The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 8, 1898, Page 1

SAN FRANCISCO, TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 1898. PRICE FIVE CENTS. MILLIONS TO BE GIVEN FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS C0CC0000000000000 The Montgomery lead- ingthe Nashville. These two warships it was the intention of the admin- istration at Washington to send with relief sup- plies to the suffering Cubans, but in defer- ence to the sensitive feeling of the Spaniards this plan was changed and the supplies will be sent by the little steam- er Fern. The Mont- gomery will take the place of the ill-fated Maine in Havana harbor. 0000000C00CC000000 000000000000000000000000000020 DO000O0OCCO00O0000000000000000 1] s 000000C00000000000000000000000000000 | NOT A CENT FOR TRIBUTE. = WASHINGTON, March 7.—There was still some talk at the Capitol to-day about the proposition that Cuba buy her freedom through the guaranteeing of bonds by the American Government. Several Sene ators sald it was too late for such a plan to be successful. The only statesman who discussed the subject said Congress would never give its consent to such a proposition. It would appropriate all the money necessary for a fight, but not one dollar with which to purchase free- dom, now almost within Cuba’s grasp. 0000000000000 000000000000000O00000 | | | 0CC0COCCC0000 0000000000 | THE NAVY NOW BEING PUT IN TRIM FOR WAR It Is Apparent That the President Feels the Cou ntry Is Facing a Very Grave Crisis at This Moment. NEW ington s pendous preparations were inaugurated to-day by Secretary YORK, M Long to place the | 1 to defend the Unit- | ed States in c; of The prepara- | tions are due to the confident belief of the President and the Secretary of the | war. - dore W. S. Schley; expedition of the work of making repairs to vessels now out ot commission in order that they may be available for service at the earliest possible moment, and efforts made to hasten the completion of ships under construction. Preliminary arrangements are being made to form details of officers for the Navy that Congress will appropriate | auxiliary steamers and the issuance of the $50,000,000 “for national defense,” | orders to Assistant Naval Constructor as provided in the Cannon resolution. |J- G. Tawresey to report to Lieutenant- Tu-biieR Shetplats meludeiheliv clical | C;ommandcr J. D. J. Kelly at New { York, to assist him in the preparation of plans for transforming merchant steamers into auxiliary cruisers. The purchase of nautical instruments and equipments for vessels to take the place of those which may be destroyed in the € letion of negotiations for buying | foreign-built warships subject to their inspection by naval officers, who will proceed abroad immediately, and the ination to close the deals on this | detern condition at a conference to be held to- | event of hostilities and to be placed on | morrow; the issuance of orders to con- | board the new ships which the depart- [E:-3-2-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2-3-2-2- 3 INSPECT SHIPS = ACROSS THE SEA. 2| fageg=gu] NEW YORK, March 7.—A Wash- ington special to the Herald says: Secretary Long gave orders this afternoon to Commander W. H. Brownson, now on duty as a mem- ber of the Board of Inspection and Survey, to leave at once for Eng- land and France to inspect the ves- * sels which have been offered to this Government, and to report without delay If they are suitable for service in the United States navy. Commander Brownson will not only look at vessels which have been offered, but will examine other warships under construction for foreign nations, and should he report that any are desirable and ready for sea this Government will undoubtedly enter into negotia- tions with the nations which or- dered the ships, looking to their sale to the United States. Py ooy R T- -1 T - -2 2 2= T-2 -1 1 sentative of Vickers Sons & Maxim. | Limited, of England, who have two | small battle-ships—one cruiser and one | torpedo-boat—for sale, and with a rep- | resentative of Thornycroft, who has ar- rived in Washington and who has placed four torpedo-boat destroyers at the disposal of this Government. It was intended by the department to have Senator Hale, chairman of the Senate Naval Committee, and Repre- sentative Boutelle, chairman of the House Naval Committee, wt the depart- ment to confer with the officials and agents of foreign countries, but the members of Congress failed to put in | an appearance, and the department was | compelled to postpone final action un- o o & QQQ‘QCECEQQQGQGUQDCDQD fisfidfl‘flafid‘bfib‘oOflofiflfitflt‘flfi MONTGOMERY o TO BE SENT TO CUBA’S CAPITAL Once More a Yankee Warship| Will Lie Grimly Under the Guns of Morro Castle. WASHINGTON, March 7.—There were no less than five important events to-day having a bearing more or less direct upon the troubled re- lations between the United States and- Spain, viz.: The introduction in Congress by Cannon of a resolu- tion carrying $50,000,000 for the purpose of defense ; the withdrawal fageg=R:RagaFegegegeReFugegaFugege TROUBLE FOR SPAIN IN THE PHILIPPINES. LONDON, March 8.—A dis- patch ‘to the Daily Mail from Hongkong says that a fresh re- bellion has broken out in the 9000606006006 606666666060660 9000000000009 000000000Q STATESMEN BELIEVE WAR IS INEVITABLE. & o a4 @ lieved war impossible, say tries. Senator Cullom, who is a & opinion that Spain and the as they occur. X PO £ XS the Lee matter. °e o 9o i’® practically a unit in voting & defense. 