The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-30

Her captain said that the Minneapolis.
Whlcn mad been sent scouting through
the Windward passage, had discovered
.ne meet on Thursday morning, and had
run TO Hayti and cabled it, The Hawk
came down with all speed Much con-
Germ was felt for the safety of the
scorpion, which left Sunday night be ar
ing dispatches from Commodore Schley
and the Associated Press correspond
ents The work of ealing all the YES
sells was proceeded with immediately.
and activity continued all the morning.
Inc plan to seek the Spanish fleet
at santiago de Cuba, where it was be-
l1eved to be, was changed later. on Nav
"a, by the information brought by the
British ship Adula stopped outside of
the Cienfuegos blockade by order of
Commodore Schley. Lieut.. Edward
Simpson, Of the flagship Brooklyn, was
sent to board her and received valu-
able Information
Capt. Walker said he was bound for
Clenfuegos with an order of Consul
Lent, at Kingston, Jamaica, to bring
off Seaman Hoffam, Of the U. S. S.
Niagara, lying in the hospital there.
with broken leg, and such neutrals
and other Americans as he could find
there. He had visited this same port
some ten days ago. and had taken 327
passengers of whom only four were citi-
zens of the United States. He was in
Santiago de Cuba on May IL last, on
MS way to Jamaica, and while in port
there the batteries opened fire on two
American warships lying off the har-
Dor. Ihe firing began at II o'clock,
and lasted until 40 p M The ships
probably were the Harvard and. cruiser
Minneapolis, though not certain. At
midnight the next day he saw the lights
OF seven ships about 700 miles south
half west of Santiago de Cuba, and be-
l1eveS they were the Spanish fleet, for
the next day when he arrived at King
sion there was a cablegram announcing
the arrival of the feet there. He saw
nothing of the American ships. He had
been told later that the Spanish ships
only stayed there for a day and then
left.
MINES AT CIENFUEGOS.
Perhaps the most important informa-
ton by him was that given by pilots
at Cienfuegos and Santiago, which, of
course, may not be entirely reliable
He said that 81 electric mines
had been laid in Cienfuegos harbOr, bu.
that they did not work we'll, and that
the electric connections were broken
and the mines were fixed so as to eX-
plode by contact. He did not know the
position of the mines. When he was in
torpedo boat which had been somewhat
damaged in an encounter with the
Eagle, one of the United States auXil-
larry gunboats, and two small gun
boats about the size Of a large tug. The
harbor at Santiago had about twenty
one electric mines in it, and the place
from which they were worked was a
low matched hut on the west side of
the entrance, 300 yards inside. There
were no contact mines there that he
knew of.
The Adula was allowed to go inside,
and, running up to the entrance -
Cienfuegos, signaled for a guide One
of the little gunboats ran out, taking
care to keep in the lee of the neutral
vessel, and in few minutes, after
parley, guided her in.
The statements of those on the Brit
iSh ship led Commodore Schley to take
a different view of the matter, and in
stead of running right on to Santiago,
he concluded to remain at Cienfuegos
and investigate the harbor, believing
that if not already hidden they would
come along the coast.
The harbor is very deep and runs in
behind the hills. 1t is reached by two
sharp turns through a narrow passage
only wide enough for single ship to
pass. Commodore Schley expected ev-
cry hour to hear from the Minneapolis
thought it wise to wait until the Brit
ish steamer came out, suspecting that
perhaps they might not let him come
out, which would indicate the presence
of the enemy.
The Hawk was sent to Key West
with dispatches and mail.
TO THE GUNS.
On Tuesday May "a, the officers and
men were routed out of their quarters
in a hurry, the officer of the deck hav-
ing announced that the smoke of three
steamers on the horizon to the south
west was visible The alacrity and en-
thusiaSm with which the men got to
the guns was remarkable When the
three ships hove 'hulls up" on the
horizon they proved to be the United
States cruiser Marblehead and
two converted yachts The Mar
blehead brought mail and tele-
grams. Commander McCalla told Com
modore Schley that the shore signals
which the fleet saw last Monday were
from the insurgents, who had agreed
with him before he left the coast to
communicate.
At this writing Commodore Schley
believes the Spanish fleet to be in the
vicinity of Cienfuegos, and an attempt
to force an entrance into the harbor
may be made tonight.
Commodore Schley's belief of the To-
cality of the fleet is that. there being
a railroad connection with Havana
from there and none from Santiago,
that the fleet came here as soon as
they found that the blockade had been
raised by the United States fleet prior
to the arrival of the flying squadron.
The squadron is now a heavy and
formidable one.
Three thousand rounds of ammuni-
ton were transferred to the Marble
head this morning, and there will be