The San Francisco call., 1898-05-17

pines cannOL SO UtCA IO OPoAH' A ish the man who would dare suggest that these islands should be given back to the corrupt and cruel tyran- nv from which Dewey's guns freed them"
 There is much dissatisfaction ex- pressed with the work of the Naval War Board. It is considered prob able that some radical change may be made in the personnel and meth ods of the board within short time. Naval officers say that mistakes have been made, and that apparently noth- ing is accomplished by the navy in Cuban waters. Meanwhile the army is waiting for the navy and is idle also. The campaign for the freedom of Cuba is at a standstill. If the report is true that three more Span ish warships are in the West Indies, it is only another of the many recent proofs of the superior strategical ability of the Span1ards.
 From the beginning Spain has kept this country in the dark as to her moves, and appeared suddenly in unexpected places to the overthrow of the plans on this side. The Unit ed States, on the other hand, has not been able to keep secret any of it's campaign, good or bad. Captain Crowninshield, chief of the Bureau of Navigation, is Q member of the Naval Board. He is physically unfit for the performance of this important duty, and it is suggested that if his place were filled by Admiral Walker there would be @ marked improve ment in it's work, for he is a practical commander, a sea dog.
 The opening of the blockade at Havana to certain vessels is rather curious proceeding that may lead to a very considerable widening of the blockade itself, so that in the end neutral vessels not loaded with con- traband or supplies the carrying of which into Havana would interfere with the naval and military opera tions, may be allowed to enter. The statement that the Navy Department still hopes to make an exchange of prisoners at an early day shows that the mission of the Uncas yesterday was by no means a complete failure, as has been stated.
 Intimations have been received here that Captain General Blanco at Havana is very short of ammunition, in which case the powerful batteries at the entrance of Havana harbor, of course, would be deprived of a large part of their defensive strength. This state of affairs may lead to some desperate attempts at blockade run ming on the part of the Spaniards, in the hopes of getting more am munition into Havana. It is be- lieved that the supplies so frequently referred to as being on the Spanish flying squadron were of this charac- ter, rather than food supplies, which makes it all the more important that Sampson and Schley should succeed in keeping Admiral Cervera from reaching Havana from Cienfuegos, or any port in Cuba connected with Ha- vana by rail. Commodore Schley probably is we'll down on the Florida coast now and should be able to guard the Florida straits by to-mor- row or next day. His appearance on that side of Cuba would enable Samp- son to bring his ironclads with per feet safety into Cienfuegos on the south side, and with this disposition of our naval force and the free use of a considerable number of our scouting vessels, it is hard to see how the Spanish fleet can escape from the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean.
 The Navy Department is getting a better and better quality of armor as the contracts expire. A thirteen inch plate tested at Indian Head Saturday with ten-inch gun showed itself to be equal to or superior to any piece of arrnor that has ever been made, for, with the highest velocity, at 1945 feet per second, the shot penetrated only twelve inches, without cracking the plate, the very last piece to be delivered under the existing contract and which is in- tended for the Kentucky.
 The important development of the day at the War Department was the definite selection of the corps con- manders. The announcement, how ever, does not contain any surprises. Though Major General Wesley Mer- ritt is accredited to the Department of the Pacific, such designation is made formally, and it is known that he will go to the Philippines in com mand of the army there and will be accompanied by Major General Otis. The designation of General Fitzhugh Lee as commander of the Seventh Corps, with headquarters at Tampa, would seem to indicate that he is to accompany the army of invasion to H1r11o