The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 5, 1898, Page 1

SH0OND DITOR Ty v qll 46N X { VOLUME LXXXIII—NO. 156. SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, MAY 5, = === 1898. PRICE FIVE CENTS. EWEY SAID TO HAVE REPORTED A LOSS OF FIFTY MEN KILLED AND ONE HUNDRED WOUNDED The City of Peking, Which Is to Carry the Supplies e T i wa Gkt to Manila; and the Cruiser Charleston. DEWEY’S DISPATCH-BOAT, HUGH McCULLOCH. STEAMER CITY OF PEKING CHARTERED BY GOVERNMENT TO TAKE OUT SUPPLIES Uncle Sam May or May Not Sehd Some of His Boys in Blue to the Philippines on the Same Boalt. NEW YORK, May 4.—The ald’s Washington correspondent sends the following: Anticipating early communication with Commo- dore Dewey, commander-in-chief of the Asiatic squadron, Secretary Long sent to Honc.iong to-day a long cablegram containing instructions for the future guidance of the Ameri- can naval officer. This message, it is believed, related to the plans made by thisGovernment for the immediate dispatching of troops to Dewey’s assistance should he deem such action necessary. Ap- Her- preciating that a considerableamount | of the ammunition of the American | vessels has been expended, Secretary | Long has directed that a large quan- tity of shot and powder be sent to Manila in a steamer which will at -once be chartered by the Government. Furthermore, the department entered | into arrangements for chartering the Peking, which will be placed under the command of a naval officer, and with surgeons and medical supplies as Commodore Dewey is heard from.|Oeeanic line (have received from Admiral F. V. | McNair, Commodore Dewey’s imme- diate predecessor in command of the | Asiatic squadron, shows that he will | be able to secure plenty of coal from | Chinese merchants, or even from | English dealers, who reside at Man- ila. The department has also re- ceived offers, I understand, from | Singapore merchants, to supply 6000 | tons of coal to Commodore Dewey’s squadron.’ Singapore is a crown col- |ony of Great Britain. Its Governor | has issued a decree of neutrality, but | there is considerable trade between | the Straits Settlement and English merchants in Manila, and an order placed by the latter will result in the delivery of coal without objection by Great Britain. The Manila dealers will then turn the fuel over to Com- modore Dewey. Major-General Miles, commanding the army, told me to-day that plans ! had been practically perfected for the | formation of a large body of troops, | which can be sent to Manila as soon | “Commodore Dewey,” said one of | these gentlemen, “will undoubtedly | request the commanding officers of | the British, German and French men- of-war to land marines to protect the property of their respective citizens. So far as Manila is concerned I have not the slightest doubt it is in the possession of the American force. | Manila proper was protected by a wall erected 300 years ago, and this wall was fortified by some antiquated | guns. Having placed Cavite under | his guns, the yest of the work—I mean by this capture of the city— will be a comparatively easy task, and without doubt it was success- fully performed by the courageous American flag officer.” The advice of Senator Perkins was | first sought by the Secretary of War | in considering the matter of charter- |ing a troop and supply vessel to be | sent from San Francisco to Manila. Senator Perkins submitted the fol- lowing list: The Australia, Zealan- dia, Mariposa and Alameda of the , the City of Peking, on board will be sent to Manila, | According to information at the de- |China and San Jose of thePacific Mg where the wounded and sick will be | partment Admiral McNair's plans,;‘company, and the Ohio, Indiana and taken on board and transported back | which were transferred to Commo- | Pennsylvania of the Red Star Line. to Mare Island, where they will re- |dore Dewey, contemplated the dis-|The Pacific Coast Steamshipcompm§ ceive treatment. It was to inform Commodore Dewey of these arrangements it is under- stood that the cablegram was pre- pared and sent to Hongkong. At that point it is expected it will be de- livered to the Consular representa- tive of this Government, who will hand it to the commanding officer of dispatch-boat bringing to Hongkong dispatches from the scene of the late action. The department is very anxiouvs to jearn the number of troops Commo- dore Dewey will need at once, that they may be sent to him without de- lay. Information which the authorities patch of 5000 troops to his aid in the event that the squadron, while under | his command, tookManilla, but,asthe Herald stated this morning, the ad- | ministration’s plans contemplate the dispateh of about 10,000 officers and men to the Philippines. Considerable apprehension is felt in naval circles at the probability of the massacre of Spaniards in Manila by the insurgents, who, it is be- lieved, aided Commodore Dewey in the capture of the city. Oppressed as | they have been by the Spaniards, of- | ficers with whom I have talked said | they had mo doubt as soon as they had the chance they would attempt retaliation. |and the Oregon Navigation Company had vessels that might have ans- wered the purpose, but as the City | of Peking was the lowest bidder she | was chartered. The Queen and Sena- tor of the Pacific Coast were not con- sidered, as they are too small for such service. In chartering the City of Peking for transformation into a hospital ship the department was in- fluenced oy its desire to remove the American wounded from the enervat- ing climate of the Philippines. Sur- geon-General Van Reypen was in consultation on several occasions to- day with Secretary Long, and orders were telegraphed to Surgeon W. H. Rush and Passed Assistant Surgeon KR KKK KE R R RR R ® : SPANISH SHIPS VERY CLOSE TO OUR COASTS. PHILADELPHIA, May 4.