprising the American force on the South Atlantic station, have moved to the northern
 part of Brazil. The European squad
 ron consisting of the cruiser San Fran l cisco and the gunboats Helena and Bancroft, is at Lisbon, Portugal, and will not move from that point until or
 dered by Secretary Long. The Asiatic squadron has also been mobilized to
 some extent. The flagship Olympia,
 the cruiser Raliegh and the gunboat Petrel are at Hongkong, about 800 miles from the Philippine Islands, and there
 they are expected to remain.
 The cruiser Boston, which is attached to the Chinese squadron, is at Chemul-
 DO, Korea, and the gunboat Concord at Yokohama. One of these vessels will
 join the flagship at Hongkong.
 Under instructions issued by Com mander Dickins, Acting Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, enlistments are being made to fill up vacancies in the enlisted force of the service caused by the, loss of 251 men of the Maine's crew.
 So far as ammunition is concerned. it
 was frankly told by an official of the department that all preparations pos sible to be made with present appli- anceS have been perfected. In great | emergencies it is within the power of the department to draw upon the in crease of the navy appropriations and make contracts for ordnance supplies. | This was done by Mr. Herbert when y, dent Cleveland inaugurated the nego- tiations with Great Britain for a set clement of the Venezuelan question. This action has not yet been taken by Secretary Long, nor has he any in tention of doing so at this time, so far as can be learned. The officials say that the report that the Carpenter Pro- jectile Company is working overtime
 under instructions from the depart
 ment is not the result of any pressure from them. I was told to-day that the Carpenter Company had delayed the completion of the work and that the
 department had informed it of its in- tention to impose a penalty unless it
 were completed within the time limit.
 As result of this threat it has been
 understood that the firm would ex-
 pedite the manufacture of projec-
 tiles that is under way.
 No special orders with reference to
 hurrying work on naval vessels under
 repairs have been issued. Chief Naval Constructor Hichborn has been doing
 all in his power to hasten the comple-
 tion of vessels so as to get them out
 of the yards. but no orders of any kind
 have been issued to expedite the work of ships under construction The Dol phin, Charleston and Lancaster will be the first vessels under repairs to be completed. The Lancaster is intended as a gunnery training ship, and she and the Dolphin will be placed in com
 mission on the North Atlantic coast. The Charleston will be placed in com
 mission at Mare Island. It is expected that the Charleston will be ready toen-'
 ter into commission next month.
 -
 WASHINGTON, D. C., The Arlington, 18th January, 1S98-Dear Sir: I am di-
 rected by President Dole to convey to you. and through you, to the officials 1 of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. his thanks and appreciation for the l ene% .<l><l l,i car,l j.: L.