994650000000606060 R RCRORCRORCRORCRCRCE A A g SPANISH D demning, but as a matter of o WASHINGTON, March 7.—The situation to-night is , more feverish than it has been at any time. conservative men in Congress, who have heretofore be- drawing steadily to hostilities between the two coun- President McKinley has no critics in Congress. lations Committee, has for several days entertained the drifting into war. He was more outspoken to-day. “This latest move of Spain is conclusive proof that the two @ governments are going to fight,” said he- There was an understanding to-day that the Presi- dent will no longer attempt to conceal the facts, but that every diplomatic move made between Spain and the United States will be promptly bulletined, and that Con- gress will be informed of the developments as rapidly It is understood that the President is considering the advisability of sending to Congress this week the correspondence from American Consuls Cuba relating to the war, the progress of autonomy plans and -all other facts that have been called for by the resolutions adopted by the two houses. dent probably realizes that if he does not send a speedy response to this request of Congress he may provoke a quarrel, and possibly an introduction of the resolution threatened by Senator Morgan a few days ago. There is'no doubt that while inflammatory speeches may be made, Congress is more Inclined now than ever before to wait upon the judgment of the President. Senators and members are fully alive to the President’s vigorous policy and are willing to trust the matter in his hands since he made known his reply to Spain in But as Congress has the power of de- claring war, it will probably insist on being fully ad- vised of every step taken, not for the purpose of con- publicans and Democrats indicates that all ideas of economy have vanished and that Congress will be IV FIND PROOF GRIMLY GETTING READY FOR WAR WITH SPAIN 4660660 566 02000 ® 2000 @00 ®6 ©& XS XS ®> XS X XY X LS ©s °& ©s X S e © s & ©e e e o L4 ¢ ®e e o e LA d a4 a4 L a4 e ®e @ ©® @@ ® > L g & e The most that a chain of events is member of the Foreign Re- United States were rapidly in The Presi- The right. The talk of both Re- appropriations for national b6 o0 @ ERS @ S d @ o e e ®o ©o b4 @ ®o COS® oo oo ERS o E OUTSIDE EXPLOSION Have So Reported Very Much to the Constern ation of the Captain-General and His Advisers. PR T T D U by the Spanish Government of its intimated objection to the continu- ance in office of Consul-General Lee ; the order of the cruiser Montgomery to proceed to Havana in place of the Fern; the passage through the House of the bill increasing the artillery arm by two regiments, and the institution of negotiations look- ing to the purchase of warships for our navy. Cannon’s resolution probably Ied LOORRLRO00CQO OO +HEE PP E L AL Philippines, and that fifty-three Spanish soldiers have been killed. No further details are known at Hongkong. 30 30£ 308 30¢ 308 30¢ 308 X0F S0 308 308 306 308 40 30 X ish suggestion that a transport or merchant ship undertake this car- riage of relief supplies. The sending of the Montgomery to Havana is primarily intended to replace the Fern, which is now at tractors to furnish enough munitions of | war to replenish the magazines of the | men-of-war now in commission in case | they should suddenly become exhaust- ed; the execution of agreements with coal-dealers for a large supply of coal to be shipped at once to Key West, and the commencement of arrangements to m: further and larger contracts; the instructions to recruiting dispatch of rendezvous at New York, Philadel- phia and Norfolk, and to the command- the United States ship , Pa, to enlist as chinists and petty of- landsmen, as it is ; orders to Comman- wdleton, the inspector of ¢ Washington Navy- yard to place three shifts of men on duty at the Washington gun foundry and to keep them working every hour in the twenty-four to assemble and fin- ish the guns building there; the forma- tion of crews and details of officers for the commerce-destroyer Columbia, and the proposition toformaflyingsquadron composed of this vessel and the ar- mored cruisers Brooklyn and New York, under the command of Commo-| of ordnance a ment has in view is also provided for. That the administration is preparing to face a grave situation and that it in- tends to be ready when the emergency comes is apparent from the prepara- tions. Preparations take time, and now that the official sanction of the Presi- dent, with that of Congress to follow to-morrow, has been given to their making, the officials of the Navy De- partment are not delaying a moment in their accomplishment. This has been a busy day for officials and for contractors. Secretary Long, Captain O’Neill and Commander Brad- ford, the two last named gentlemen Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Chief of the Bureau of Equipment, have been frequently in consultation with contractors during ‘the day, and have been sending telegraphic and mail in- structions to dealers whose representa- tives were not on the ground to execute additional contracts and to hasten the work now in their shops. The most significant development of the day at the Navy Department was that resulting from the conference held by Secretary and Assistant -Secretary Roosevelt with Thomas F, Lane,.repre- til to-morrow. all other topics of interest, particu- | Havana. The Montgomery is an un- e ROV C RO N BOSTON, Mass., March 7.