San Antonio Daily Light (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 164, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 14, 1898 Page: 1 of 8
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SAN ANTONIO DAILY LIGHT
Volume XVIII. No. 164
BUNKS AND BANKERS
LOCKWOOD
National Bank.
SAN ANTONIO. TEXAS.
J. S. Lockwood Pres.
J. Muir Jr. Cashier.
SAFE DEPOSIT VAULTS.
F. Groos & Co. Barters.
and dealers in exchange.
Sight draft* on the principal eltlee of
the United State* aad on all European
countries. Also draft* on Monterey
Mexico payabl* in Mexican dollar*.
Foreign coin and currency bought and
■old.
m Froude says: “Experience
teaches slowly and at th*
ooet of mistakes.” To fall
ntn Ine with tllla celebrated
writer use the LONG DIS-
TANCE TELEPHONE. It
represents butrineas and is the key-note
of business. THE SOUTHWESTERN
TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE
COMPANY.
DEFENDS BOURGOGNE.
The Agent Offers Testimony To Ex-
culpate Officers and Crew.
New York July 14.—The Times to-
day says:
Paul Faguet acting general agent
for the United States and Canada of
the Compagnie Generale Trans Atlan-
tique has given out for publication a
statement concerning the charges
made in relation to the conduct of the
crew ot La Bourgogne at the time of
the recent disaster. Among other
things he says:
It (would be useless for me to defend
the captain and subordinate officers
of La Bourgogne. They showed them-
selves heroes 'by remaining at their
posts and dying with those they could
not save. Of the 18 officers of the
deck and engine departments only
three saved themselves and then they
did not leave the ship until they had
done their whole duty.
"Immediately after the collision of-
ficers and men alike went to the posts
assigned them. Several starboard
lifeboats were dashed to pieces while
the life boats on the port side had
been rendered useless by the heavy
list to starboard. The crew aided by
some of the passengers succeeded
however in lowering two ot them in
which the woman and children took
their places. Unfortunately these
boats had to be slipped along the hull
of the steamer to be lowered and they
were capsized. It was only at the
last minute when all efforts were of
no avail and the steamer was about
to disappear that the sailors by order
of their chiefs jumped into the sea
and thirty-five of the sixty were lost.
The three lifeboats that had been
launched after having unloaded their
passengers in safety on the Cromarty-
shire made three more trips and
brought all the survivors. Capt. Hen-
derson of the Cromartyshire has made
to tlv Consul of Halifax a statement
declak. f that the criticisms about the
officers madg in the newspapers were
untrue.
The firemen and coal passers were
down in the engine room trying to
secure the good working of the pumps.
It was only five or six minutes before
the steamer sank that the chief en-
gineer who died at his post of duty
gave at two different times two blows
of his whistle signalling the crew to
cease the work of rescue and hasten
away.
“Two occurrences brought to my at-
tention may have started the reports
of brutal treatment on the part of our
crew. One of the passengers a young
man showed me a scar which he said
he received by a blow inflicted by pas-
senger or sailor he did not know. But
he added the man who did strike him
was justified in doing so because there
were 18 or 20 on the raft he was trying
to climb upon and if he had not been
repulsed the raft would have capsized
and the whole party lost. The other
incident was related to me by one of
the passengers. A friend of his while
trying to climb upon an already over-
loaded raft was knocked back by the
blow from an oar in a sailor's hands
and thus the lives of the 15 or 20 men
on the raft were saved.
What was the duty in these two
cases of those who had charge of the
rafts repulse one man who might have
been able to find succor elsewhere ox
let 20 perish?” '
“All of those facts were reported to
me by passengers. Several relatives
of unfortunate victims by questioning
the cabin and dining room waiters who
were saved have learned a few inci-
dents in the lives of their lost relatives
just before the ship went down and
have been convinced that the charge*
of stabbing and other barbarism* are
untrue.
MERRITT PASSED HONOLULU.
Victoria B. C. July IJ.—Steamer
Warrimoo just arrived from Honolulu
reports that Maj. Gen. Wesley Merritt
has arrived at Honolulu on hi* way to
Manila.
PUBLISHED AT BAN ANTONIO BEXAR COUNTY TEXAS AND REGISTERED AT THE POST OFFICE AS SECOND CLASS MAIL MATTER.
UNCLE SAM PUZZLED
HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO DIS-
POSE OF PRISONERS.
