The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 19, 1897, Page 1

\ VOLUME LXXXL LABOR AND THE LAW Joint Committee Meeting to Consider the Assembly Bill. EMPLOYMENT AGENTS TO BE REGULATED. Senator Morehouse Questions the Representatives of All Cencerned. STICES TO BOTH INQUIRED INTO. SIDES ( INJU Statements That Show “The Call” to Be the Champion of th: Working P:ople. RAMENTO, CaL., Jan. tees on Labor of the 1y held a session | ht in bearing the st Assembiy bill oyment agents. 1 150, regu- lating emy Section 1 of employment office fee must be immedi- he applicant ced 5 per cent of plicant d e month. ess the said a me investigate iy himself of their ebya ss than t more than thi mpris- onment, or both fine and imorisonment A communication was read, signed by 8000 laboring . men ‘and 2500 laboring women, asking the Legisiature to ‘ass the biil. A protest w Angeles had be ence was also to the free e: in San Francisco ars ago sich collapsed and was never more Mr. Morgenstern and Georze A. Went- on bekalf of the pro Commissioner Fitz ant (Mr. Dam), ed for the of the committee decided proposition or tue op- should open the dis- rn began by argu- ed and mr. a demand on he other. Being ate so long as business honestiy. imate business to punish dis- here, he asked, eady overburdened h an additional law on the sub- king up the first section, the <ed when it became necessary 1o make aw to déclare illegitimate ab na: ever since its birth. late a b ness whic mate, and which d with, is n held to be legal e attempt to regu- s periectly legiti- not admit of being clearly unconstitu- enator Morehouse asked Mr. Morgen- nis grounds for declaring the first section unconstitutional, and Mr. Mor- stern replied that in a case where a an engaged a Jawyer ard paid him $200 a case for him, there could be no *% to compel the lawyer to refund to the | * client the fee. What would you say of a man going 10an emp it agent and representing himself to be competent for a certain po- sition, at the same time he was | Iying to the agent. Then when that man goes to work he is found to be totally in- competent and is discharged on the sec- ond day, do you think that the agent should not be paid for his trouble, when it was no fauit of nis that the applicant was found to be Morgenstern, Assemblyman Mahoney of the commit- tee asked whether the agent could not send a man to an employer on trial for twoor three davs, and Mr. Morgenstern replied that that could be done, but that supposing that the agent should have to send five men one after another to the same place in vain the agent would have done five times the amount of work for nothing. I'he speaker added that there. was nota reputable employment agent in the State opposed to section five which prohibited fake advertising. They would do all in their power to have that section made a Jaw, because it would protect all reputa- ble agents in their business. The next sections were objected to by Mr. Morgenstern. They are as follows: Sec. 4. Every employment agent shall in nection with his business-keep a book, or L of books, showing the number of applica- s for employment made to said emplos- agent, the number of applicants by him to employers, the number icants for whom employment has secured by said employment sgent, the amount of fees and commissions, snd the character and value of any other property taken by said employment agent in competent?” asked Mr. return for securing employment for ap- plicants, and the amount of money and the character and value of other the act provides that the | vertising of the Depart- | bureau | I mc necessary in | every cmployment agent shall upon the first day of each month furnish to the Commis- sioner of the Department of Labor a writ- {en statement from said book or set of books plainly setting forth said facts upon a blank form to be furnished by said Commissioner. Sec. 7. The Commissioner of the Depart- ment of Labor shail, during business hours, have iree access to all offices used by any em- ployment agent or agents, and shall be per- | mitted to post therein copies of any laws or notices concerning the conduct of the busi- ness of the said employment agent or other information concerning labor. The said coples of laws or notices shall be conspicuously | posted and shall not be hidden, removed or defaced. “This act would sllow the Labor Com- | missioner to walk into any employment | office and post up a notice asking for 500 men for certain work which they could bave by