The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 30, 1898, Page 1

1his Paper « to be taken . the Librar Call B e ————— . % emae § - The SAN FRANCISCO, DEWEY'S FLEET ARRIVES ATURDAY, APRIL 30, 189S. PRICE FIVE CENTS OFF THE HARBOR OF MANILA THE POWERFUL SPANISH FLEET WHICH LEFT CAPE VERDE YESTERDAY. SPAIN’S TORPEDO FLEET LEAVES THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS AFTER MANY DAYS The Strongest of the Ships Sail Westward, but That May Be. Only a Ruse Americans a Scar Copyrightad, 15%, by James Gordon Bennett. ST. VINCENT, CAPE VERDE ISLANDS, April 29.—The Spanish squadron, composed of four first—‘ cruisers; three torpedo-destroyers, three tofpedo-boats and a transport ship cias been in this harbor for some time, left this morning. to Give the €. nd collier, which have I am told that the Spanish admiral received sailing orders from Madrid late last night. These orders, however, were sealed and will not be made known to the officers and crews of the ships until they are on the high seas. It is asserted here by high authority that the reason for the departure of the squadron was because of representations by the American Government to Lisbon. There was great activity on board the Spanish fleet for the last day or two. masters wvisited the city, paid all the ‘bills and gave shopkeepers to understand that.they would soon lose th ir Spanish customers. Part of the fleet sailed out of the harbor by Washington Head at of the cruisers and the torpedo-boat destroyers Furor, two cruisers, followed Cadiz and the In the and upon caya, Al destroyers, ante Oquendo, Infanta Maria Teresa and Cristobal Colon 1 Terror and Pluton. the torpedo-boats Ariete, Azor and Rayo, together with the transports Ciudad de rmed coilier San Francisco, left the harbor of St. Vincent. . in a westerly direction, presumably for Cuba or Porto Rico. Yesterday the pay- 7 o’cluc.k. : About an hour later the other time the first section of the squad-dn, which had left the harbor, was waiting outside, rrival of the second division signals were given from the flagship and the cruisers Viz- , followed by the three torpedo-boat The remainder of the fleet, torpedo-boats and transport and collier, at once steamed in a north=rly direction. The torpedo-boats, with.the transport-and collier, which steamed north, returned to port in a few hours. one of the fleet. The reason given was that one of the torpedo-boats had been slightly damaged in collision with The vessels are expected to start out again in a few hour Although the fleet divided and the powerful boats sailed west and othzr vessels sailed in a north- erly direction, toward the Canaries, 1 have it from a person in authority that all the vessels will ulti- mately go to the Canaries, where they will be joined by the battleship Pelayo and other warships now cruising in the Mediterranean. NEW YORK, April 29.—A Wash- | ington special to the Herald Spain’s fleet has sailed from Cape Verde Islands in two divisions, one of which sailed north toward the Ca- nary Islands and the other went to- - WILL BOMBARD MATANZAS AGAIN says: * ward Porto Rico. NEW YORK, april 29.—The An unsigned dispatch reached the|* 1llerald’s Washington correspon- ¥ State Department ihis afternoon an- :r“ i .:fi:fi;hflflul;:}':,f;fi; © nouncing that the first dxvxsx.on, ap- Toliowr It iCanaral HiAnes . mues parently bound for the Canaries, had ny attempt to replace the bat- * returned to St. Vincent on account of a collision. . It is believed by the administration and naval officials teries demolished by Admiral Sampson. Official dispatches from Ad- that this dispatch was instigated by | ’\’]1”*1 Sampson received at the the Spanish authorities, and it is|’ ™ Deyar‘trx]rwnzhnm;rhsv lo:l i i ~ oL e mbdardment, therefore regarded with considerable which the Herald so fully doubt. 1 Four armored cruisers—the Almir- | : ante Oquendo, the Vizcaya, the In- fanta Maria Teresa and the Cristobal Colon, and three torpedo-boat de- stroyers, the Terror, Furor and Osado —formed the division which sailed aphicall~ described ye: v morning. The only explanation he makes tor the zas fortificatic covered the erecting heayv: he deemed it HLLACK On slacan- is thot he baniards guns there, and vedient to demol- were ish them. He adds that the Pur- westward. : | # itan-will be sent back to Matz The division which started morth |« zas with orders to destroy an consisted of three torpedo-boats— |# new batteries that may be Ariete, Azor and Rayo, the auxiliary erected. #* cruiser Ciudad de Cadiz and the Eng- lish collier, from which tne fleet coaled before it sailed. It was this i division which was reported to have the return of the division composed suffered an accident and returned to |of the torpedo-boats on account of a port. | collision. Had the message simply The announcement of the depart- |stated that the torpedo-boats had re- ure of the Spanish men-of-war |turned on account of a collision, even reached the State Department this|had it been unsigned, the department morning, and it was confirmed by | might have put some faith in it, but private information received here. It |the reiteration of the news of the was this announcement which caused | sailing of the fleet caused officials to the officials to look upon the message | regard the information with suspi- subsequently received as