The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-02
Coast Resorts I'm War Times.


A good many persons are beginning to
canvass the probabilities of safety or dan
ger at the seaside resorts during the APP
preaching summer, in view of the war sit
uation. If the enemy could be Judged by
the standard of American ethics, there
would not be any doubt in the matter. No
American commander would for a moment
think of Smelling summer resort in which
the majority of the residents were women
and children. and which was absolutely
non-combatant But in this instance we
are dealing with people Of an entirely
different sort from the Americans. The
Spaniards in Cuba, under the direction OF
the famous and infamous Weyler. set
about deliberately to destroy the breed"
of Cubans by concentration, and reconcen-
traitor; by starvation and disease. A peo-
pie capable Of such unspeakable cruelty
would be quite capable of pouring a muir
derous fire from a ship upon defenseless
women and children at a seaside resort, if
the opportunity to do so presented itself
The safety of the American seaside resorts,
therefore. does not lie in the humane dis
for elsewhere.
Naval officers who have been spoken 10
with regard to the possibility of Spanish
ships Smelling seaside resorts regard the
probability of any such thing as praotic-
ally non-existent: not because the Span
iards would not if they could, but because
they cannot. The first reason why they
cannot is summed up in that small but
potential word, coal. The Spanish bases of
coal supply in the West Indies are now
virtually cut off. They will be actually and
permanently cut off within a short time.
The United States have partly established
and will speedily complete, two patrol lines
covering the whole Atlantic seacoast The
inner line will be composed of tugs and
other small craft armed with torpedoes
and rapid fire guns, and the outer line viii
be composed of auxiliary cruisers from the
merchant marine. Any Spanish war ship
having battery power to enable it to beat
the vessels in these two lines would lack
the coal capacity necessary TO operations
so far from its base of supplies on the 9TH
er side of the OCEAN A converted cruiser
which could utilize its freight room for
coal storage, might be able to cruise for
5000 miles or more without renewing sup
plies; but against such vessels we would
have better and swifter converted cruisers,
and greater number of them, for the
coast defense. The daring commander of a
Spanish cruiser who attempted to get close
enough to the United States coast to shell
a summer. resort would inevitably run his
head into such a hornets nest that he
would be quickly sorry for his temerty.
According to the opinion of a naval Of
ficer at the League Island navy yard, Phil
adelphia, there is not a seacoast resort
from Jupiter Inlet to Bar Harbor, but will
be as safe from Spanish attack the coming
summer as any resort in the mountains of
the interior. you can rest assured" said
he, THAT no attempt will be made to bonn
bard our coast towns or resorts, and our
people can sojourn at the resorts during
the coming summer with as much safety
as If the two countries were at peace with
| each other" An attempt on a coast resort
according to this officer, would amount tc
suicide on the part of the Spanard max
ing it; and the Spaniards are not seeking
to commit suicide at this stage of The
game.