applying to him,” added the speaker. “The effect of the law, n connection with another bill before the Assembly, wonld be to erect a throne in the State Capitol and seat upon it La- bor Commissioner Fitzgeraid asa king.” The speaker called attention to the powerand influence that would be wielded by the Labor Commissioner if employ- ment agents were driven out of business by the law. The bill gave the Labor Com- missioner too much power and influence. It was a pariy measure, he argued. v be good polities, but it is not or common sense. This bill would throw ali persons seeking employ- ment into the handsoi one man, and it would e conferring upon him a greater power than that possessed by the Gov- ernor of this State or the President of the United States,'’ said the speaker. | Senator Morehouse said that the bill | bad been framed for the purpose of doing | away with a serious evil like that which | happened a short time ago, when 500 men, answer to an advertisement, went to Fresno and found that they had been duped. The speaker called attention to a < | bill prepared by employment agents and aiready read in the Assembly requiring of | all agents a penal bond in the sum of $5000. Mr. McArthur followed for the Labor Commissioner and the workingmen and repudiated the idea that there was any or- | ganization behind the bill except the or- | ranized workingmen of the State. With reference to Mr. Morganstern’s contention that the bill was unconstitutional Mr. Mc- | Arthur argued that it was a man’s consti- tutional right to earn his daily bread, and | that whoever attempted to preven: a man from man’s constitutional right. The Speaker read from the Revised Statutes of the United States the law pro- bibiting any one except & shipping com- missioner from receiving or demanding a fee irom a seaman for obtaining employ- ment for him. Here the United States bad legislated against the right of a sea- man to make a coniract, because he is | ustially without resources or iriends, and tlie Federai Government steps in to sive him from the exactions of the crimps. | 1f the Federal Government has a right | to legisiate against the seamen making a contract, why should not the State have a right {o legislate on beha!f of the working- men, be asked. No reputable employ- | ment agent should object to the biil, Its object was to protect the working people from being swindled by dishonest agents. 1t has happened too often that an em- ployment agent has sent an applicant to work in the country. This applicant has | paid the agent two or three dollars. At the end of two or three days the man is discharged and the agent sends another man who has paid two or three dollars, and so on as long as the game will last, the employer ana the agent aividing the ey received from the victims. | “Inere isonly one clausen the bill,” | continued Mr. McArthur, *‘that the em- | ployment agents object to and that is the 5 per cent clause, but 5 per cent isa pretty good fee. It1sa matter of notoriety that employment agents as a class are swin- dlers, that they trade upon the necessities of the poor; in many instances they take money and don’t give any return for it, and when they do give a return in most instances it is inadequate. If this law will not permit employment agents to do business in theirown way let them give up the business and go to work at some- thing else. Massachusetts has a similar law and it was working well.”” Mr. McArthur closed by saying that the problem of the day was to put men and women to work. R. M. Fitzgerald, brother of the Labor Cemmissioner, followed on behalt of the bill. He recalied the time when, two years ago, an effort was made in the Legis- lature to abolish the Labor Bureau, and he had had considerable difficulty in con- vincing the tegislators that if the bureau was properly conducted it would be of much good to workingmen and women. Mr. Fiizgerald read the deposition ot | Robert H. Murray, stating tbat while act- ing as employment agent he had paid to | Hogan & Burns, contractors, to B. Galla- gher, foreman of the stone quarry at No- vato, and to Mr. Carey of Harbor View 50 cents for each person furnished them by Murray. This was a common practice among employment agents, added Mr. Murray's deposition. Mr. Fitzgerald read several instances in which Charles Miller’s ranch at Liver- more figured in the advertissment, and to which poor men had been sent by un- scrupulous agents only to find that they had been duped out of the fees paid by them to