— Captain White of the Allan steamship Turin, which arrived to-day from Glasgow via St. Johns and Halifax, states that on Sunday, when off the banks after sundown, he sighted in the distance a warship with a cruiser ahead, followed by two boats, thought to be torpedo boats. Captain White signaled the mys- terious craft, but they made no reply. Captain Aarhuus ~¢ ths Ger- * % man steamship Schieswig, which arrived to-day from Hayti, claims to have beer pursued and fired on by a Snanish man-of- war off Tortugas April 28 just after sundown. The captain says he not only refused to heave to, but kept going ahead under full power of steam with shot after shot coming after him, and soon outdistanced his pursuer in the darkness. Shipping men con- sider the most serious aspect of Captain Aarhuus’ report the evi- dent fact that Spanish warships are closer to our coast than seems to be the opinion of the naval authorities, as Captain Aarhuus appears confident of the assertion that the vessel that pursued him v s a Spanish ves- sel. HEFEFRFERRF R LR R R R RH t o o %k K ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok K ok ok ok ok ok K ok ok ok ok K R % R % 3%k ok ko C. J. Decker ascigning them to the City of Peking. Instructions were sent to the Naval | Laboratory in New York to send to | San Francisco at once a large quan- * tity of A. B. and C. hospital supplies, | and Dr. Decker was instructed to se- cure a large quantity of medical sup- | plies at Mare Island, which will be placed aboard the steamer, and upon her arrival at Manila will be trans- ferred to the American warships. There is some talk of sending troops out by the City of Peking, but the probabilities are that she will | simply carry a. sufficient number of | officers and bluejackets to take the | places of those who were wounded or | killed in the engagement. I under- stand that sufficient ammunition will probably be sent to the Far East to refill the magazines of the ships of Commodore Dewey’s fleet. Captain O’Neil sent telegraphic in- structions to-day to different depots to ship powder and projectiles to Mare Island, at which point it will be placed aboard the freighter which will be secured by the Government. CATHOLICS RESENT UNJUST CRITICISM. BALTIMORE, May 4—Catholics here ‘are indignant at what they call an ef- fort on the part of the London Daily Mail to place the Catholics in this country in a false light. Cardinal Gib- bons said to-night: “These statements of the Daily Mail are entirely misleading. I receive the leading Catholic paper of England, the Tablet,’ in which expressions from bishops and prominent clergy constant- ly appear. Such expressions show gen- eral sympathy with the United States. The Irish Catholics are almost entirely in accord with this sentiment, notwith- standing the statements contained in the Daily Mail as cabled to this coun- try last night. “Catholics in the United States have but one sentiment,” concluded his Em- inence. “Whatever may have been their opinions as to the expediency of the war, now that it is on, they are united in upholding the Government.” Camp George Dewey Formed. SIOUX FALLS, S. D., May 4.—Upon taking possession of the State troops to-day Colonel Frost immediately or- dered that the camp should be known as George Dewey camp. Tents were struck amid the rain and the camp moved to a more favorable locality. Rain has fallen every for a week and many of the volunteers have gone to the hospital as the result of ex- posure and measles. - The mustering in of the recruits will commence to-mor- d ok ok ok sk ok ok ok ok sk s ok ok ok ok sk ok ok ko ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok KX X X X % % THE MARBLEHEAD CREATES A PANIC IN'A CUBAN TOWN BOSTON, May 5.-—-A Washington special to the Post dated this morning says: Commodore Dewey’s report is in Washington, is a 'statement made by a naval officer of high standing, who .claims to have seen the report as it was being transcribed ‘from cipher into straight English. 1 It is dated at Manila Sunday night and cabled from 'Hongkong. : It is said to show a death loss of about fifty men, with; twice as many more or less seriously wounded. The Concord and the Petrel, both of them small gun- boats, were badly damaged, particularly in their upper works, but not so much so but that they can be repaired. Dewey is said to have asked for a hospital ship, 2000 men and supplies for three months. The report, says the officer, does not go into elaborate details. On the contrary he says that in one respect it re-: 'sembles Grant's famous dispatches from the field, it being very brief. : Aside from those actually wounded the Commodore re- ports that all of his officers and men suffered more or less severely from damage to their ears from the fearful concus-/ sion of the big guns, and despite the fact they are believed to have followed the usual practice of protecting the ear, drums with pads of cotton wool. There is nothing in the report, however, to indicate that any one was permanently damaged in this way, as was poor McGiffin in the battle of the Yalu. Commodore Dewey, in his report, is said to be loud in his praise of the bravery and coolness of his men, whom he, is quoted as saying showed as much daring as did the men| under Farragut in Mobile Bay. ‘ It is believed that the report has occasioned the sending of or- ders to Admiral Kirkland, commanding the Mare Island yard, to send whatever relief may be necessary at once. It is believed here ‘that this report is authentic, Secretary Long’s relations with the Post being of the most intimate character. CIENFUEGOS IS SHELLED BY A CRUISER. NEW YORK, May 4.-—A special to the press from Key West says: Cienfuegos has been bombarded. Not only did the Marblehead silence the batteries of the town on the aft- ernoon of April 29, but shelled the town itself, playing havoc with the buildings and driving thousands of the inhabitants to the interior. The shooting at the forts was at 4000 yards. As soon’ as the forts were disabled Captain McCalla ordered that the 5-inch guns be given an elevation to reach 8000 yards.