The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 29, 1898, Page 1

The all — - y VOLUME LXXXIIL—NO SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, MAY 29, 1898—THIRTY-TWO PAGES. PRICE FIVE CENTS. CERVERA'S FLEET HAS ' FEVERYBODY GUESSING REAR-ADMIRAL WILLIAM T. SAMPSON, U. S. N., Commander of the North Atlantic Squadron, on the Bridge of His Flagship. IT MAINT AINS ITS PRESTIGE AS A PHANTOM til which to base this belief. -E-8-8-8-8-0-E-5-EN-E-n One of the wildest rumors of the war was current this morning to the effect | that the signal officer engaged as cen- sor over a French cable from Mole St. Nicholas to New York had notified the War Department that a message “from a reliable source” had gone over the wire stating that twelve Spanish war vessels, presumably Admiral Cer- vera's fleet, and severval colliers, had just steamed out of the Windward Pas- sagE M 4 northwesterly direction. This startling statement might have meant that Cervera had outwitted Sampson and was on his way to at- tack the leading cities of the Atlantic | coast. The War Department promptly denied the canard, which bore evidence | IS CERVERA RETURNING TO CAPE VERDE? KEY WEST, Fla., May 28.—An incoming cruiser brings official information that the Spanish fleet is not at Santiaga. Itis now be- lieved that the enemy is at Cienfuegos, with Schley not far away. Ancther arrival, however, says that masthead observations at Cien- fuegos show that the Span‘ards are not there either. Only gunboats, according to this report, are in the harbor. Positive' information brought here to-day by a dispatch-boat from Santiago de Cuba says there was no Spapish squadron in that harbor on Thursday. Some of the ships—not attached to Schley’s squadron, as reported—which left here a week ago are blockading that port. There is the best authority for saying that there is now no proba- bility of the Spaniards going to Santiago de Cuba, because when there they would have no chance to communicate with Havana. The insurgents hold all of the back country. The Spaniards would, perhaps, if they could, go to Cienfuegos, because there they would have direct communication with Havana, That they were not there on Tuesday is absolutely certain, and they cannot get there now without a fight. It is thought that our scout boats might try Porto Rico ports soon with success. The Spaniards must soon go to some port for coal. Many naval officers think they are now returning to Cape Verde. It is not impossible that they were off ‘the northern coast of Cuba on - | patches. that harbor. terday. tainly inside. last Wednesday, but this is not considered likely. that they are not in any of the southside ports of Cuba. This informa- tion comes direct to a cordespondent of The Call from high author ity. KINGSTON, May 28.—The United States auxiliary cruiser Harvard arrived here this morning from Martinique for coal and dis- While the American gunboat Eagle was at Port Antonio yesterday three warships which may have besn Spanish were sighted |in the offing from the bridge of the British guardship Indefatigible in Entrance of the Harbor. Continued on Second Page. . It is now certain BLOCKADE OF SANTIAGO. Twelve American.Warsbip-smStatior)ed Off the KINGSTON, Jamaica, May 28.—The United States auxiliary cruiser Harvard, formerly the American line steamer New York, ar- rived here this morning, having left the American fleet at noon yes- Twelve American warships are now outside Santiago de Cuba harbor, and Admiral Cervera and the Spanish fleet are almost cer- But nothing certain is known as to the communication which Commodore Schley has had with the shore, or as to the num- ber of Spanish fighting vessels bottled up in the harbor. It is to be presumed that the Harvard has important dispatches for the naval authorities at Washington. KEY WEST, May 28.—Advices received here from Cienfuegos state that Cervera is imprisoned at Santiago. RUMORS OF ENGAGEMENTS. NEW YORK, May 28.—A dispatch from Kingston, Jamaica, of having been put on foot to test the | nervous inhabitants of the southern | | coast cittes. | There is no doubt the faith of the | administration, which up to Thursday | was strong that Cervera was at Santi- | ago, has been shaken by the persistent | rumors of his escape before- Schley | mounted guard before the narrow en- | trance to the harbor. It s significant that Postmaster General Smith’s news- | paper, the Philadelphia Press, which has given evidence of receiving Cabinet in- | formation on more than one occasion, to-day, gives up the Santiago theory, saylng: “ As Schley was at Cien- fuegos on Tuesday, accord- ing to a dispatch boat report, land it was over 300 miles | from there to Santiago, it is absolutely certain that he did not