the agents. The speaker went on to show that the State, which fixed the fees of doctors, the rates of car fare, and so forth, could also fix the fees and com- missions of employment agents. California was not the first or the only State to legislate against dishonest em- ployment agents or to establish free public employment offices. He showed by official reports that wherever public offices were established the private employment offices ceased to exist. There was nothing in the bill, he said, to which an honest employment agent could object. There was only one thing,and that was the 5 per cent commis- sion, but that was large enough fee fora person doing an honest business, In answer to a question by Senator Morehouse, Mr. Fiizgerald said that it was the practice of dishonest agents to conspire with emvloyers to discharge men for incompetency, when, in fact, the men were competent. For that reason the clause was inserted in the first section requiring the agent to surrender the fee when the applicant was discharged for in- competency. Senator Morehouse asked would not an injustice be done an honest agent where an applicant nad made false statements a8 to his competency and where- the em- vloyer had discharged him for in- [ Kilian, A. getting employment wviolated that | The organized Labor of this City and the unorganized as well learned with surprise yesterday morning that THE CALL had been denounced at a public meeting as their foe. The denunciation appeared in the Examiner, in what purported to be a report of the action of some workingmen and women not connected with the Labor Council, who met in a hall on Turk street. It appears that these people, without making any investigation, censured THE CALL for opposing Commissioner Fitzgerald’s labor bureau bill, which it has not done, and passed resolutions in accordance with the alleged facts. It might be a difficult matter to show that one who opposes Mr. Fitzgerald’s plan is an enemy of labor, but THE CALL has not opposed it. It has given both sides of the matter and will continue to do so. A significant and a suspicious fact is that the only press representatives at this meeting on Turk street were a reporter and an artist of the Examiner. How this uncalled for and unwarranted denunciation of THE CALL by people who must have been deceived is regarded by those who must know the facts is shown by the following record of a meeting held by THE CALL Chapel last night. CHARLES M. SHORTRIDGE, Editor and Proprietor SAN FRANCISCO CALL: DEAR SIR: Ata meeting of The Call Chapel, held on the eveningof Monday, January 18, 1897. the following preamble, resolution and statement of facts were unanimously adopted: Whereas, There has been made what we consider an unjustifiable attack upon the paper by which we are employed, and an attempt has been made to place it in the position of an enemy to labor; and Whereas, Any such attempt to mislead the public may convey the impression that we are work- ing for an unfair paper, we deem it our duty, as employes of said paper, to lay the true facts before the reading public that it may judge for itself who is the real friend of labor; therefore, by the San Fran- cisco Call Chapel, in meeting assembled, it is Resolved, That we have perfect confidence in the SAN FRANCISCO CALL under its present management asan ally of labor; and while we have no differences with any organization or individuals, we most emphatically deny any assertion to the effect that THE CALL is other than a true friend of labor, and most respectfully submit the following facts that the public may be able to determine how our employer treats his employes. Since Mr. Shortridge became the proprietor of THE CALL the composing-room has been enlarged, greatly to the comfort and convenience of the workmen; incandescent electric lights have taken the place of foul-smelling coal-oil lamps, and the office has been otherwise improved in a sanitary way, much to the benefit of those who are compelled to labor in it at night; and all this without any solici- tation on our part. : The following statement of wages paid the employes of THE CALL in the composing-room for the year 1804, before Mr. Shortridge assumed control, and for the years 1895 and 1896, during his pro- prietorship, is convincing argument as to his position on the labor question : T804 = e ML SRR BRl i ST SRR R e F Ak s KLY f (8071431 10 1895 S SO RS S e TR e 5% 106,115 95 1896 - - - - - - - . - - - 116,764 00 All of which sums have been