It Twenty-Thousand Are Thrown on
His Hands at Santiago He Cannot
Invade Porto Rico For a Month.
■
New York July 14.—A special to the
Tribune from Washington says:
The extension of the armistice
at Santiago until noon today (Thurs-
day) in order to give Madrid an oppor-
tunity to authorize General Toral to ac-
cept the modified demand of the United
States force for the surrender of the
city under the guarantee that all the
Spanish forces in the besieged city shall
be safely transferred to Spain became
known in Washington after a protract-
ed extraordinary session of the cabinet
at which the desperate condition of the
besieged and alarming sanitary condi-
tion of the besiegers wefe fully vented
The alacrity with which the cabinet on
Saturday last approved General Shaf-
ter’s demand for "immediate and un-
conditional surrender” has been found-
ed upon enthusiastic reports from the
general that he had recovered from his
tedious ijlness that his siege guns and
five days’ rations with large supplies of
ammunition and effective reinforce-
ments had been brought to the front
and that his position was not only im-
pregnable but that he could carry the
city by assault in a few hours whenever
he chooses to begin. His conference
with Admiral Sampson had given him
confidence that the fleet could shell the
city over the hills and the marked
cheerfulness of his dispatches in strong
contrast to their dolorous tone of the
previous week gave-Washington every
reason to believe that unqualified vic-
tory was at hand. With the arrival of
General Miles the hopes of the authori-
ties received another buoyant tendency;
but after two days of continuous rain
on the battle field the spirits of the
commanding generals began t*. drop
again and the climax came in the re-
ports that yellow fever had at last ap-
peared and -while it had so far exhibited
Itself only in an extremely mild form
with the exposed condition of the men
in the trenches knee deep in water and
fairly steaming In the Intense heat the
conditions were most favorable for the
rapid propagation of the disease and for
its development into a malignant type
of the dreaded scourge.
In these circumstances the authorities
w’hile utterly repudiating the Spanish
proposition to surrender the entire pro-
vince of Santiago provided Toral’s
forces were permitted to withdraw un-
molested to the westward took under
consideration a suggestion which was
broached nearly a week ago in Wash-
ington and not suggested by any of the
forces operating against the enemy at
the front. This provided for an agree-
ment to the conditional surrender of all
the Spanish military forces in and
around Santiago harbor with the guar-
antee of their prompt and safe return to
Spain. The suggestion grew out of the
anticipated embarrassment which at
the time seemed to be forced upon the
authorities by the acquisition of an ex-
cessively large number of military pris-
oners who would of necessity have to
be brought to the northern part of the
United States and cared for until the
end of the war.
It became evident at the outset that in
case the Santiago garrison capitulated
it would be impossible to control so
large a number of prisoners on Cuban
soil necessitating the mainiainence
around it of more American soldiers
than could be spared while Cuban sol-
diers could not be trusted to perform
the service. The suggestion that the
prisoners might be sent in neutral ves-
sels to Portugal for speedy delivery to
their own country found great .favor
as the best way out of the predicament
and arrangements were actually made
to put the plan into effect.
After learning of the continued exhi-
bition of the Spaniards of a determina-
tion to stubbornly resist the demand for
"unconditional surrender”together with
the knowledge of the horrors that the
American army was being forced to
confront by the exasperating delay the
authorities consented to the revival of
the scheme as an alternative proposi-
tion to the terms offered by Madrid
through Toral for the evacuation of
Santiago and it was adopted.
As the matter now stands Spain
agrees to surrender Santiago the ob-
jective of the American expedition and
the sole point of difference is whether
the Spanish force there shall be permit-
ted to march to the reinforcement of
Blanco at Havana or shall be returned
to Spain. It is claimed that the United
States shall secure everything that is
desired if the surrender cin be speedily
accomplished and a portion at least of
the Spanish troops are removed from
Cuba for the original demand of this
country which precipitated hostilities
looked simply to the withdrawal of the
San Antonio Texas Thursday July 14.1898
Spanish army from the Island. The fu-
ture conduct of the war especially for
the next few months will depend in a
great measure upon the number ofSpan-
ish prisoners who are thrown upon the
hands of the United States officials if
the terms submitted to Madrid are ac-
cepted. Should it prove true that any
considerable number of the defenders of
Santiago have escaped under the cover
of night during the week or more of
consecutive truces there will be no dif-
ficulty in transporting the prisoners to
their European home. If however
15000 or 20000 Spaniards are surrender-
ed it will take all the transports now in
the possession of the United States un-
til the middle of August to prepare for
the voyage and land their cargoes at
Lisbon and two or three more weeks
must elapse before their return to this
country and their availability will be out
of the question; there will be consider-
able difficulty in bringing back from
Cuba the unacclimated troops who
could not be permitted to stay there
through a yellow fever epidemic and a
very large part of the naval force now
engaged in blockade duty would nec-
essarily be detached to convoy the vast
fleet across the Atlantic.