reach the latter port before late Wednesday, or six days after the Spanish fleet entered Santiago. It would be a little remarkable if the Spanish fleet should have re- mained all that time at San- tiago. But there was noth- ing whatever to prevent it from going out of Santiago until Schley’s arrival.” There is an excellent prospect that a war balloon will be used by Commo- | dore Schley to investigate the harbor | of Santiago, if he is still in doubt as to | its contents by the time the device is | placed on, board his flagship. It is announced to-day that three famous French aeronauts landed in | New York yesterday with a special ap- paratus used with great success by the French Government, and that they left for Key West under instructions from the Signal Bureau of the War Depart- | ment. Their enterprise is understood to be purely personal and in no way involves the absolute neutrality of France. Admiral Sampson has not reported to the Navy Department to-day and his exact whereabouts is unknown. His | movements are now almost independ- ent of the Strategy Board, a change of policy insisted upon by the President, who has been much impressed by the work of self-reliant Admiral Dewey since his great victory of May 1. If Schley reports that Cervera has escaped, Sampson will be instructed to 'direct the commodore’s movements as his judgment may dictate. 1 The Strategy Board hereafter will do | ment, cutting out the most reliable re- f | | by rumor to-day to include the seizure | tion. 5 Ships. WASHINGTON, May 28.—The Navy Department to-night gave out that it had received information that the Spanish fleet was certainly in the harbor of San- tiago, but the cautious postscript was added that the news had reached the De- partment “through an unofficial source.” This is the situation in a nutshell. The best argument thus far advanced in supportof the theory that the Spanish fleet is at Santiago is the fact that although more than sixty American war vessels have been scouring the Caribbean Sea during the past week not the a slightest evidence has been secured that it is anywhere else. little else than sift the wheat from the chaff of rumors that reach the depart- ports and cabling them to the admiral commanding for his information. Admiral Dewey to-day reported to | the Navy Department under date of | Cavite, May 25, via Hongkong, May 27, that the blockade of Manila was ef- fective and the people of that place are unable to procure any provisions ex- | cept rice. This mews has caused the | War Department to redouble its ef- forts to send re-enforcements to Dewey at the earliest possible date, as the President . is very anxious that there shall be an ample force of troops at hand to command order in case the city of Manila is surrendered. He is spe- cially solicitous that there shall be no rioting by the insurgents. In this connection General Schofield has made a suggestion concerning the question of transports that may have a | wide reaching consequence. Enough | ships cannot be secured to take the en- | tire 15,000 soldiers to Manila, and it Is | feared there will have to be a wait of several weeks for the return of the transports that take the first two expe- ditions to Manila. General Schofield has suggested that all the vessels of a class not fitted for a voyage to the Philippines, but able to make Honolulu, should be impressed and troops in addition to those sent di- rectly to Manila should be rushed over to Hawali. Then the returning trans- ports from the former place could coal and pick up the waiting forces at Hon- olulu, thus saving three weeks on the round trip. But of course that cannot be done | unless tHe stars and stripes are hoisted at Honolulu, for under no other cir- cumstances can the islands be used as a military base. The President is more anxious to have the resolution of an- nexation pass the Housesthan the Sen- ate. But Speaker Reed does not agree with the President in this matter, and is determined not to permit the resolu- tion to come to a vote. The adoption of General Schofleld’s plan, therefore, rests upon the ability of the annexationists to dispose of Speaker Reed's opposition, a task that is by no means a light one. The President's plans of conquest over Spanish territory were amplified of the Caroline Islands, which are said to be suffering from Spanish misrule. Careful inquiry fails to disclose any basis for this report. The administra- tion has its hands full without under- taking another comprehensive e: sedi- _——— OFFICIALS RELIEVED OF GREAT ANXIETY Feel Satisfied That Cervera’s Fleet Is in the Harbor of Santiago. WASHINGTON, May 28.