The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 30, 1898, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1898. NOT FOR PEACE AT ANY PRICE Senators in Favor of War! With Spain Introduce Resolutions. Mason of Illinois Makes a Most Sensational Speech in Which He Demands From Castilians. Call Office, Riggs House, Washington, March 29, Interest in the Cuban situation—the t might almost be nt, so intense wa ‘ the proceedings of the Sen- . As on previous days of the Cuban question, thou- people flocked to the C a few whe gain admission to the galleries. 1 five minutes after the Senate convened Allen of Nebraska introduced a resolution recognizing the independ- ence of the Cuban republic. This was by a resolution proposed by | of Utah, declaring war against | Spain. il of Vermont, from the Finance reported a joint resolution for the importation, free of military supplies secured th United S and | liate c ration. i s passed. | on bearing upon | re then intro- taining a lively | n of Nebraska, | -pendence of Cuba. was, at his request, | laid on the A decl. war was next intro- ducec of Utah. er r of Ohio then pre- sen € recoenizing the in- | depende tba and favoring Foraker asked | go to the Foreign He said that his long delayed. to present it on last De t that ti r the report of That report is no on Foreign Rela- ay be done as to the ')n must come on | Cuban question.” ¢ he hoped at a at the Senate lution. said he had not intend- lution at this time. but | rs proposed he would he had prepared. ons wel all, except Al- d to the Committee on For- ns. clusion of the presentation Illinols n of was erday. due to the coun- ral expression ge of ye: said he believed it wa try now to know the ge and Intention of the members of the Senate. V le he would not apologize for discu g the Cuban question at this time, he did not intend by so do- ing any espect either to the Admin- istration or to the Committee on For- elgn Relations when he said that he was tired of the dilatory tactics that had been employed for three ye: prevent assistance from the States to the Cubans. He continued: “More than two s ago the plan of the Spanish Government to starve the women and children and mnon-comba- tants was begun. Every intelligent man, woman and child was informed of it through the ordinary channels of in- formation, the newspapers, and by the statements of disinterested witnesses, day after day, week after week, month | after month and year after year, and it | had received practically no attention | from thisGovernment until some of the members of this body visited the scenes of death and distress and brought back | to the United States, on their words of honor, that no picture had been drawn by the hat fully stated sthe hor- ler of concentration d at least 800 Ameri with the centrados to let them out and living. It ime; citizens sed n and refu 1 line dier that kept the rec or self-respecting ne would have ordered | and better treatment, or| v would have opened the gate | on Morro Castle. This Govern- | ment, however, upon the suggestion of the President, took $50,000 of the peo- Jle's money out of the treasury of the Inited States and begged permission pain for the privilege of feeding our } zens American bread on Spanish I am not complaining; I am not | g: there is no other such re- | A1l the history of the world. T peat this humiliating statement ention to the fact that every has been made by the Presi oncentrado: cord in only been construed by Spain to be an act of co e and absolute | and conclusi dence that we are| ity power and every ireful consideration on our | Spain more cruel to her own people, and more insulting to u | Mason then turned his attention to| the destruction of the Maine, saying: | “The battle-shin Maine, our gallant| ship, went dc and 268 of our gallant | sailors with At the time every| citizen of the United States familiar| with the Spanish character felt confi- | dent it was Spanish treachery. Our ship was there by right of custom, ten- | dered hospitality, and also by treaty contract she had an absolute right be there. he day closed and she ro the harbor a messenger of peace. night, a natural and proper time for | spoken expre to | po; de | ing the Windward Passage, about forty No | miles off the coast Satisfaction e e 74 _,// ey N VESSELS OF THE AUXILIARY FLEET. MINES AND TORPEDOES Shore Connections Estab- lished—Electrical Ap- paratus Adjusted. Submarine Agencies Can Be Placed in This Bay on Shcrt Notice. Captain Danes’ Battery I, From Angel Island, Takes Station at the Presidio. The engineers of the Pacific division of the United States army, who are charged with the duty of planting tor- pedoes and submarine mines to defend the harbor of San Francisco, have their work well advanced. Colonel Charles R. Suter, Major William H. Heuer and Major Charles E. L. B. Davis of the Engineer Corps have conducted their MAYFLOWER. e DA benaenrnyour cxecu | inconsistent with _the national | honor of Spain. Our only offer was to restore peace alike honorable toi all Our treasury had been opened to feed Definite plans were mnot the President, fear- ations with Spain. own in- ping na- 1jure n could not c rgents. Had we been a g - could at any time ave made aggressive takin, Spain and of | he misfor- e night came on, a dark, gloomy sh ‘bravery.” Our men were | in a friendly harbor. They were 1 to display their cour- age. ey were not whipped in honor- able battle, but choked, burned, stran- gled and drowned without a chance to | die fighting for life, without a moment to say a prayer. In the twinkling of an eye they stood in the presence of their Make! Suppose ninety of them had been United States Senators. Suppose the ance had been members of Con- gress or made up of Judges and leading professional and business men, would forty days have elapsed before war be- gan? Or suppose each Senator had a son or a father there? Do we tell our children the truth when we say that the life of every American citizen is of equal value v were not Sene Their widow us. The silent appeal of seamen comes to us again and again, ‘We are flesh of your flesh, bone of your bone we d and shields --ou.’ Shall we President, I and blood of your blood; died for the flag that o What is to be our answer with mon speak only for myself, and 1 am for | war.” (Applause in the galleries.) | “But gentlemen may say: ‘Don’t say | you are for war—say that you are for | armed intervention, which means war.’ | 1 belive in calling things by their right | name. If we belive that murdering our | men, sinking our ships and lowering | our flag s mot cause for war, say o | and refer it, as they did the Virginius | affair, and allow our brothers to be sold like stock for gold. If it is a cause for war, let us assume the responsibility | put upon us by the constitution and say s0, not only to Spain, but to the whole world. Let us not say one thing and mean another. For God's sake, let | us not Spanify our diplomacies, but | rather speak the truth and prove our- | selves Blaine. “I shall oppose any plan to assist | Spain to place any kind of autonomy | on Cuba. Spain cannot be trusted to keep her promise, and we cannot un- | dertake to compel her to. Aside from | that poor Cuba has paid a larger price for liberty than we did, and she must | be fre I shall oppose any plan that | looks to forcing Cuba in the future to | pay Spain in cash for her liberty. Her | land is full of ves and her future | generations must not be mortgaged. WILL DECLARE FOR FORCIBLE INTERVENTION Resolution Likely to Be Reported by | the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. WASHINGTON, March 29.—Much in- terest is felt in the meeting of the Sen- ate Committee on Foreign Relations, which is called from 10:30 a. m. to- morrow to consider the various reso- Jutions introduced in the Senate. The only question of doubt is whether the ommittee will take action at its sitting to-morrow. In view of the records of the members on the Cuban question and their present attitude, there is no uncertainty that their action will be pronour 1ly favorable to the Cubans. Members of the committee individually s the opinionthatthecom- mittee will report a resolution declaring for forcible intervention. Such is the urport of all the resolutions intro- duced to-day, and the reneral feeling is that any less radical action would be of no avail. true disciples of James GA} sh e =t Watching the Windward Passage. KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 29— Captain Paine of the British steamer Belvidere, from Boston, March 24, for Port Antonio, which arrived here, re- rts that a Spanish ironclad is watch- | thirty destroyers of from TALKS OF PEACE, PLANS FOR WAR President McKinley Now Proposes to Build Many Boats. Is Probable One Hundred Torpedo-Boatsand Destroy- ers Will Be Ordered. It Seven Million Dollars to Be Expended in Strengthening the Navy at Its Weakest Point. Special Dispatch to The Call. NEW YORK, March 29.—A Washing- ton special to the Herald says: Presi- dent McKinley is considering the ad- visability of investing $7,000,000 in the | one hundred torpedo Should construction of destroyers and torpedo-boats. there be any of the peace negotiations now in pro- BT there is no doubt in the minds of naval officials that the President will authorize the expenditure of this sum of money in order that the navy may be strengthened at its weakest point. In anticipation of the direction of the President to build the boats plans for their hulls and machinery have been prepared and contracts can be let as soon as the decision is formally an- nounced. The proposition to build one hundred torpedo boat destroyers and torpedo boats arose as a result of the failure of agents of this Government abroad to purchase satisfactory vessels of these types. Up to the present time but two torpedo boats, one a sea-going boat and the other intended only for harbor de- fense, have been secured and the au- thorities admit that there is little likeli- | hood that any more boats will be purchased. In view of this fact Secretary Long directed Chief Naval Constructor Hich- born and Engineer-in-Chief Melville to report to him the number, displacement and cost of torpedo-boat destroyers and orpedo boats which should be built by this Government. This report was submitted to Secretary Long to-day, and has been presented to the Presi- dent for official consideration. I under- stand that the report of -the officials recommends the construction of about 325 to 350 tons displacement, capable of making a maximum speed of thiry knots an hour, and to be built within a period of four or five months. The torpedo boats are to be each of about 100 tons displace- ment and capable of making a speed of from twenty to twenty-two knots. The boats must be completed within ninety days. MARSH DECLARES WAR ON SPAIN. WASHINGTON, March 29.