■6O lIS
- HM).
iv H In 0 it
Sb i ft k Nt
IfflßSHlltft
Washington D. C. July
14. —Santiago has surren-
dered. General Tora
promptly at noon sends his
acceptance of Shafter s
terms immediately the lat-
ter had received President
McKinley's cabled orders
for “unconditional ” surren-
der.
The Adjutant General re-
ceived the following from
Playa del Estein relation to
the surrender:
Adjutant General Wash-
ington D. C.: —Have just
returned from an interview
with General Topi. He
agrees to surrender upon
the basis of troops being re-
turned to Spain. This
proposition embraces all of
Eastern Cuba from Accer-
adeores on the south to
Sagna on the north via Pal-
ma with practically the
fourth army corps. Com-
missioners meet this after-
noon at 2:30 to definitely
arrange terms.
W. R. Shafter.
Mn InH Dm.
Washington D. C. July 14.—The
president has appointed Edward R.
Meeks of Texas to be United States dis-
trict judge for the Northern District
of Texas.
SANTIAGO TODAY.
THE PLACE WILL BE ATTACKED
ON ALL SIDES AT NOON.
Toral Holds Out Looking for Yellow
Fever to Drive the Americans into
Acceptance of His Terms.
Copyright 1898 by the Associated
Press.
Playa del Este Guantanamo Bay July
13.—The uneventful truce has contin-
ued all today before Santiago nad will
continue until noon tomorrow (Thurs-
day.) Gen. Toral has rejected condi-
dltlon after condition offered by Gen.
Shafter in the face of a threatened re-
newal of the bombardment.
It is thought that Spanish obstinacy
is strengthened by the knowledge of
sickness among the American troops
the real facts as to which have prob-
ably been exaggerated inside the Span-
ish lines as Gen. Toral’s present atti-
tude is certainly not that of the Span-
iards who ran to Hobson with pleas
for protection at the end of the first
day’s fight.
The present order is for a renewal of
bombardment at noon tomorrow July
14. The guns are being placed very
slowly owing to the wretched condi-
tions of the roads which have been
washed into veriUble canons by the
torrents of rain that have fallen in the
last few nights.
The American position is now con-
sidered by Gen. Mlles quite as strong
and effective as the lack of heavy ar-
tillery will permit. The plan tor to-
morrow is to try to flank the extreme
west of the Spanish line by landing
the Sixth Massachusetts and Sixth
Illinois at Cabanas two miles west of
El Moro.
The attack on the strong battery in
position there is to be made under
cover of a heavy bombardment of the
Spanish centre.
If the line is broken at this point
Gen. Lawton on our extreme right will
probably crush tne Spanish left and an
entry be thus effected. The command
of this expedition was given by Gen.
Miles to Gen. Guy Henry but the lat-
ter was unable to make connections
with the auxiliary cruiser Yale which
carries the Sixth Massachusetts and
Sixth Illinois. Therefore Gen. Garri-
son will command. Gen. Henry is bit-
terly disappointed.
Grave fears are expressed among
army men here that should the bom-
bardment tomorrow fail of the intend-
ed effect the anxiety to end the cam-
paign in this vicinity may lead the
American authorities to accept Gen.
Toral’s proposition.
Everyone feels that Santiago is the
only barrier now in the way of a
swift descent upon Porto Rico.
A TOUGH MARCH.
Rain And Mud And Darkness And
Guerillas Make It So.
New York July 14.—Private James
Carroll Company M. Seventy-First
regiment who was wounded in the bat-
tle near Santiago on July 1 and who
arrived here on the steamer Kansas
City said last night:
"If the people here only knew <what
the boys have to suffer there would be
no interest in anybody else in this
country. With the awful rains that
chill through the night and the sun
that blisters all through the day they
have not a minute of rest. It is mis-
ery to live there. I only had a little
of it after all. and /while I’ll have more
as soon as I'm able to go to the front
again it is only because it is my duty
that I will go.