—The Navy Department received information to- day which for the first time relieved the officials of the anxiety and doubt that they have felt for the last few days and satisfied them on two vital points—first, that the American fleet under Commo- dore Schley was outside Santiago har- bor, and, second, that Admiral Cer- vera’s Spanish fleet is inside that har- bor. This information came from a private source which the naval officials regard as thoroughly reliable. It was from the same source that gave the Navy De- partment ine first information almost a week ago that the Spanish squadron ‘was inside of Santlago harbor. This source of information has proved The Navy Department and the public generally believe that Cervera and his ships have been bottled up by Commodore Schley, but at a late hour to-night there is absolutely no official information on Schley Did Not Arrive Off Santiago de Cuba Un- Six Days After the Spanish itself rellable thus far, and for that reason the news received to-day was accepted as positive. It did not come from any naval or State Department officials. There is little doubt, how- ever, that it would ba supplemented by official advices from Admiral Schley, if, indeed, such advices have not already been received, though up to the close of office hours the Navy Department had not bulletined anything from Schley. The officials were in a state of expectancy, having learned from the press dispatches from Kingston that the scouting vessel Harvard was thera with reports. Relying on the advices received the naval officials feel that the entire mili~ tary situation is simplified. With the Spaniards inside and the Americans outside of Santiago harbor it is said that theé power of mischief by the Span- ish fleet is at an end. One distin- guished officer remarked that as a're- sult of the information received he felt ten years younger since yesterday. He said Commodore Schley could now spare several of the ships from his squadron to permit them to join in of- fensive demonstrations elsewhere. All: Schley needs, it is pointed out, is a small force to watch the entrance of Santiago harbor. Two battleships and two cruisers would be ample for this | service as ‘'such a force would largely overmatch the four armored cruisers in the Spanish ‘squadron. In this way Cervera's fleet can be kept pocketed without keeping a large number of American ships out of active service at other needed points. In calculating upon keeping the Spaniards penned up in this fashion the officials have taken into account the possibility of the dispersion of the American blockading fleet by one of the tropical cyclones that are almost due at this season. The American fleet in such a case would be obliged to cut and run for some neutral port or to make its way by force into one of the Cuban ports for shelter. In either case, there might be an opportunity for the Spanish fleet to make its escape, pro- viding the commanding officers were willing to take the desperate chances of going out in weather heavy enough to compel the big American ironclads to seek shelter, and we failed to block the ha]rbor by scuttling barges in the chan- nel. On her way to this country the Viz- caya passed through some very heavy weather, almost approaching the cy- clonic, and proved that her_ class '3 able to withstand such storms with perfect safety. During the day the Navy Department posted a bulletin giving reassuring ad- vices from Admiral Dewey. This was the only specific bit of information given out during office hours. It was a day replete with rumors, some of them of a very sensational nature, but the various reports of sanguinary bat- tles failed of verification. NALL HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL SUPERIN- TENDENT BROUCHT 7.0 BOOK. Result of the i’fivesti‘gation Into the Thirty-Fourth Street Methodist Church Scandal. OAKLAND, May 28.—The investigating committee of the Thirty-fourth Street M. E. Church that tried George Nall, super- intendent of the Sunday school, on charges of immorality preferred by Mrs. Hattle Long, found the defendant guilty of three of the four charges. The committee announced its decision to-night, and sentenced Nall to expulsion from the church for a term of six months, g 2 FIVE HUNDRED ME WALK OUT AT MIDNIGHT Tunnel Workers Strike for a Raise of Fifty Cents & $ Day. SEATTLE, May 28.—Five hundred men on work at the Cascade tunnel on the Great Northern'railway walked out at 12 o'clock to-night. They demanded an ad- vance in wages amounting to 50 cents per day. Lower figures have been paid than ever before in tunnel work in this State. The strikers have made no demonstration as yet. Indians Hunting Reindeer. SEATTLE, May 25.—According to Al- aska advices, that rgortlon of 1.e Govern- ment reindeer herd at Haines Mission which survived disease is being hunted by Indians. i