The herald. [microfilm reel], May 04, 1898, Image 1

About The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
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Single Sheet j
TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR. NO. 216.
NOT A WORD FROM DEWEY
Which Causes Neither Surprise
Nor Anxiety
NEWS IS EXPECTED BY SATURDAY
To Be Carried by Merchant Vessels Running
to Hong Kong
Dewey Is Expected to Prefer a Request for Troops Which
Will Meet With a Very Prompt
Response
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS SPECIAL WIRE.
Washington, May 3. —Today passed without a single word from the
American fleet in the Philippines, and in view of the long continued inter
ruption in cable communication, the officials are beginning to resign them
selves to the belief that they mu:t await further official news until a boat
arrives at Hong Kong. This will not necessarily be a naval vessel, for it is
not believed that Commodore Dewey, who will be admiral as soon as he
can be reached by cable, could have spared any of his ships, even the
McCulloch, to carry dispatches before the bombardment. In ordinary time
there is plenty of communication by steamers or by native vessels, between
the Philippines and the mainland, and the officials will b; rather surprised if
some news is not coming by this means by the end of the week.
Troops for Dewey
Dewey wants troops to hold what he may gain in the Philippines. He
will be sent as many as he needs directly from San Francisco, and it is very
likely that state volunteers will make up the quota. The cabinet talked
about this today and is only waiting to hear what Commodore Dewey wants.
The Cuban Campaign
Meantime the plans of the Cuban campaign are being steadily devel
oped and there is no indication of a change of purpose on the part of th«
military authorities, who are expected to land an expedition in Cuba in a
very short time.
Admiral Sampson, so far as the navy department knows, is steadily
maintaining the blockade of the Cuban coast, and this is not likely to be
abandoned for the present, though two or three of his ships may be sent
away temporarily to meet the Oregon on her way from Rio Janeiro.
Not Much Afraid
The officials naturally feel an interest in this race of the magnificent
battleship around the continent. They profess to feel little anxiety over
the outcome, notwithstanding a report of the effort of the Spanish squadron
to cut off the Oregon. The vessel sailed from Rio on a course known only
to the captain and the chances of her being overtaken on the high seas are
very small. Even should the Spanish vessels fall in with her, it is by no
means certain, notwithstanding their numbers, that she would be defeated
by the combined Spanish force, as her magnificent armor and ordnance are
superior in every respect, size and quality, to those of the Spanish ships.
The Spanish Status
The proclamation directed against the Spanish residents of the United
States by the state department has not yet been issued, nor is it certain that
it will be issued, probably depending upon the course pursued by the
Spanish government in their treatment of American citizens by Spain.
Chinese Neutrality
China issued her neutrality proclamation today, so there is no place on
the Asiatic coast left open to the free use of the war vessels of either Spain
or the United States. This is rather remarkable in that it marks the first
action of this kind upon the part of China, which has never before issued a
neutrality proclamation and naval officers are duly grateful for the consid
eration shown by the Chinese government in withholding the issue of the
decree until informed that the Americans had secured a base In the Philip
pine Islands.
A Hospital Ship
The army bought a hospital ship today for the benefit of the troops
going to Cuba. Commissary General Nash was retired, making the fourth
commissary general to be retired within as many months.
FIRST KINETOSCOPE VIEW OF THE SPANISH WAR
THE HERALD
THE NEW VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
SEVERAL GOOD SHOTS
FROM WILMINGTON'S AND ERICSSON'S
GUNS WORK HAVOC
The Gunboat Explodes a Shell in the Midst of Five Hundred
Spanish Cavalrymen—The Ericsson Destroys
Earthworks
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD.
Key West, Fh., May }. —At ? oclock last evening, while the gunboat Wilmington was
patrolling the coast off Guanabacoa, ten miles east of Havana, five hundred Spanish cavalry
and infantry were observed marching eastward on double quick, along the beach.
They were led by two officers on white horses and in the marched infantry at the
distance of two miles the Spaniards could be seen shaking their fists and making insulting
gestures at the ship of the squadron which was visible.
The Wilmington turned her broadside to the beach and let go a four-inch shell. It
•burst with a muffled roar, sending up a great plume of smoke at the bise of which could
be seen a dozen or more mangled horses and men. Away went the Spaniards, helter-skelter
up the slope of the hill, toward the shelter of the woods and fields adjacent. A second shot
fell among the flying Spaniards, exploding just before it reached the earth, and two men were
knocked headlong from their horses. A soldier, running with trailing rifle fifty yards away to
one side, was bowled over.
