The herald., 1898-05-29
Wild WAR RUMOR
KEEP UP THE SPIRIT OF THE
SPANIARDS.
IMAGINARY VICTORIES
REPORTED AT MANILA AND OFF
PORTO RICO
SPANISH RESERVE SQUADRON
Has Left Cadiz to Make an Attack on
Some Place Not Yet Decided
On
Special to The Herald,

special to The Herald.
. MADRID, May 2S.-Rumors have .
. reached here of reported naval battle .
. between the fleets off Porto Rico, and .
the killing of Admiral Sampson; also .
. that Spaniards, assisted by the insur- .
gents in the Philippines, had reached .
. Cavite, sinking one Of Dewey's cruis- .
ers. When Sagasta was asked about .
the rumors he replied that the gov .
ernment had no news of such engage .
. ments. General Blanco cabled from .
. Havana to Lieutenant General Cordea, .
. the minister of war, congratulating .
him upon the victory of the Philip .
. pines. In the chamber today, in reply .
. to questions on the subject, Senor Ro- .
nero Cirron, minister OF the colonies, .
. said the government had received .
very favorable news from the Philip Q
. pines, and added that official dis .
. patches announced all well in Cuba .
and Porto Rico.
The Cadiz Fleet
MADRID. May 2S.-It is officially 4
+ announced that the Spanish reserve 4
= squadron, commanded by Admiral 4
= Camara, has left Cadiz. Before going 4
+ to its destination the squadron will 4
\ maneuver probably for several days \
= In the open sea, afterwards immed- 4
= lately sailing for the Philippine Is 4
4 lands. Cuba or the United States, as 4
4 the government may judge most OPP 4
= perfume. 4
= The squadron is understood to be 4
+ composed of ten to twelve vessels. I
Not Fit to Fight
NEW YORK. May 2S.-A dispatch to the
World from London says:
The chief officer Of steamer just in from
Cadiz said last night
when we left Cadiz last Friday the
only Spanish warships there were the bat
tleship Pelayo, the cruiser Emperor Car
los V, one torpedo boat and the converted
cruisers Patriotia and Rapido. The cruis-
ers were at the arsenal
Everything bore the appearance of un-
readiness. The Pelayo's boilers, recently
put in at Toulon, had just been CONDEMNED.
by the Superintending Engineer at Cadi2
on the ground that they were of insufficient
strength. She was. however, coallns
THE Rapido and the Patriotia had not
been fitted with guns and neither had c
crew.
There was no belief in the reports that
the fleet was going to Manila or anywhere
4lse for some weeks, at least
A dispatch to the World from Madrid
says:
The concentration of troops at Spain's
southern ports from Cadz to Malaga is
serving a two-fold purpose In the first
place the government is catering to public
sentiment by annoying Great Britain. Sec
ondy, the ministry is rAking the people
believed that some deep design is harbored
by which the forces and the reserve fleet
will be sent shortly in the direction of the
West Indies.
The new foreign minister the Duke AL
modovad de Rio, who knows England per-
fectly, and the ministers of war and of ma
rine do not like these concessions to the pa
triotic papers, but the cabinet is so sorely
divided that it is doomed to another recon-
structlon soon, and is obliged to live from
hand to mouth.
Prudence Recommended
MADRID, May 2S, 8 a. m.-Senor Caste
lar, the Republican leader, in an inter-