paid in wages to compositors, payments being made each Monday after- noon, and the money has been put in circulation in the City and County of San Francisco. Not only is the full scale of prices established by the San Francisco Typographical Union for labor paid in all departments of THE CALL composing-room, but in many instances faithful and re- liable employes are voluntarily paid wages considerably in advance of those called for by the schedule, or to which under the laws of their governing body they are legally entitled. Almost at the introduction of Mr. Shortridge to San Francisco journalism the publishers of the other dailies of this City resorted to the employment of labor-saving machinery (typesetting machines), thus reducing the expense of running their composing-rooms alone from $10,000 to $25,000 a year at the direct expense of labor, and that, too, without the necessity of competition as an incentive for seeking such relief to the utter demoralization of human effort. With two-thirds of the hand-compositors being displaced in all the other daily papers of this City by machinery, and seeing our elderly brother typos robbed completely of their means of living at a period of life too late to commence the acquirement of another trade, it took but little to induce the pro- prietor of THE CALL to postpone resorting to the same method of retrenchment, and thus was saved to the hand-compositors the only large daily newspaper in the City of San Francisco, and we may say in the United States. In our opinion the best evidence of a man’s future intentions can be determined by what he has done for labor in the past and what he is doing at the present time. Signed by committee, C. M. JONES, Chairman, D. G. POOLE, A. C. SCHWATKA, W. G. SMITH, Father of the Chapel, H. L. BRADLEY, Secretary. Here are a few facts that will be read with interest by workingmen, by storekeepers and all who are interested in keeping our own men and women employed and in keeping San Francisco money in San Francisco. THE CALL, as will be seen from the subjoined list, employs 140 men and women in its composing-room. The Examiner, which poses as the friend of labor, employs 64, the Chronicle 41, the Bulletin 13, the Report 15, and the Post 13. Thus it appears that/he Chronicle and Examiner together employ 105 compositors, just 35 less than THE CALL. It will also be seen that the Chroni- Examiner, Bulletin, Post and Report combined employ but 146 compositors, or only six more than THE CALL employs. The list below given is official, and is taken from the current number of the Pacific Union Printer. - DAILY NEWSPAPER JOEAPELS. CALL CHAPEL—W. G. Smith, Chairman. Alberti, W. G. Cooke, W. S. Harlow, F. M. Little, J. P. 0’Donnell, E. H, Shay, Miss M. Alexander, E. C. Coo; Harris, W. W. Livingston, F. E. Orr, M. D. Shay, Miss E. Assam, A. L. Craig, L. W. Haskins, P. J Livingston, J. J. Parker, C. H. Shay, Miss A. G. Barron, Geo. Daly, Misa M, Hartson, C. H. Lynch, C. T. Parry, A. M. Smith, A. F. E. Darr, H. L. Ha wrecht, H. W. Lybnch, M. Payne. A. A. Smith, A. J. Derham, O. J. Henry, A. K. Lynen, J. J. Perry, W. H. Smith, Miss M. Denny, J. B Hickey, Thomas Maxwell, J. M. Petersen, E. A, Smith, C. J. Beresford, H. Devine, R. J. Hickok, H, D. McAvoy, J Phillips, J. Smythe, X Blumer, H. Dowling, Miss K. Hill, ). J, McCain, R. E. Poole, D. G, Snell, J. A, Bowen, W. U. Dyer, C. E. Hilt, W. F. McLaughlin, Ed Powers, C. E. Bplllgarbcr, T, Bond, Emma Ehrhardt, F. Hochdorffer, F. McLaughlin, J. Rae, J. A, Squire, C. H. Bradley, . L. Eoff, 8. R. Isaacs, Miss M. McLean, Miss A. Reyburn, E. A. Stanton, Ed. Brown, Carrie Espy. R. J. Jacobs, C. W. Meade. C. B. Reed, F. F. Staring, H. F. Brower, J. M. Fairfield, Alice Jones, C. M. Miller, E. J. Reece, H. P. Taylor, F. G. Burke, Thos. E. Fowle, J. A. Keefe, L. Miller, W. J. Rushmer, E, L. Thurman, E. W. Burke, H. Gatlagher, W, A, Keser, D. J, Mitchell, G. E. Robbins, 8. L. Walsh, Wm, Carroll, J. C. Gage, C. A. Koefoed, W. G. nhlchell K. Ryan, J. A. Waltham, C. F., Carroli, J. H. Gilmour, J. T. Kreiss, E. F. Mnoney F. A, Simop, Paul Walton, Geo. Clnypool F. W. Grady, Miss M, Lake, F. E. Moore, H. C. Smith, A. D. Ward, H. Clough, k. Grant, A. E. Lamkin, B. A, Neely, J. J. Butherland, F. B. Watts, H. H. Cochell, J. T. Grimwood, A. J. La Shelle, 0. C. Newton, J. W. saunaeuuG. b White, H. L. Coleman, W. D. Gundry, F. E. Leahy, 8. C. Mrcrou, F.G. Schwab, George ~ Winders, J. R. Compton, L. F. Hammond, Harry Lewis, D. J. 