Evening journal., 1898-03-15
Is new name of the department of the
THE FERN RETURNS.
Buck TO Key West After an Uneventful
Trip to Cuba.

bAtA 10 kAey NNtni ttlttf an NueNenlluA
Trip 20 Cuba.
KEY WEST, March 15-The Fern
has returned here after an uneventful
trip TO Matanzas She reached Matan-
zas on Saturday and at once began dis
charging provisions into lighters. on
shore a few persons had gathered, but
there was no demonstration Of any
kind. The share Of provisions for Ma
tanzas was got rid Of in a businessiike
way. and the Fern then sailed for Sagua
Ia Grande, where the same programme
was gone through on Sunday. the oper-
alton of landing the stores occupying
about six hours.
United States Consul Barker boarded
the Fern upon her arrival at Sagua.
lie was overjoyed to see an American
ship once more even though II was only
the little Fern. The consul said there
were about $4,000 starving reconcen-
trados in his district An officer Of the
Fern said to the correspondent In
speaking Of the trip:
1T seemed as If the gladness Of the
wretched Cubans at our arrival was
stihed by the overpowering dread that
hangs above the people of cuba and
that could not be dispelled even with
the coming Of the food for which they
longed. Naturally we saw little. Ours
was no exploring trip. But we saw
enough to convince US that the stories
emanating from Matanzas and es-
pecially from Sagua la Grande, are not
exaggerated"
The Fern will probably go back with
more provisions about Friday. The tor
pedoes and shells which arrived Satur-
day have been transferred TO Fort Tay-
lor. and considerable local excitement
was raised over rumors that they were
being placed in position. An officer
who would be connected with such
work, however, denied this report and
said "When you see these mines or
torpedoes being placed you can make
up your mind that war is more immi-
nent than Il is at present. They will
not be put In position until the last mo-
ment, for, however good the mine, IT Is
always liable to become useless through
the action Of the water.
I'VE are not going to risk the useful
ness Of expensive explosives by prema-
ture submersion. All these torpedoes
can be laid In "a hours. If we laid them
now they would not only be liable to
corrosion, but everybody on the island
would get an idea of their positions
The delicate nature of these defense
torpedoes seems hardly to have been
realized by theorists as TO the Maine
explosion. II is iRcomprehensible to
me that the Spanish government in
times OF peace allowed high power tor
pedoes to lie at the mercy Of the wa
ter in Havana harbor. It would be
nqafnut Tho fttTrraas4f 90 "a n owr,arstu al "a
the practice of all governments, for
nowadays these weapons can be laid
At the shortest notice.
although I do not think Havana
harbor was mined I know there are
torpedoes in MORO castle and the naval
arsenal that can be put in position very
quickly"
The return Of the court of inquiry is
wearly awaited, especially by the Off
GERS Of the Maine, who will have been
ere a month next Wednesday. They
ave been expecting TO so to their
homes on every boat of late, and now
he hope deferred, added TO the fact
that they are still without adequate
wardrobes. makes them thoroughly dis
| contented. Their orders, which are
here awaiting the courts pleasure, pro-
vide that they shall return 10 their
homes and await orders. which proba-
bly, means a months leave.
The impression is growing here that
the report Of the court OF inquiry will
not be presented for some time yet.
More torpedoes are expected, and some
of these will be taken to the Tortugas
for q submarine defense. The torpedo
boat Wlnslow has arrived from Charles
ton, and the schooner Harry A. Bru-
ner, Captain Hewitt. from Philadelphia,
is here with 1900 tons of coal for the
neef Tho faet ia ranorted etatfoparx