Omaha daily bee., 1898-05-22

bardment until all the Notifications were
. demolished. The pilot who boarded us Off
Sandy Hook said that the fleet had gone to
San Juan to engage the Spanish fleet, and
his statement goes to explain several in.
cidents of the attack.
"A quantity OF small shots were fired In
the harbor to draw out as l now understand,
any Spanish war ships that might have been
there. Although there were In San Juan
at the time the cruisers Isabel III and Al
fonso XIII. and the gunboat Concho, not one
of them took any part in the engagement.
After 1t was all over the Alfonso XIII nut
TO sea to give chase to the American liner
Paris. as was learned afterwards. 1t re-
turned in three hours alone. We saw the
same liner fifteen miles away off Farardo
Friday morning. 1t was cruising to tho
southeast. ~
There was much surprise In San Juan
when the Alfonso returned. If the war ships
had continued their attack two hours longer
the town would have surrendered.
'The authorities. both naval and military,
were unable to learn how much damage hail
resulted to the American ships, but 1t was
generally believed In San Juan that the
fleet had been compelled to withdraw under
the fire from the Notifications. There was
much disappointment, too. that the Spanish
fleet had not arrived to protect the town.
The war ships had been looked for every day
for two weeks preceding the bombardment
and there were several British ships unload
ing coal for the fleet when we were at San
Juan.
THE guns which we saw on the fortifca.
tions on entering the harbor seemed to be
of ancient design. and am told that what
modern guns the American fleet left are not
in fighting order. Several Krupp guns
which were landed at San Juan a year ago
were not removed from the wharf until a
couple of weeks ago. NJ
Under Spanish sovereignty affairs in
Porto Rico are anything but prosperous
There is no money in circulation and there
have been many failures in the last two
years. There is strong feeling among
the business men of the island in favor OF
self-rule. under protectorate. or anything
that will end Spanish rule. The inhabitants
are densely ignorant, the great majority
being unable to read or write.
Subscriptions are being sought all over
the island for carrying on the war. There
are 5000 regular troops and about 5000
volunteers in Porto Rico. They are armed
with Remington rifles. The civil guard 800
strong and mounted. have great power The
volunteers could be put to shame so far as
discipline and drill are concerned by the
school cadets of this country. The mill
tary authorities bought large quantities Of
food when war was imminent, and it Is
supposed they have enough for three months
ratons for the troops. The others have
to pay double now for their provisions"
Mr. Drake left the island from Mayaguez
May I, on warning from the British consul
at San Juan. There had been no hostile
demonstrations against him up to the time
OF leaving. although the consular agent at
Mayaguez had been threatened frequently.
Three times were mobs dispersed by the
authorities as they were preparing to attack
his house. Since April 81, when it was
learned that war had begun, the affairs Of
the consulate had been looked after by the
British consul at Mayaguez.
Mr.. Cantrell another of the Arcadia's pas
sengers, was the chief electrician for an
electric light company In Ponce. He said
the authorities there took all the wire from
the works to mine the harbor and then
seized all the COAL Because he spoke
English he was taken for an American At
Farjado, where he went ashore with Mr.
Megwinof he was nearly mobbed and was
forced to take refuge in warehouse.
Regarding the bombardment. Mr.. Cantrell
said that one of the shells from an Amer-
can gun entered the mouth OF a gun on
the fortihcations, smashing 1t into pieces and
killing man at the breech. One corner of
MORO had been knocked off and six inch
shells could be seen embedded in the forth
fcations. The Spanish steamer Paulina, he
learned, was chased by American war
ship four days before the bombardment and
when being overhauled displayed the French
colors. At San Juan he learned that a
Porto Rican had been put to death on the
charge OF leading a revolution, and another
had been imprisoned for life on the same
charge.
Porto RIcan papers, Mr.. Cantrell said. con-
tanned the most ridiculous statements OF
Spanish valor and success in the war. One
paper said the Brooklyn bridge had been
blown up by a torpedo boat, while another
declared that two American war ships had
been captured and thirty-two men made
prisoners.