0’Connor, R. E. Schwatka, A. C. Younger, E. R. Connell, . Hamshar, R. K. EXAMINER CHAPEL-S. H. Jenner, Chairmam. Anderson, E. B. Carr, T. C. Faler, R. G. January. P. T, Miller, W. F. Riordan, R. R. Apverson. Edgar Carey, E. H. Freel, John Kclsey, James T. Mnrray. J. D. Rvan, P. T. At kms, M F Clayes, H. M. Fulton, Hugh King, H. Olwell, J. P. Saunders, George H. Backess, C. E. Coliner, Jonn Galvin, J. J. Leeper, A. G. Pnl‘ker, E. A, Shearer, J. L. Baker, F. Costello, John Gitt, K. M. Lyon, L. Pelham, C. G. Smith, Miss E. Bard, Ellsworth De Ahna, H. C. Hartman, T. Mahanny, J. A. Pew, E. W. Totheroth. W. H. Bayiess, George Doan, 8. Harvey, John D. McClaire, J. H. Printz, F. Trlmble, Binclair Boyle, 0. M. Dormer, J. M. Henderson, J. A. McDonnell, M. J. Regaudiat, A. J. P. Ward, L. Bryant. John Duffin, E. J. Michelson, 'Leo Reed, C. White, W. T Butler, T. M. Edgar, W. F. Mlddlelun A. B, Rickard, Wilson, U. Buchanan, C. A, Ellinghouse, E. C. January, b CHRONICLE CHAPEL-M. Dobrin, Chairman. Allen, J. B. Cullen, C. Gately. T. B. Higgins, H. E. Lawler, H. J. Pray, PAW. Alexander, @ W Davidson. A. D. Gnekow, F. E. Horn, N. R. Lindsay, Matt Schiegel, E. L. Armstrong, § W. Devine, E. P. Gibb, Harr Hughes, David Lozan, George H. Sparrow, A. R, Branch, G, Eger, W. F. Hackett, L. Hunter, H. A. Minor, B. T. Streeter, E. E. Collins, J. Fish, L. E. Harlow,'J. Irving, W. Ft Morse, J. A. Torres, Z. Collins, R. Francis, D. G. Hart, R. Kirk, W. 8. O'Brien, J. M. ‘Wainwrighs, J. 8, Crowell, G. C. Forbes, W. H. Hearn, Thomas ¥. Knell, G, H. DAILY REPORT CHAPEL—J. W. Kelly, | BULLETIN CHAPEL—J. T. Houston, | POST CHAPEL—E. R. Bushnell, Chair- Chairman. Chairman. man. Bunker, G. W. Murphy, J. A. Crittenden, C. E. Johnston, J. M. Ackerman, W. Co Mansfield, C. Coftin, O. C. Otofson, J. L. A, Dillon, G. B. Locke, J. B, Hawkes, C. E. Murschel, A. Cohen, Morris Sargison, E. K. Green, Joseph Older, H. Howard, C. A Sawyer, §, T. Cowpenhwnue, W. Titlow, J. O. Hazeltine, W. J. Phillips, F. Israelskv, Leo Smith, C. C. Hennessey, J. F. W-ndnu F. Hounston, J. T. Pierce, Miss E. B. James, R. A. Seaton, H. J. ster, E. C. W hite, D.'S. Higgins. R. Prentiss, J. A. Johnson, A. J. Wri‘ht, W. A, Wilcox, J. E. Irving, Miss M. 5 replied that in that case an injustice might be done to the ‘agent, but that no law on any subject could be framed that would not injure somebody. He added as an instance of dishonesty that one emvloyment firm in -San Francisco sent 8000 men to the Guadalupe Railroad section near San Jose to do work that coald be done by 600 men. His informant was Mr. Hood of the Southern Pacific Company, he said. He added that he had been informed that in yesterday’s issue of a newspaper was an advertisement from one firm calling for 600 men, when in fact he did not be- lieve that the employment agency had places for sixty. Mr. Morgenstern closed the argument by reiterating his statement that the bill was a Democratic job. If it was not for political capital why aid those mass- meetings pass resolutions that it was not for political effect. Mr. Fitzgerald replied that the resolu- tion was passed because Employment Agent Ready had stated six months ago that the resolution was for political effect. Mr. Morgenstern argued that the object of the bill to establish a free labor bureau was to drive all employment agents out of the business. The Labor Commissioner would be a competitor in business. Senator Morehouse called attention toa clause requiring the Labor Commissioner to keep secret the information he might gain from his inspection of the books of employment agents. He did not believe that the Legislature had a right to pass a law fixing fees or compensation so low that the a;ents could not make a living. He did not know whether 5 per cent was a sufficient or an 1sufficient compensa- tion for the employment agent. Ii the agent had to advertise or look abuut to find a suitable man he did not think that 5 per cent was & reasonable compensation. Agent Hansen was asked to describe to the committee the manner in which he transacted his business in the matter of furnishing help to employers. Mr. Han- sen told of the labor involved, of the ad- vertising expenses, of the correspondence with employers and of the other details that take up the time of the employment agent. “Suppose that T wanted askilled type- writer in my office, how would you set about getting me one?” asked Senator Morehouse. Mr. Hansen explained that he kepta register of applicants, with the length of their experience and their