The age-herald., 1898-05-28

 ADMINISTRATION
 STILL DELAYS No Forward Move on Cuba OF Porto Rico
 in Contemplation. LOCATION OF SPANISH FLEET No Official Information as to CerFera' s Whereabouts Reached Washington. BELIEF IS DALEY GAINING GROUND That the WiIl-'o-the -Wspt Fleet Is Securely Fastened in Harbor of Santiago de Cuba Steps Have Been Taken to Def-
 niteIy Locate Him.

Washington, May 21-The military situa- tion as at present determined upon by those In authority is to make no forward move- ment of troops either upon Porto Rico or Cuba until full and definite infrmaton is received as to the location of the Spanish squadron and It's possibilities as a factor In aggressive movement by Spain. There is a positive determination that there is no present purpose to hurry troops now at the several points of concentration, but the interval prior to an aggressive movement will be employed in seasoning the men. Steps have been taken to secure early in- formation as to whether Admiral Cervera's squadron is inside Santiago harbor- and whether the American squadron has such hours army circles have shared the public as to make the escape of the Spaniards practically impossible. For the last few hours army circles have share the public belief that the Spanish ships were trapped in Santiago harbor, and that. has given im- petus to arrangements by which large bod ies of troops at Chickamauga and else- where might be moved rapidly to Tampa for embarkation The presence of thirty or more transports in Florida waters added 10 the cOnNlctlOn lHdl d HloNeHlSHt oii o large scale was about to occur.
 Menace to Our Troops
 All this has been going on~with the un- derstanding that Admiral Cervera's career as a possible menace In the rear Of our troops has been cut off by his being curely held within Santiago harbor, but in the absence of positive information on this point together with the certainty that he can be held inside the harbor, there is rl,a4A rf nff fhn department to make an aggressive forward movement on Cuba or Porto Rico. This was stated tonight in the most positive manner and from an authoritative source that unless the navy succeeds in securing some direct and official information re- specting the Spanish and the American fleets within the next twenty-four hours through the aid of the West Indian cables, 1t will resort to the use of dispatch boats. It can be again affirmed on the highest authority and notwithstanding all rumors to the contrary that at the close of the day the department had nothing more htan a belief founded on unofficial advices that the Spanish squadron was lying in San tiago harbor and no news as to Commo- dore Schley's whereabouts. However, the great majority of the officials of the navy department entertain no doubt that Ger vera is.within Santiago harbor and they have succeeded in impressing this belief upon the president and cabinet.
 The reports from the newspaper dispatch boats as to. the movements of Sampson's and Schleys squadrons during the past week are very mystefying even to the naval officers and one of them called attention to a statement coming from the West Indies to the effect that twelve war vessels were seen for "a short time off Cienfuegos Wednesday. This he thought was Schleys squadron and in that case he could scarcely have covered the distance between Cien- fuegos and Santiago with slow moving fleet of ironclads in less than two days, in which case Schley would not be due off Santiago until some time today. Of course all this is speculative, but it shows that there is still an element of doubt in the departments calculations as to the where abouts of the fleets.
 Hsliand win Be Received
 It was announced today that J. P. Hol- land, the inventor of the submarine boat, of that name, was expected here tomor- row to discuss with Captain O'Neil, chief of ordnance. the feasibility of using that novel craft in an attack upon the Spanish squadron at Santiago if the vessels are still there The officials are disposed to receive in kindly spirit any suggestion that might prove to be valuable in this line and they will talk with Mir. Holland over the details of his scheme.
 An important phase to the military pro- gramme is decision not to take up the details of organizing the new force of the 75O00 volunteers for at least a week or ten days. At the cabinet meeting today in- uuiry was made of Secretary Alger as to what steps he proposed taking as to the organization of these volunteers. His re- ply was that he had not even considered the details of this question, and that his plan was not to take up the matter for week or ten days. Tn the meantime no decision has been reached as to whether a portion of the 75.0O0 volunteers will be used to recruit the regiments remaining thrilled under the first call for 125000 vol unteers. If the regiments under the first call are to be brought up to their maximum strength it will take about 4000O men from the second call to complete the 125 regi- merts under the first call. This will leave s5. GOO men to be organized in distinctly new regiments It will have the advantage of filling every regiment in the service instead of leaving most of them with depleted organization. On the other hand
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 T1ot fight on Garden Hose Now's the