Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-20
GENERAL WAR SITUATION.
Continued from page ~

! afloat that Gen. Miles with his staff
was TO leave Washington. tonight. fol-
Tampa, but this again proved to be
premature.
| for six months will cost $50 900. 600 ac-
cording to estimates prepared by Pay
| master Gen Stanton and the leading
officials are beginning to fear that hos
tilities may run along beyond this
| period. The reason is the growing
conviction en- the part of some of the
officers that they must not reckon on
any substantial assistance from the
| Cuban rebels in this campaign and
moreover must meet the Spaniards in
Cuba in their strongest sphere, that %
| defensive.
Naval authorities are relievd of a
| good deal of embarrassment by the
| consent of the French authorities at
| Martinique to allow the scouting yes
sci Harvard to remain in at St. Pierre
until her repairs are completed. II was
at first supposed that she would be
allowed only seven days stay and at
the end of that time would be forced
out to risk attack at the hands Of
some ambushed Spanish cruiser 3r
torpedo boat.
Work or the three monitors. Mahn-
pac, Canonicus and Manhattan at
League Island has advanced so far
that the department expects to have
! them in service within week or two.
They have been supplied with tubular
boilers in place of the rusted-out boil
ers they have carried since the war.
One very useful quality of the new
boiler was found to be the possibility
of passing the small pieces, of which it
is composed. through the smoke pipe
hole thus avoiding the tearing up of
half, the time required for the work.
These monitors will be "a valuable adj
dition to the coast defense ships.
Lieut.. Niblack, late United States
naval attache at Berlin and Rome. re-
ported at the navy department, today,
and had some amusing stories to tell
of his experiences in every seaport Of
Europe trying to buy a ready made
navy in 80 days.
The department. officials are very
much pleased with the energy ana
ability by the young officer in the dis
charge Of the important duties con-
fided to him. He has been ordered to
duty as watch and division officer on
the Topeka. one of the ships that h.
helped to purchase in England
The absence of official news of any
character from the fleets at the navy
department, today, gave the widest
field for speculation and all sorts of
stories were afloat as to the where
! abouts of the vessels and the i'm
minence of an engagement. The report
| that came from Madrid of the bonn
/ bardment Of Santiago received some
! credence as it seemed to show that
! Gen Greedy, the chief signal officer
| had set in motion the machinery of the
/ navy to carry out his declared purpose
| of cutting the cables that afford the
! last connection between Havana and
/ the outside world and thus isolate
/ Blanco 1t is not believed that the
/ bombardment amounted to anything
! more than this.
Judge Advocate General Lemly, to-
| day, completed the circular defining the
! chief characteristics Of the IS torpedo
boat destroyers and II torpedo boats
provided for by Congress in the pres
ent naval appropriation bill.
The destroyers provided for are t.
he of larger type than any vessel 81
that kind We now have in the service,
about 400 tons, but the torpedo boats
will be about the size of the average
| torpedo boat no WIN use, nafne!y ABOUT
$50 tens.
Bidders are left the widest liberty in
the matter of original design, but n
bid will be considered which fails t,
gual antee speed of at least % knots
for destroyers and % knots for torpedo
boats.
No more than Is and 70 months re-
spectively will be allowed to cOmplett
: these boats and shortness of time OF
construction will be an important
element in determining the awards.
Hampstead, l.. l.. has been definitely
selected as rendezvousing point fol
troops from the New England and Mid
die states section and it is eXpecte1
that 10 regiments eventually viii bf
, quartered there.
i, The long expected appointments OF
c officers to the staffs of the IA new
major generals have been made so tina
the way is now clear for the entry upoI