The San Francisco call., 1898-05-23
DESPERATE
 ENGAGEMENT
 ANTICIPATED Cervera Cannot EVade
 Sampson. THE FEELING AT KEY WEST. BIG GUNS WILL EMBARK ERE
 MANY HOURS. Senor Castro, a Cuban Leader, Tells of Heroic Work of Americans at the Bombardment of
 Cardenas.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

KEY WEST, May 22.-The tranquil lity of tropical Sunday has been un- disturbed by definite information from any quarter. A few naval uniforms on the streets are the only signs of the proximity of this languid town to the theater of war. There are only one or two ships in the harbor, and they are coallng with all haste to get away to join their fellows in an action which all are convinced is only matter of days, perhaps hours.
 Speculation is still concentrated on the whereabouts of Admiral Cervera' $ squadron, the general opinion favoring some point on the southern coast. As both sides of the island are now pa trolled by United States Warships the naval authorities will not admit the possibility of Cervera's escape without the most desperate conflict in the his tory of naval warfare.
 Reports from Admiral Simpsons s squadron say that all is quiet off the northern coast of Cuba. Nothing from Commodore Schley is expected before Monday or Tuesday.
 A rumor has reached here that four American warships, while bombarding Santiago de Cuba, were driven off by the Spanish fleet, but the story is gen orally diScredited. Where it came from is a mystery.
 SenOr ErneSto Castro, a well-known lawyer and president of the Revolu- tionary Junta of Cardenas, arrived here to-day on the United States gunboat Annapolis. During the recent bonn bardment at Cardenas Senor Castro was in the bay in a sma44 boat trying to reach the American vessels and get fy-1v afaV-to to 4ln TT,oit taI an important mission. He was com pelled to return to the shore, where he saw and heard of the results of the bombardment.
 The Spanish gunboats that lured the United States torpedo boat Winslow into the death trap were the Antonio Lopez, Lealtad and Ligerau. During the fight the former two retreated be- hind the wharves and the Ligera be- hind the key. It was the Antonio Lopez that opened fire on the Winslow and decoyed her into the trap. The Spanish troops formed on the public square, not daring to go to the wharves; all the Spanish flags were lowered, S they furnished targets and the famil ies all fled to Jovellanos.
 Senor Castro says an American shell exploded at the very entrance to the Spanish Casino, shattering the build ing and setting it on fire. The Casino, which had been used as military head quarters and infantry barracks, and which was the largest structure in the town, was utterly destroyed. Other buildings were wrecked. Some of the shots went as far as the Trienta sugar plantation, two miles in the interior.
 The loss of life Senor Castro believes to have been heavy. It was so report ed. After the bombardment ceased the military commander pressed all able bodied men into the work of carrying sand to build new batteries, and the next day 1900 men were brought from Matanzas and Havana to continue the work.
 Senor Castro, after passing four days on the Pieuras Key, signaled the Unit ed States gunboat Wilmington and was taken off. He says famine prevails everywhere in Cuba. In Cardenas rice is 25 cents a pound, condensed milk sells at $1 50 per can and horSef1esh brings 75 cents a pound. There is no beef or bread.
 The insurgents are in dire distress. Formerly provisions were smuggled from the cities, but that relief is now impossible, since the cities themselves are starving The insurgents are try ing to subsist on peppery wood and palm buds. Senor Castro tasted meat to-day for the first time in five weeks.