capacity, their references, etc. For this no charge was made. The charge for getting a position was 10 per cent for a position of that kind. There were other places for which only 5 per cent was charged. Mr. Hansen said that he averaged 400 or 500 men per month. He had four persons in his office assisting him in the business. In the majority of cases where a man was earning $20 a month he did not charge 10 per cent; he took $1 or $1 50, or 50 cents. He considered that the bill was an in- Iringement on his constitutional rights and said that if it became a law he would close his door and take his name off it. . Mr. Murray next made a statement. He made charges against Hansen ard other agents and created much laughter. The committee then went into executive ses- sion at 12:35 A. M. The committee at 1:15 A. M. decided to recommend the passage of the bill with some slight amendments in the wording. —— LOCAL LABuR VIEWS. Commissioner Fitzgerald Favored as a Champlon of Soclalism. Most of the locsl trade union leaders favor the Fitzgerald bill in a general way, because they regard it as a step toward socialism, and they are anxious to stop the abuses that have existed among cer- tain labor bureaus in the past. Theodore Lynch, speaking of the mat- ter, said: “Fitzgerald and his crowd might make political capital of the affair, but it is a step in the right direction any- how—a movement toward pure socialism —and it is such a millennium that all true friends of labor hail with joy. “Those who denounced THE CArL, how- ever, made a wild leap in the dark, for THE CALL simply gave the news of what the employment agents were doing; gave their speeches and contemplated move- ments, thus putting us in possession of real information.” Labor Agent Ready said: “Thisis a scheme of the Examiner to get our advertis- ing away from THE CALL. The Examiner sent us an agent named A. P. Sinclair, in- troduced by their Mr. A. Atkins, and he agreed to give us a page to fight Fiizger- ald and to aid us 1f we would take our ad- vertising away from THE CAL.. When we refused to accede to their terms they began to work on the labor unions.” P. Ross Martin smd: “Bills sumilar to Fitzgerald's have been adopted elsewhere. They are one step toward socialism, and socialists welcome them.” John W. Alexander, carpenter and labor orator, said: *“I am opposed to Fitzgerald and his bill. Tt is only a political scheme and it will cut many a workingman out of a job. Nonme but the Commissioner's political friends' can ever expect any favors 1f you once wipe out private indus- try in the agency line. It isa delusion to imagine that any political scheme of this kind is & move toward socialism. It is only a plan to give fat jobs to a lot of ex- haberdashers and political bums now in politics.”” Sam McKee of the Ironmolders’ Union does not take much stock in the State Labor Bureau or in any undertaking 1t may have. He said: *Ido notsee what particular good this bureau is as it has been conducted In the past. It was cre- ated for the laboring classes, but it has been converted into a soft snap for politi- ns. All the statistics it has gathered in the past have been taken from the daily newspapers, and as a rule the Labor Commissioners have published reports of labor matters to suit the employing class. “The latter have been able, by means vest known to themselves and the Com- missioners, to bhave published in the annual feports just such matter as best suited themselves and without regard to facts. This Free State Employment Bureau subject is savory of political bun- combe, with an increase in the appropria- tion from the State and a corresponding increase of good places for the political friends of the Governor and the Commis- missioner. “Fiizgerald may be sincerein his efforts, but who can tell wuat sort of a stick the next Labor Commissioner will be. And as to this union, [ do not believe that as a Continued on Second Page. —NO. 50. SAN FRANCIQCO TUESDAY MOR NG JANUARY 19, 1897. PRICE FIVE CENTS. i e L WHO IS L ABOR?S FRIEND? sompeteney it the sgont wers 1o WRECKED BY THE REBELS Dynamite Uséd to Blow Up the Spanish Gunboat Relampago. NAVAL TACTICS WITH- OUT A NAVY. Insurgents Cause Consternation While Regulars Are Ascends ing a River. BIG TORPEDOES PLANTED IN THE CHANNEL. While the Shipwrecked Crew Are Struggling in the Water They Are Fired Upon. HAVANA, Cusa, Jan. 18.