The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1898-07-02
EXTENDS THE BLOCKADE.
President Mckinley Issues a
Proclamation.
TO SURROUND CUBA.
Hh'ps Formerly on the North Atlantic
Coast will be Used for the
New Patrol.

|
| Coast will be Used for the
! New Patrol.
! Washington, D. c., June 2S-By proc
lamation issued today the President gave
notice of the intention of the government
to assume the formidab BILE task of block
| aiding about 500 miles of Cuban coast
line IN addition TO the sections already
| hlockaded. This increases the extent of
| the blockade fully four-fold. it having
| been confined heretofore to a stretch of a
| little more than 100 miles on the north
and the single port of Cienfuegos on the
! south coast of the island. The demands
upon tue navy IN the way of ships to pa
| troll the coast, however. will not be nearly
! so heavy IN proportion to the territory Gov
| cred aS III the case of the initial blockade
| for the reason that the new boCkaded
! coast line lies entirely within the great
! blight on the South Cuban coast. il which
| the water is generally very shallow and
! the ports are few into which a vessel of
! any draft could enter. The most impor-
| tant OF these ports are ManZanillO, Trini-
| dad and TunaS
! West of Trinidad is CienfuegOs which
| IL already bOckaded effectively. From
! that point westward for nearly 140 miles
/ there is no point to be blockaded until Ba-
| tabanO IS reached. This port is distant
| only about forty miles from Havana by
| rail and is believed to have been the prin-
cipal source of food supplies for the Span
lSh capital. For 30 miles west % his
! clear over to Cape Frances the western
edge OF the blockaded territory, there are
| no ports for deep vessels of any consid-
! erahie draft. and even if there were. the
! country IN the interior, Pinar del Rio, is
! III the hands of the insurgents and supplies
hn hr,, ,,,Yh
| The purpose of extending the blockade
! westward to Cane Frances was to COM
! mand Il channel between the west side of
! the isle of Pines and Cape Frances. and
| thus render much easier the task of the
! blockadng vessels.
| Havana Reports Conflicting.
The reports which have reached the
! President as to the exact state OF affairs
! III Havana are conflicting: i'll some cases
! the town was declared 10 be on the verge
! OF starvation, in others, food supplies
| were said To be still abundant. AS a mat
| ter of fact the truth probably lies be
| tween these extremes, and while sup
Plies OF certain character are very
! scarce in Havana there is no lack of
others. It is known, for instance, that
| while Hour may he scarce. large quaint
! ties of beef have reached Havana. Most
/ of this has come from Mexico and ii has
! usually been brought over to the Isle of
/ NUS anu Trans shipped INTO Ught-
! draught boats to tahan0, whence il is
! carried hy rail into Havana Only "A day
! or two ago word reached here that 800
| head Of cattle were rounded up at point
| on the Mexican coast near Yucatan
awaiting transportation to Batabano.
here has been no running of the
| blockade by these Cattleships notwith-
| standing the Spanish stories to the CON
! trary; all of the Shi rs that have entered
| cuban ports with supplies have done 50
at places not within the blockade such a.
! Batabano and Manzanlo.
The vessels for the additional blockade
| service Will be supplied almost entirely
| from the patrol fleet which under Commo-
| Gore Howell has been guarding the North
| Atlantic coast from Maine to South Car
! olina. The service has been aband )ned
| because the only available Spanish war
| ships are with Admiral tamara. thou
| sands of miles away from the nearest
| point on the Atlantic coast. The vessels
! are already on their way southwark hav-
! ing been reinforced by several of the new
| torpedo boats which are particularly
adapted. because of their light draft. for
| blockade duty III the shallow waters lying
/ behind the Isle of Pines and Cuba.
SiGsbee's Good Work.
! The blockad" of San Juan proclaimed
| today IS in reality already i'll effect. having
| been initiated by Capt. Sigsbee last week
| when he turned back from that port a
| British steamer laden with supplies. The
| difficulty of maintaining blockade at
| this port. in the fac" of the Spanish forts
! and three Spanish war vessels in the har-
| hur. would be considerable had not Capt
| SicShec by disabling the most formidahl
| one of these vessels made the task easier
! As it is, the character of vessels required
| to maintain the blockade at San Juan nee
| eSSarily must be of Il type superior to the
| ships required for the blockade on the
! ST yf nj a
| such vessel as the Detroit or the Mont
| gomrry Will be assigned TO the task.
In defeating the Terror, Capt. Sigsbee
| has rendered most important service to
| our navy, and indeed, to all navies. He
| has not only deprived SIMPSONS fleet of
| apprehension of an attack in the rear
some dark night by this vicious little boat,
| but he has demonstrated that an auXili-
| AIRY cruiser is amply able to take ca t of
! herself against torpedo gunbOat. show
| ing that the offensive power of this craft
| has been very much overrated. The tor
| psdo gunhOat was an untried qucllty in
| naval warfare up To this time. Swifter
! than a torpedo-hoat. seaworthy, and pos
| sCSsrd of the armament Of which the tor
| pedo-hOat is void. the torpedo gunboat has
been a terror in imagination to all naval
| mon. The presence of such Spanish
grnhoat, the Temorario. in the river
Platte. in the pathway of the Oregon on
her cruise around South America, was for
| several weeks Il cause for great anxiety
| at the navy department. Now Capt. SlgS-
/ bee has shown that with an unarmored
| cruiser. armed with only o-Inch guns. the
| torpedo guuhOatS are not feared, At least
| not in daylight.
The Terror is Of English build. having
been turned out at Clyde bank IN 1876;
She is low-lying steel craft with steel
| tunnels. is :iTo tons, 30 feet long. - feet
| beam and = feet Is inches draft. The bo2t
| and
horsepower being 5000 capable of driving
her at n speed of ~ knots with Norman
boilers While the ordinary torpsd9-hoa'
carries only a little lpounder gun. tn
torpplo cunhoat is armed with Il formIdl.
bic battery fer vessel OF her size. coz
Sisting of two II pounderS. two 6-pound
rr> and two 1-pounders, a!i qulIk hrlnc
and having two 14ineh torpedo tubes on
deck.
hv Cant Sig>hec in his report aS joining
IN the attack upon the s.. Iaui Is sup
noSeI here 10 be the Alfonso MI. an iron
hark-rlgged cruiser built in 1887 Of ;ie'
ions While an old vessel, she has i
pretty good battery made up ~ fourteen
Honforia guns Of varions cahher>, hFt
marhira guns and two torpedo tubes.
* soon AZ Capt. Sigsbee's report came
k+o hand the officials at the navy depart
mrnt Immediately recalled the fact tina
The Standards had last week sent out ;
| bulletin describing IN" HlSut ui an -ftiiti !
ran cruiser before two Spanish vessels Of
san Juan and that particular engagement
Was Identified as the same referred 10 by
Capt Sigshce.
II i >aid at the navy department thai
il i the present intention To start Com
nodorr Wat>on'S Eastern squadron from
| Santiago. This however. Is subject L
Admiral Samr>on'S report upon the con
litiou of the vessels selected and then
needs in the ma litter of supplies and equip
mepr for the long voyage ahead Of them
If they need no more than can be sup
| pTied from Simpsons fleet they will start
,,rorlipg 10 orders. from Santiago. hu
If further supplies and equipment arr
! needed or if the vessels must be cleane.
] tirst then they probably Will be sent nortl
Ia Hampton Roads. Meanwhile there L
, no miSta king the earne>tness OF the navy