In a few moments the green curtain of woods had closed behind the flying troops, and
about the dead horses and men, the vultures were beginning to wheel. Sometime previous
to this, the torpedo boat Ericsson, patrolling the coast somewhat in advance of the Wilming
ton, detected several hundred Spanish soldiers digging earthworks at a point sixteen miles
east of Havana. The Ericsson let fly a shell at the embankment. It struck the works squarely
in the center and they were no more. Several were killed. The survivors abandoned the
works and fled for their lives.
LOS ANGELES, WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 4, tB9B
THE SPANISH SURRENDER
Will Come When the Armada
Is Defeated
THE WHOLE NAVY WILL BE MASSED
For a Desperate Attempt to Defeat the
Blockading Squadron
If the Effort Prove Futile Spanish Honor Will Be Satisfied
and Spain Will Sue for
Peace
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD.
London, May 3. —A special despatch from Madrid announces that
Spain will hear of no surrender yet, but is determined to prosecute the
war with great vigor. All talk of European intervention is cried down.
The people would not stand it and the ministers dare not consider it.
The Spanish plan of campaign is to avoid isolated combats; to keep
out of any engagements in which Spain would be overmatched; to concen
trate the entire naval strength of the country into one great armada and
make one supreme effort to vanquish the Americans in Cuban waters.
Until this battle be fought, Spain will not consider any proposition of
intervention that looks to a cessation of hostilities.
Should the Spanish armada be annihilated in the west, as it was in the
East Indies, then Spain could with honor sue for peace.
But she undoubtedly hopes that the fleet she is massing at Cadiz, when
added to that which left Cape Verde and is somewhere out in the Atlantic—
where, no one who knows will tell—is great and strong enough to wreak
revenge on the American fleet for the defeat of Admiral Montijo.
The ministers went to the queen regent today and hinted to her that
the Manila catastrophe made possible some pacific settlement. The queen,
it is understood, told them she had perfect confidence in them and their
energetic policy.
She desired the cabinet to remain as it is, and agreed with them that the
war must be pursued to the bitter end.
▲board the Flying Squadron
Old Point Comfort, May 3.—(Special to The Herald.)— The good
news of Dewey's great victory, the details of which are gradually coming out,
despite Spanish efforts to suppress it, has put the flying squadron on edge.
Officers and men, from Commodore Schley down, are deploring their ill
luck at being held here. Says one officer, with a fine touch of sarcasm:
"It was all because Dewey was beyond the eye of the board of strategy.
A board of strategy is a beautiful thing in theory, but a fearful handicap in
practical warfare.
"If Schley was out of the way of a telegraph office, and if Sampson
would cut the cable between Key West and the mainland, something else
would happen that would stir enthusiasm of Americans fully as much as
Dewey's splendid victory.
"This restraint may be removed, however, within the next few hours.
Commodore Schley has received several messages from Washington and
those close to him believe the flying squadron will be on its way to San
Lucia to head off Cape Verde fleet before the week is out."
The target practice today was marvelously accurate. The gunners on
the Brooklyn sank an empty barrel in six rounds at six hundred yards dis
tance. It was the excellent gunnery on Dewey's squadron, officers believe
here, which gave him the supremacy in the battle of Manila.
Serious Signs
London, May 4. —(By Associated Press.) —The Madrid correspondent
of the Daily Mail says: The governors of the various provinces have been
authorized to resign their powers into the hands of the military forces the
moment they think convenient, without waiting to consult the government.
The military authorities will at once proclaim martial law. This precaution
shows that some general movement is feared throughout Spain. Already
symptoms of popular and political agitation begin to show themselves in the
province of Valencia, the hotbed of the Carlists. Already there has been one
tumultuous demonstration and it is reported that blood has been shed.
A band of twelve, presumably Carlists, appeared at Catadan, in
Valencia. The civil guards pursued them, overtook and dispersed them,
but not without their resisting. At Talaiter and other towns there have
been serious disturbances. In consequence of the rise of wheat and flour at
Gijon there is considerable rioting.
Davenport, in N. Y. Journal
Twelve Pages
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