—A Ha- ]vel:glflon,i hiubudnlof :lt;:i:g their 1 says: . The Spanish div- | Previous opinion, only tended to con- S SPGC::d toy‘be investfgnting thejflm it. These reports have thor- 28 SRr g for th oughly alarmed the palace, although causes of the Maine disaster for the |, o0 o9 the divers’ investigation information of the Spanish Court ?t | is still to be kept up to satisfy public Inquiry nave been proceeding in | opinion and enable Spain to contro- such a leisurely fashion as to excite vert the report of the Sampson Court It was supposed at first of Inquiry by being able fo present a report of their own experts to sub- | stantiate the Spanish claim that the comment. that the divers were simply follow- RIFLES SOLD TO UNITED STATES FIRMS. NEW YORK, March 7.—A special to the Herald from Ottawa says: All Snider, Enfield, Peabody and other rifles now in store here have been sold to firms in the United States. The Sniders still in the posséssion of the rural corps will not be called in until some system is devised for the storing the Lee-Enfields in proper armories. ‘The Snider rifle was taken out of the hands of the city battalions last year when they were equipped with the new Lee-Enfield magazine rifle. There are also in store at Quebec and Montreal stands of Martini-Henry rifles suffi- cient to arm 50,000 men, which have never been in use. This rifle was sup- planted in the British army two years ago by the Lee-Metford rifle. e First Gun for Narrowstone Point. PORT TOWNSEND, March 7.—The first gun for the defense of Puget Sound arrived yesterday and was un- loaded tp-day at Narrowstone Point, where the United States fortifications are in course of construction. The gun will be placed in position as speedily as possible. The gun is of ten-inch cal- iber, and it is stated that another gun will arrive in ten days. armored cruiser of 2089 tons, with an armament of ten guns. The plans of the Navy Depart- ment are to have’ the Montgomery start for Havana at once, in order that the Fern may return to Key West in time to take on the relief .supplies reaching there next Wednes- ‘day. It will be the second visit of the Montgomery to Cuba, as she has only recently returned from a trip to Santiago de Cuba and Matanzas. Captain Crowninshield, chief of the Bureau of Navigation, says that no time has been fixed for the stay of the Montgomery at Havana, as the only decision thus far. reached is that she will replace the Fern there at present The Montgomery will be the first United States war ship at Havana since the Maine disaster. The per- sonnel of the Montgomery is: Com- mander, Converse; - lieutenant- larly when it became known that it | | was the result of a conference be- tween the author, the President, Senator Hale and other leading spirits in Congress. The decision of the Navy Depar- ment concerning the sending of ships to Cuba was made known at 2 .o'clock this afternoon, when the fo!- lowing statement was posted by the Bureau of Navigation : “ Montgom- ery will relieve the Fern at Havana. Fern will carry provisions to Mg- tanzas and Sagua la Grande.” This conclusion was reached after * conferences between the officials cf the State and Navy departments, and is understood to be such an ad- Jjustment as will not lead to further objection by the Spanish Govern- ment. The Fern is a dispatch boat with- out heavy armanent or guns, although she belongs to the navy and js tech- nically a naval vessel. > As she comes as near being a transport as anything in our naval service, her selection will-accord with-the-Span--- commander and executive officer, Bald ; navigator, Lieutenant Hutch- Continued on Second Page L ing the usual Spanish methods of doing nothing to-day which could be postponed until to-morrow, and of doing no more work than was abso- lutely forced upon them. ‘Whereas, our divers stay under water for three | hours, the Spaniards, after being | down twenty minutes or half an hour come to the surface and rest for an | hour or so. Apparentiysthey do more talking and cigarette smoking than diving. I have it on unimpeachable au- thority that there is considerable method in this easy-go-lucky fash- jon of the Spaniards. They are all good men and understand their busi- ness. Their first day’s investigations showed them that the Maine must have been blown up from the out- side, and they so reported to their superior officers. The divers were tinen orucred to continue their research in the hope that a more careful study of the for- | ward portion of the vessel might re- veal something on which to base an | opinion . that the explosion was due ‘to-internal causes. This further in- explosion was due to a lack of dis- cipline and negligence on tae part of the officers of the Maine. The Spanish divers have been or- dered to work as slowly as possible to demonstrate the thoroughness of their work compared with that of our court so as to create the impres- sion in the minds of the Spanish | populace that the American court’s verdict exonerating Captain Sigsbee and his officers of all blame is made simply to shield them and cover up the facts. The Spaniards in their dense igno- rance will be more than ever certain. American navy officers do not know how to handle their ships and they will feel sure the Vizeaya and Almi- rante Oquendo, now in this harbor, are more ‘han a match for the entire United States ravy. this is not mere boasting; it comes from the profound conviction of the Spanish that the Americans are cowards and can fight neither on . Continued on Second Pass.