Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-06-06
HUllILIATING POSITION.
CeNera May Make Desperate Attempt 10 Get
Out Of II.
THIS WILL BE GUARDED AGAINST.


New York June 6.-By no possibility,
it is conceded by members of the war
board, will Admiral Cervera's vessels
in the harbor of Santiago be able 10
reach the open sea even after the
wreckage Of the Merrimac is removed,
Il task that is not at all feasible, In
view of the heavy fire that an operator
would be subject to who might at
tempt to place sufficient dynamite in
the wreck to remove 1t. says the
Washington correspondent of the
Tribune. The entire Spanish squadron
is now conceded to have been caught
and closed against all possibilities Of
escape, and unless Cervera purposely
destroys his ships, they are bound
ultimately to fall into the hands Of
the United States.
Cervcra's position Is regarded as one
of almost pitiful humiliation. and his
situation such that he viii be forced to
surrender without possibly having a
chance to fire on single war vessel.
That he, his officers and entire force
will be made prisoners of the United
States In time seems certain. With
Santiago in possession of the United
States, the crews of the Spanish ships
will become prisoners of war, and IL
they attempt to escape from Santiago
they will fall into the hands of the in
surgents.
Opinions differ as to the chance of
the four powerful armored cruisers and
torpedo boat destroyers becoming
the property of tn United States, and
most naval men assert with great posi-
tlveness that Cervera will never allow
Ills vessels to be taken. and that when
he finds no alternative open to avoid
destruction or capture he will sink
them as Constructor Hobson did the
Merrimac. With the channel closed
the last hope of naval men for n
fight between ships of modern con-
struction and fought under improved
conditions. disappears, and by all 1t Is
generally conceded that with the war
ended the historians Will have but
one important naval fight to record.
In. sinking the Merimac, the pro-
gram of Admiral Sampson is for the
first time disclosed, and 1t proves be-
yond doubt that investigation made
by him showed the utter impossibllity
of his taking the large force of heavy
battleships and cruisers between the
forts and over the submarine mines
in an attempt to reach and bring into
action the Spanish vessels. Naval
to the reasons impelling the course
followed by Sampson. other than that
he concluded after careful eXamlna-
tlon of the charts and unfnvorable
conditions tina. II was inadvlsable to
take batteships through a channel
where there was not one chance in
ten that they could pass safely. The
difficulties that such an undertaking
would involve are shown by the charts
which indicate but twenty-four feet
of water in one point of the channel,
or about two feet less than would he
necessary for the Iowa and Massa-
chusetts.
Cerveras vessels draw less by two
or three feet than the heaviest of the
American ships, but even his vessels
must have had little water beneath
their bottoms as they passed in. with
all chances of escape against him
either by removing the wreck and
successfully securing channel to the
sea. general feeling exists among
naval officers that some bold and al
most equally daring exploit as that of
Constructor Hobson will be attempted
by the admiral rather than to submit |
to the resort of blowing up his own
vessels without having had opportun-
ity of firing single projectile at an
American vessel.
While admitting that the destruction |
of the collier In the harbor of Santiago |
places an entirely new phase upon the |
naval situation In Cuban waters, OFF, |
clals of the navy department are not |
prepared to issue Instructions to Ad- |
mlral Sampson for the detachment of |
a main section of his fleet until he has
been heard from In detail Now that /
the Spanish admiral is no longer to be
regarded as dangerous factor In the
of large bodies of troops
by sea TO Porto Rico and Santiago. the |
war department Is preparing to take
steps for forwarding sew
cral transports to both places and safe
escort Is to be afforded them by the
fleets off Havana with other vessels
that are to be relieved from further
duty at Santiago. The army Is relieved