The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-06-21
Third Philippine Expedition Is
Nearly Ready to Start.
MACARTHUR IN COMMAND
ASSIGNMENTS OF TROOPS TO
THE TRANSPORTS.
idaho Battalions Will Go On the Nor
gan City-General Merritt Will
Probably Go By Way of Hong
kong = Vessels For the Fourth
Fleet.

San Francisco, June 20.-The third
| expedition to Manila will sail next
| Thursday or Friday at the latest. This
announcement was made at General
Merritts headquarters this morning,
notwithstanding a report from other
sources that the transports cannot be
gotten in complete readiness by tnat
| time The officers who are supervising
the preparations on board the vessels
| appear to differ vita the steamship
| companies concerning the time needed
to complete the alterations, and have
reported to General Merritt that the
| transports ought to be ready to receive
the soldiers by Thursday.
| AS yet General Merritt has not made
public the time of his own departure,
but it is known among his officers that
he is exceedingly anxious to get away
on the next expedition, and Will do so
unless the authorities at Washington
interfere with his present plans.
The troops that are to form the third
expedition, under command of Brig
adler General Macarthur. are now
anxiously awaiting the order to en-
bark on the transports. They are ready
to start on short notice, and hope that
they will be aboard by next Thurs
day The final assignment of the or
by Major General Otis today is as fol-
lows:
Steamer valencia.-North Dakota
batta,ions
Ohio-First wyoming battalion,
headquarters band, companies D and
H of the Eighteenth infantry, recruits
for the First battalion of the Eight
zenith and batteries G and L of the
Third artillery.
~ ha nd
panies B, c, G and L of the Twenty
third infantry, recruits for the First
battalion of the Twenty-third, the
signal corps and the remainder of
company A of the engineer corps.
City of Para.-Thirteenth regiment
Minnesota volunteers, with exception
of recruits to arrive.
Morgan City.-Idaho battalions and
recruits to arrive for Nebraska and
Oregon regiments.
MERRITTS ROUTE.
The report has been frequently cir
culated around army headquarters that
General Merritt will divert the course
of the vessel in which he will journey
to the Philippines, so as to touch at
Hongkong before landing at Manila.
General Merritt will make this move
in order to place himself in commune
cation with the authorities at wash
ington before he commences operations
in the Philippines. Further inStruc-
lions will doubtless await him at Hong
kong, which is the only cable point at
which he can touch after leaving this
city.
In order not to delay the vessels of
the third fleet, supplies and coal are
now being placed on board, and if the
carpenters can finish the fitting up of
the hunks by Thursday, the five YES
sells may depart on schedule time, but
it is exceedingly doubtful if this can
be done, especially as the working force
employed on the vessels is by no means
large.
Just what ships will be used for the
fourth fleet cannot be learned, but the
fleet will probably consist of the New
port, now at her dock; the City of Pu-
ebla, due from Puget Sound; the
steamer Peru, due from Hongkong on
June "a; the Alameda, which is sched-
uled to arrive from Australia on June
2 and the Acapulco, which will doubt
less arrive from Panama on the same
date.
AID FROM JAPAN.
Japan may indirectly aid Uncle SAM
There is report current at the Pa
cific Mail dock that the steamers Of
the Japanese line, the Togo company,
may be used as substitutes for the
ships chartered by the United States
government from President c. P
Huntington. There is a traffic agree
ment between the Togo company and
the Pacific Mail for the operation of
new steamers now being built for the
former company. AS the Mail COM
pany has given up the Pekin and
China and will give up the Peru, the
Togo line, which operates a number
of large steamers in the orient, will
probably furnish ships for the trade
until its now steamers shall be COM
pleted.