—Though the insurgents have no navy, they do not hes- itate when the opportunity offers to attack the Spanish warships. The latest instance of this kind occurred yesterday morning, when a Spanish warboat was sunk by an explosion of a torpedo and many of her occupants were lost. The rebels had made an attack on Guama, some distance up the river, in the Province of Santiago de Cuba, and the Cuban troopsgfearing that they would not be able to hold it asked for assistance from Manzanillo, on the coast. Saturday night the gunboats Centeneli and Relampago left Manzanillo under orders to ascend the river and protect the forts. The commander of the gunboats made all possible speed in running up the river, but when they began to ascend the stream they proceeded very cautiously, suspecting the rebels might have planted torpedoes in the channel. All went well until the gunboats were opposite a place calied Mango, when, de- spite ail the precautions that had been taken, the Relampago struck a.torpedo. Instantly there was a terrific explosion and masses of water were hurled to a great height. The boat had a hole torn in her and she immediatel y began to sink. Those on board the ship who were not injured jumped into the river and made their way as best they could to Centeneli. As soon as it was seen what haa happened to the Relampaggthe Centeneli’s boats were ordered to the rescue. The rebels appeared to be in strong force on both sides of the river and when they saw the Spaniards in the water they directed a heavy rifle fire on ther. The Centeneli opened fire, but as their positions could only be determined by tha smoke from their guns, it is not believea any serious losses were inflicted upon them. When the C-nteneli’s boats went to the rescue of the men struggling in the water, the rebels fired upon them, but the Spaniards bravely proceeded in their work of rescue until all the men had been taken from the water. The commander of the Centeneli was so seriously wounded that doubts are held as to his recovery. The Centeneli returned to Manzanillo, where the news of the disaster caused in- tense excitement. Official reports of the accident say that the commander, second mate and three engineers of the Relampago were killed, and her boatswein, second officer and four sailors wounded. The pilot of the Centeneli was killed in the pilot-house, and the engineer and gunner and several sailors wounded. —_——— HOREORS OF WARFARE. Women Among Those Arrested and Im- prisoned With Criminals. KEY WEST, FraA., Jan. 18.—The follow- ing Havana news has been received here: By order of the civil government of Puerto Principe the following distinguished per- sons have been arrested in this city: Con- cepion Monegrante, widow of General Sanchez, and mother of Benjamin, Calixto, Armado, Alfredo and Eugenio Sanchez, all in the revolution, the latter (Eugenio) being Gomez’ physician; Maria Aguilar, sister of Antonio Aguilar Varona, ex- Cuban civil Governor of Puerto Principe. It is also rumored that President Cisueros and other prominent citizens have been arrested: also Jose y Liquias, Carlos Adan v Masvidal, Ramon Bosa y Bosa, Agra- monta Bosa, Jose Mora y Pera, Vincente Ramerez y Ledesma and many others. ‘I'he city is terribly excited, not only on account of these arrests, but also on account of the suppression of El Pueblo. Citizens wishing to leave are unable to do so, the Government prohibiting their departure. The condition of the jail is frightful. There are no acc>mmodations for Iadies, and those arrested are confined with common criminals. Gomez was last reported atfthe rancho La Campana, near Sancto Spiritus. There are many rebel movements in that section and Remedios. Gomez appears to be making & concentration of rebel forces preparatory to a formal advance. Ths Government is rushing troops to that section and establishing & strong line on the border of Matanzas and Santa Clara provinces. ft is said Gomez has given orders to begin the skirmishing policy and press no fights with the troops, but harass them until the dry seasoa is over. It appears Gomez will not come to Havana province yet, knowing he would be caught i trap, as this section affords no facilities to deploy his forces. There are no woods or hills, and besides it is crossed with too maony roads, raiiroad towns at a short dis- tance, etc. Then, too, Weyler would throw on Gomez 10,000 men Weyler has in biding. Gomez knows Weyler’s plan and is too smart to be canght. The condition of things is becoming alarming. Smallpox has extended to all wards of the city and has assumed fright- ful proportions. The death rate is 47 per