—Repre- sentative Marsh of Illinois, chairman of the House Committee on the Militia, to-day introduced a joint resolution de- claring war between the Government of Spain and its dependencies and the United States and her territories. It is as follows: “That war be and the same is hereby declared to exist between the Govern- ment of Spain and her dependencies and the United States and her terri- tories, and that the President of the United States is hereby authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the United States, including the militia and the naval militia thereof, to carry the same into effect.” | | | office to-day was the evidence of the failure | | “An | together with another who was LETTER OF AN ADMIRER An Interesting Feature of the. Report on the Maine Disaster. iAnonymous Information Con- cerning an Alleged Plot and Death of Plotters. But the Story Sent to the Havana Consulate Wus Inaccurate and Could Not Be Verified. Bpectal Dispatch to The Call. Call Office, Riggs House, ‘Washington, March 29. An interesting feature of the lished report of the Maine testimony ued from the Government printing famous anony- mous letter mentioned in the testimony A - An ¢ >nry Drain, clerk of the Ameri- consulate at Havana. The letter received by General Lee a few ys after the Maine disaster. It was dated February 18, 1898, and signed, Admirer.” It was in Spanish, written apparently by a fairly well ed- ucated person. It follows: It should be remembered that at dawn on the day of the terrible catastrdphe an individual was killed in a small boat, foun They were go- wounded and a prisoner. | ing about the crulsers Maine and Alfonso | XI1, and as the sald individuals are of the worst antecedents as harbor thieve: I have interested myself in investiga ing what connection this occurrence could | have had with the explosion of the Maine, and I have discovered that these two men, together with another, who is called Pepe Taco, had bought in a hardware store in Mercadores street, called Marina, a hose such as is used by divers, and that the three left Regla in a small boat, which they placed under the wharves of Santa Catalina, and they were loitering about more than an hour and a half, while Pepe Taco, who is a caulker and diver, probably the best in these part: did the work to bring about the expi sion of the Maine. With this data I went to Regla and discovered that the fami of the dead man, who lived in the u most misery in a'hut in Rodriguez Bap- tista street, had moved to a well-fur- nished one on Gelabert street. There I learned that they had agreed with some merchants of uralla street for the work of blowing up the ship for the sum of $6000—3$2000 in advance and the other $4000 after seeing the result. But, as they did not come out of the adventure very well, having been at- tacked when they were retiring, the re- sult of which was the death of one, who left his teeth in the boat, and another one wounded, the third one has not yet pre- sented himself to collect the rest of the money, and it could be probably secretly done that, by paying him the rest that the others wiil not now pay him, he would declare_the truth of all this. The one whom I called the third party is the diver, Pepe Taco, who is unwounded, who is no doubt afraid to present himself to collect the rest. In Muralla street, they tell me, was the place where the business was arranged with Gareia Corujedo, Vil- las Ussa, Maribona and others whom [ do not remember. The man who is arrest- ed is being administered with morphine constantly to see if he will die and not give evidence, so as not, they express it, to spoil the affair after it has come off so much to their taste. 1 certify that the above is a true copy. A. MARIX, Lieutenant-Commander, U. 8. N.,” and Judge-Advocate. Drain, the consular clerk, stated in his evidence that an effort was made to ascertain the authenticity of the let- ter, although the consulate was hand- icapped, having no secret service fund, Witness discovered, however, that the name Pepe Taco must have been a mistake, as the man mentioned died a few days before the explosion took place. Witness thought the name should have been Pepe Barquin, who died a couple of days after the explo- slon. pub- | operations with great activity and re- markable secrecy. General Shafter, commanding the De- | partment of California, having th | right to know everything | the fortifications of the harbor, was ad- | vised yesterday of the progress which had been made by the engineer officers. | It transpires that the bay and the | channels of the Golden Gate have been Ichfl.x‘led and locations designated for the mines and floating torpedoes. Shore connections have been established and electrical apparatus for wiring the mines and torpedoes has been adjusted. It has been known to a few on the in- vigorously to get everything in proper shape for the protection of the harbor, | but it was not developed until yester- day that so much advancement in the work had been made. Orders were received yesterday from General Nelson A. Miles, “ommanding | the United States army, directing that | at all artillery posts, not already pro- vided with suitable charts, post com- manders will have compiled the best charts possible for the use of their re- spective commands. The charts are to be prepared by detail of officers and men from such data as may be on hand | or readily obtainable. Suitable base | 1ines will be laid off, carefully measured | and accurately marked on the harbor | chart. Where no range and position finder has been installed, requisition will be | made on the Ordnance Department for | an auxiliary range and position finder, | in which the height in feet of the in- strument station above mean low tide shall be stated. Where necessary to supplement, or be used in place | of the range finder, base end instru- | ments will be asked for. Requisitions will include platting board material. In | the meantime arrangements will be im- provised for position finding. Where electrical installations have not already been made, requisitions on the Signal Department will be