Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-05-25
NO NEWS OF A BATTLE
Reports Of an Engagement
.@ Officially Denied.
BUT A FIGHT is EXPECTED
; ,mpscn and Schlcy Making Il Circle OF
Cub" In an Effort to Meet the
'". Spanish Squadron
In Battle.
lBN relegl.anll.l

w tto1llhS i tN. May 2i.-TEere was
Il lapse TO the sensational war rumors
| IN Washington today after Il week OF
| comparative quiet. The r,,mors ranged
| all the way from the capture of the lit :
| Tie MansroNe. with Il crew of IL, to the
| reported destruction OF the entire
spanish fleet by SIMPSONS ana
SchieS combined forces. They were
elrtuiiieed with persistence, notwith-
| standing their denial as soon as thew
| could be brought to the attention OF
| any official capable of passing iu,g-
| ineht ON their accuracy. AS the a;y
rolled along the officials themselves h.
| came apprehcnSiEe, as was shown Inv
the frequency with which they called
| Tor the latest newspaper bulletins AT
the close OF the day however. IL was
announced in the most positive manner
| llit liie Navy Department had no in
| formation to warrant The report of any
! sort of euBu cement in the Wintlw;,ru
Passage This did not specifically
| cover the waters of the West Indies
| hut in View of the fact that the de-
| partment has almost pledged itself to
| let the public know of anything in the
| nature OF general enEa cement nos
Slbiy the bulletin announcement is suf-
| iitient to cover the case
When Secretary Long started for
| nome, after an exceptionally busy day,
| ne stated to a group OF NEWSPAPER
men that the department had received
! no information of Importance. In re-
sp"hse TO an inquiry as to where the
| Spanish fleet was located. MIR. Long re-
piled that his belief was that it was
sun at Santiago De Cuba. Concern
| ing the reported capture of the Man
grove and the loss of other ships the
secretary dismissed the stories as
purely conjcctural and not supported
| by Facts. Word had come from tht.
commander of the Mangrove since the.
| time OF the alleged capture. showing
the ship could not have been in the
hands of the Spanish.
Mr.. Long paid Il handsome tribute
| to The war board, and stated that there
| was no purpose whatever OF changing
| the present system whereby this boar q
| co-operntes with him in giving every
possible assistance and advice mainly
| in the way of Information to the ud-
| miral in command The Office OF the
war board, the secretary pointed out
| Was not to fight battles: that was ex
| ciusVely the province of the squadron
| commanders. The board acted merely
in an advisory way, and at no time had
assumed executive functions.
| The Spaniards appear to be making
| ready for something more than n dc
! tensive campaign ut home. or ut least
they are trying to create that impress
sion by no other means that news bull
| !etiiS that are issued almost daily
from Madrid The Navy Department
n"w has through it's own reliable
sources reports OF the greatest activi-
| ~ in the Spanish navy yards and OF
| the preparation for sea and for a long
voyage of two Of the torpedo boat des-
| tinNers. 1t is given out that they are
| to JOIN Cervera immediately when his
| squadron enters CadiZ harbor POSI-
| bly, this statement is m:Me with de-
| liberate purpose of misleading Ameri-
90 Ii,aft
has taken his way hnmeward.
Inquiries as tn the whereabou of
the Oregon brought a reply this after
noon to the effect that The hattleship
was safe. Nothing couid be learned OF
| her Vocation. 1t is probable that the
telegram said to have emanalated from
| the vessel really were filed at Key
| West but We're brought to that port
on some dispatch boat from the Oregon
Which is cooperating With our fleets
The Philippines expedition is now off
| in dead earnest. The sending of these
ships will affect the Hawaiian question
vitality. Like the Charleston, the trans
ports must stop at Hawaii to replenisl
their coal bunkers from the great
heaps OF coal that Consul General
Haywood has been piins up for
months past If the. EIawaiians let us
take this coal without the pretext that
we are using it to make our way to
our nearest nome port, as is required
by International law in such cases.
they Will stand convicted of a breach
of neutrality that. in the rise of the
law OF nations, allies them with the
United States in hostility to Spain.
The taking of coal by the Aemrican
ships at Hawaii to make an extensive
campaign against the Spanish possess
sions is believed here will result in
compelling the United States either to
assume ii protectorate over the islands
or to annex them.
The Navy Department at 3:15 this
afternoon posted the. following bulle-
tin:
THE department has no reason to be-
lieve that n battle has occurred in the
Windward Passage. The ausiliary
cruiser st. Louis has cut the cable at
Santiago de Cuba and San Juan de
Porto Rico The transport City OF Pc
kin, with 1900 troops on board, and
the transports Sydney and Australia,
also loaded with troops. are expected
to sal! from San Francisco today, for
Honolulu. from which point they Will
be conveyed to the Philippines by the
cruiser Charleston"
Late this ftcrnoon it was ascertain
ed that the cable from Santiago that
was cut by the st. Louis was not the
line controlled by the French company
running from Santiago to Hayti
through Guantanamo but one of the
tiago south to Jamaica. This informa-
ton was communicated to the officials
of the government by Mr.. Lurienne, the
general agent of the French cable COM
pany in the United States. General
Elanco. therefore, is not isolated from
the rest of the world but can still
communicate with the home govern
lnent by either the French cable going
to Hayt, or the English one running
to Jamaica.
Another dispatch asserts that Admi-
raj Montejo, commander of the Spanish
squadron destroyed by Admiral Dew
ey is to be contaminated on the
charge of cowartiice. This dispatch al
so alleges that the captain of the Span
! ish revenue cutter Cal!ao, more re-
Gently captured by a boat Of the Uni
! ted states fleet. as she was entering
| Manila Bay, is to be shot for not re-
| turning the fire of the Americans.
| Stx,