of Spanish |cion. The dispatch was probably ad- origin. | dressed to the department, but the Notwithstanding the report made | absence of the Consul’s name and the by the American Consul in the morn- | further fact that it was not in cipher ing that the fleet had sailed, the dis- | were regarded as significant indica- patch this afternoon reiterated this |tion of the source of the message. pews, and furthermore announced| As the Spanish force has not been * HWEEXXERRERXRRE R | reinforced by the battle-ship Pelayo, the protected cruiser Alfonso XIIT | nd second torpedo-boat flotilla at adiz, the authoritles do not believe hat it will come west, despite the |fact that the armor-clads and de- | stroyers sailed in the direction of iPorto Rico. It is generally be- !lieved in naval circles that the ships will proceed to the Canary Islands, where they will await the arrival of reinforcements from Spain and will then come west. In order that the authorities may |be advised without delay it the veb. }sels are bound to Porto Rico, the St. | Louis er Harvard will be sent to the # | eastward of Porto Rico to ascertain - | the fleet’s position, if bound for that | point, and when this information is " |secured will hasten with all speed- . |to where the armored fleet of the American Government will be in waiting. | Considerable relief is expertenced in naval circles over the dcparture of Spain’s fleet from St. Vincent, for the reason that the safety of the bat- tle-ship Oregon is now believed to be assured. The accuracy of the Her- ald’s cable advices 1s shown by the fact that while the Navy Depart- meént learned yesterday that the tor- pedo gun vessel Temerario, belong- ing to the Spanish navy, had gone to sea, the Herald announced this morning that it had only gone to La Plata. The arrival of the Temerario |at La Plata was confirmed by of- | ficial advices received here to-day. Secretary Long is now confident that the Oregon and the gunboat Marietta are safe, and expressed the belief that the Oregon, even if at- tacked, could take care of at least two armored cruisers before being disposed of herself.. As to the Temerario, it is believed she is not bent on the destruction of the Ore- This force included two | KR EXEFERFRXF XX R R XH CARDENAS NOT BOMBARDED. |* | * | * KEY WEST, Fla., April 29.— tain B. F. Harrington of the United States monitor Puritan, who has just come ~om Car- denas, specifically and emphat- ically denies the story of the al- zed bombardment of that port by the Terror and the gunboat achias. He says there are no Spanish batteries there and that the entire story is untrue. Cap- n Harrington is commanding officer of the United States ves- sels at Cardenas. | | * ‘* i | EREE T O R R | % l*a%**************** | gon, as that vessel has undoubtedly passe¢ Montevideo. There are seve- val A oricrn steamers sadlipg in | Bouth American waters, and it is con- !sidered that she hopes to go on a | prize hunt. | Considerable surprise is expressed TO-DAY WILL MEET SPANISH SQUADRON IN A DEATH GRAPPLE Madrid Has Rumors of Victory, but It Is Too Stormy for the Ameri- cans to Get In. Spanish Torpedo Flotilla Has Left Cape Verde Islands, but It Is Believed It Will Go Back to the Canaries. HONGKONG, April 30.—It is denied that the Spanish fleet has left Manila to meet the American squadron. On the contrary, it is asserted that the Spanish warships will remain in Manila Bay to assist the forts. It is reported from Manila that the American warships have been sighted, but the weather has been too stormy for the fleet to communicate with the rebels. The insurgent chief, Aguinaldo, is coming to Hongkong from Singapore. It is |alleged that he absconded with half a million dollars paid by the Spanish Gov- ernment for the other insurgent leaders. All Manila telegrams are censored and mail communication with Hongkong has been suspended. LONBON, April50.-The Daily Mail hears - frofii Singapore that a naval battle is momentarily expected in Manila Bay. | A dispatch to the Daily Mail from Hongkong says: “Commodore Dewey con- in State Department circles that Ar- gentina has not ordered the Teme- | rario out of her waters, in view of | the fact that she issued her procla- mation of neutrality on April 21, as soon as she had been advised that a | |state of war existed between thei‘ | United States and Spain. |PRIVATEERING AS ; A LAST RESORT. }Spain Will . not Issue Letters of Marque Unless Her War Fleets Are Destroyed. Copyrighted, 159, by MADRID, April on high authorit James -Gordon Bennett. —I am informed that the nish rights rque does not ne- Government’s reservation of it | to issue letters of m | ces ly. imply th: e will have re- course to privateering. The Gevern- ment, indeed, has 1o intention at pres- ent of doing so. She has simply re- served the right should circumstances, such as the destruction of the Spanish fleet, compel her to take such a course. | The rumor current at Washington re- cently | Austria is absolutely without founda- tion. The Loti, eminent academician, who ha just Pierre rived in Madrid, ut the absurd ru- mors current with regard to his inten- tion to offer his sword to Spain. Al- though he acknowledges his . entire sympathy as with Spain and the Queen Regent, it is all he can give, as his service belongs to France. The facts published in the Herald that he had not asked permission of the French na- val authorities to offer his services to Spain, which, as an officer on the ac- tive list, he would have to do before he could take any step of the sort, sufficiently mark the baselessness of the reports current in Paris. He will remain here about a week. e it it DECEPTION CREATES SPANISH CONFIDENCE. Ignorant Masses Made to Believe That America Is Being Well Trounced. Copyrighted, 1898, by James Gordon Bennett. MADRID, April 29.