at once forwarded for necessary telephones, tel- ephone and telegraph materials for connecting the batteries, base ends and platting stations. At posts where 8-inch converted rifles and 10 and 16 inch smoothbore guns are already mounted and bearing upon channels, and especially upon the pro- posed location of mine fields, post com- manders will place them in as perfect condition as possible, and will report the result of an accurate inspection of these guns, carriages, platforms, in- struments, equipments and ammunition |in the quarterly report to be made March 31. The report which will be forwarded from this military department to-mor- row will be elaborate and interesting. It will show what has been done on the lines directed by the orders from head- quarters of the army in Washington. By direction of General Shafter, Cap. tain Henry C. Danes’ Battery I, Third Artillery, was yesterday transferred from Angel Island to barracks at the Presidio. The wooden quarters near the hospital that were occupied by the light batteries when the Fifth Artil- lery was stationed at the Presidio were occupied again last evening. The or- der of transfer directed the battery to report to Colonel Evan Miles, com- manding officer at the Presidio, as a part of the garrison of the Fort Point fortifications. No time was lost by the artillerymen In getting away from Angel Island. The transportation was immediately provided by the Govern- ment steamer General McDowell. There remain at Angel Island the headquar- ters of the Third Artillery Regiment, the band and Battery G. The trans- fer was rendered necessary by the ex- tra duty required in mounting and car- ing for the guns at Fort Point. Captain Sigsbee Reports. WASHINGTON, March 29.—Captain Sigsbee visited the Navy Department reporting his arrival and expressing his readiness to assume any duties that the department wished to assign him. He is well known at the department, having served as chief of the hydro- graphic office, and his return after the dramatic and tragic experience he has passed through attracted the greatest interest of officials, subordinates and the throngs of tourists who just now happen to be making the Navy De- partment a center of their observa. tions. concerning | side that the engineers were working | to Blow to the 29.—The Journal | publishes the following Washington | special: In abstracts sent out last| night the most significant portion re- | lating to the plot to blow up the Maine was omitted. These portions are re- garded by a few naval officials who have seen them as of greater impor- tance than any other part of the evi- | dence. The name of one witness is not given In the testimony for obvious rea- sons, for fear of Spanish harm to him. | This man testified to a (‘nn‘»’ersali(!n! between Spanish officers relating to the destruction of the Mame. A part of the transcript relative to this follows: Examined by Judge Advocate (through interpreter)—I have heard that on Tuesday morning you over- | heard a certain conversation which re- | ferred to the possible sinking of the | Maine. Will you please state to the | court all you can in regard to that mat- ter? BOSTON, March Interpreter—At about half-past 7 on a the morning of the 15th he was sitting on the front seat in the bow of the ferry-boat; there were about four feet | distant three officers, two of the army one of the navy, of Spain, and besides a citizen, a stout man about 50 years of age. They were conversing about the Maine. He said one of the army officers said in the Circulo Militaro (the military club here on the Prado). “that is nearly arranged.” The citi- zen inquired, “Will not making ex- plosions in the bay run a great risk to the city of Havana?’ The citizen inquired that from the Spanish officer | who made the first remark. He says that the officer replied “No.” That it was arranged so that it would si nply{ explode, open the vessel and she would ink immediately. Then the other man, with an exclamatjon apparently = ADVERTISEMENT: SPANISH OFFICERS GUILTY Proof Given of Their Plot Up the Maine. Most Significant Portions of the Evidence Before the Court of Inquiry Not Given Out Public. of joy, said, “I will take plenty of beer on that occasion.” At that moment a cartman came fors ward and one of the men touched the other and stopped the conversation, and then he could not hear any more, He said they kept on speaking, bug he did not hear any more. Judge Advocate—What was the firsy remark made by the army officer? Interpreter—That he had heard in the Circulo Militaro that the plans were all arranged, and that they were going to blow her up anyhow; that it was a shame to Spain that she should be hera in the bay. A lieutenant said: “Then if you blow her up, there would be an- other one come,” and a superior offices said: “They would take care not te send another.” Judge-Advocate—What was the char- acter of the uniform of the army offi- cers? Interpreter—One was a lieutenant and the other had stars down below the stripes. He had two stripes, which would indicate that he was from a ma- jor upward. He also had a belt which would indicate that he is of a general's staff. Judge-Advocate—What was the color of the uniform? Interpreter—All of that little stripe that they wear here. Blue linen. The marine officer was dressed in dark blue, but he did not notice the insignia that he had on it at all. Judge-Advocate—Which one of the army officers made the remark you spoke about, the staff officer or the lieu- tenant? Interpreter—The staff spoke with the citizen. officer. He N & CO., Murphy Bldg., sell ANDARD" shirts® J. J. 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