—A most notable change has taken place in public opin- ion within the last couple of days. Be- fore the people were confident Spain would fight gallantly. Nofv they are confident that Spain will win. The Correspondencia says to-night: “Spain fears the conflict less and less every day.” This really epitomizes the state of the pyblic mind. 1t is principally due to ican correspondents of Spanish papers. These picture a sort of anarchy as reigning in the United States. Naval and military chiefs are shown as changing their ideas every day about the plan to be followed. They describe the American ships as hopelessly mis- handled and the alleged encounter be- tween the Ligera and the Cushing be- comes a great Spanish victory. How much truth there is in these reports it is impossible to find out, as no others are allowed to enter. Fleur de Lys' Sails. Copyrighted, 159, by James Gordon Bennett. LISBON, April 29.—The. American yacht Fleur de Lys sailed to-day under sealed orders. that Spain had offered Cuba to | the accounts received here from Amer- | {siders that his duty will be done when the Spanish fleet is captured and safety has |been secured for American trading vessels. Eleven of these vessels are overdue and the Americans feel exceedingly anxious. “The formation of the Provisional Government at Manila will be announced at the | discretion of United States Consul Williams. “It is believed that there are not many Spanish troops at Manila. They have gone {into the interior. The American fleet carries in all 2000 officers and men. The Concord is | expected here for dispatches on Wednesday.” | The Daily Telegraph’s Hongkong correspondent says the insurgent chief, Aguinaldo, is preparing to make a descent near Manila. His supporters are plentifully supplied with arms and ammunition from the American squadron. ! MADRID, April 29.—The city is on the tiptoe of expectation for news of an en- |gagement off the " Philippines, which, it is felt, cannot be long delayed. Indeed, rumors |have teen current since about 5 o'clock that the fleets have already met, that the Span- |iards have defeated the Americans and that three American vessels have been sunk. No official information has been received yet, nor can the rumor be traced to its | foundation. THE LITTLE FOOTE CHASED TWO SPANISH GUNBOATS INTO CARDENAS HARBOR !Cowflghted, 1898, by_hmel Gordon Bennett. the Terror’s OffiCEl’S, he decided to | KEY WEST, April 29 —The | have some fun with them, though fmrpedo-boat Foote, under com- 1 the range was rather long for {mand of Lieutenant Rogers, had |serious execution. [ an interesting, though nct serious, | The Foote opened fire with one- exchange of compliments with to | pounder guns and Lieutenant smalil Spanish gunboats last Sun-{Qualtmugh of the Terroi thinks day, which was announced ex-|one of the Spaniards was hit by clusively by the Herald. |one shot, but he is not certain. Accounts brought in by the | Both the Spanish gunboats re- officers of the Puritan, now here |turned the Foote’s fire without coaling, say that the monitor |hesitation. Lieutenant Rogers Terror lay some miles off Cardenas | then steamed toward them, firing Bay on Sunday afternoon at 3:30|as he advanced. The Spaniards o’clock. When the officers in the | replied with a few more shots, all messroom heard shots they ran on | of which went wide of their mark. deck and saw the torpedo-boat| Then, apparently not liking the Foote lying well in toward Car-|Foote’s rapid advance, they turned denas. | and steamed back into Cardenas About one and a half miles | harbor. nearer shore, close to the mouth Knowing the harbor to be mined, of the harbor, their glasses re- and that both the Spanish vessels vealed two small Spanish gunbaats | carried heavier guns than his own, sneaking along, hugging the coust. | Lieutenant Rogers refused to fol- Lieutenant Rogers had seen them, | low them inside the harbor and re- and, as he afterward explained tol turned to his post. \ It was the to-pedo-boat Foote at which the first shots were fired recently from Matanzas’ three bat- teries. One of the Spanish gunboats with which the Foote exchanged shots is believed to have been the Nigero. The above is a true version of the occurrence, and differs ma- | teriallv from the description given |by General Blanco.. Blanco’s Madrid version of the same en- counter says that the Spanishgun- boat Nigero repulsed three United States torpedo-boat destroyers which tried to enter the port of Cardenas and compelled them to retreat. Burn Weyler in Effigy. | SOLEDAD, April 20.—A number of | puplls attending the .public schools | here held a patriotic meeting on the | outskirts of town last night and burned an effigy of General Weyier and a mecdel of the Spanish warship Pelayo. The action of the juveniles aroused the enthusiasm of their elders, and many of them participated in the proceedings.