“One of the worst experiences I had
was when we were on outpost duty on
June 30. We had oeen soaked through
with rain and broiled with the sun a
half dozen times over and finally we
were ordered to return to the base of
supplies to get rations for the brigade.
Incidentally we heard that we would
get the order to start at two o’clock
in the morning. It was then mid-
night.
"We were told to turn in for a little
sleep and did so. Two hours Wasn’t
long but we slept. All stories about
men not being able to sleep except un-
der certain conditions I believe are
yarns. All of us slept and we had all
sorts of conditions about us. Our des-
tination was San Juan about eight
miles from where we were.
'"Pie march was the most difficult
we had had. The grounds were boggy
with the rains and we marched
through cactus plants that jagged us.
Although our orders were to make all
haste possible we found it hard to
travel three quarters of a mile in an
hour.
“The natural difficulties were not the
worst either. Our marching had been
discovered by the Spanish guerillas
and while we could not see them they
made their presence felt. They skulked
through the chapparal and kept up a
Price $5.00 Year
fire that gave ua not an instant of se-
curity.
Every now and then some of our
boys would be wounded. The firing
kept up all through the night which
showed that we were pursued by those
villainous bush whackers.
"At times iwe thought we saw their
shadows as they skulked along in the
brush that made our march a hell but
which protected them. Their num-
bers we could not tell but judging the
way the bullets came whenever we
reached an opening they must have
been considerable. When we were not
in the open the plan was to pick us
off and unfortunately they succeeded
in too many cases.
"We only could do the best w*
could but that was not much. Now
and again we could hear a scream fol-
low the crack of one of our rifles that
told us the bullet had done its work
but it was hard on us. The march
would have been costly even if we had
nothing but the difficulties of the way
to tight. When to these was added
a fire from a foe that was relentless
you may imagine our condition.
"The progress was so slow that it
was light when we had made four
miles. The firing had got hotter by
this time and the orders to fight had
come. We were told to throw away
everything not needed. About two
o’clock in the afternoon the Seventy-
first charged the hill at San Juan. Halt
way up we got a hot volley from the
Spaniards that made us stop from the
very force of impact but the stop was
only momentary. The boys kept on
and won. A
REMOVING HARBOR MINES.
Engineer Wilson Issues His Orders for
Taking Them Up.
Washington D. C. July 14.—1 n com-
pliance with the determination ot the
cabinet to order the removal ot sub-
marine mines sunk In harbcs and
rivers before the war Gen. Wilson
chief of engineers has addressed the
following letter to all engineer officers
under whose jurisdiction these works
of defense rest:
The Secretary of War has ordered
that wherever the interests of com-
merce shall so demand the submarine
mines now placed in various rivers
and harbors along the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts shall be removed or ex-
ploded. You are authorized to remove
or explode as in your judgment will be
best for the interests of the service
wherever the interests of commerce so
demandthe submarine mines in the var
lous rivers and harbors under your
charge. .It.is intended that the ca-
bles Junction boxes anchors casement
appliances etc. shall remain in posi-
tion and that you shall have ready at
each harbor the necessary mine cases
explosives etc. so that mines to re-
place those removed can be laid im-
mediately upon the receipt of tele-
graphic instructions. Removing the
mines and withdrawing the charge
the utmost care must be observed as
it is possible the friction arising from
unscrewing the plug might cause an
explosion.
Should you deem it best in the inter-
ests of the service to explode the mines
in position you are authorized to do
so whenever you have on hand suf-
ficient new ones to replace them.
In firing the mines you are requested
to personally superintend the operation
and to carefully observe the result in
each case so that the information
gained which will be of great value
in future operations will be carefully
collated in the interests of the science
of war.
You will please telegrapn the chief
engineer of your division whenever you
are ready to explode the mines so they
may have the opportunity of being
present should their duties permit.
In all this work you are requested to
use the utmost care; to see that the
harbor or river in the vicinity of the
mines you propose to explode is abso-
lutely clear of vessels when the explos-
ion takes place and to be mote than
careful on every possible point in case
it is your intention to take up th*
mines and remove the charges.
The views of the torpedo board in
reference to removing the charges have
been requested and will be communi-
cated to you.
Where ever the mines now placed do
not in any way interfere with com-
merce they need not be removed.
SWISS SURGEON APPROVES.
Washington D. C. July 14.—Carl
Rudberg a staff surgeon in the Royal
Swiss navy who ha* been to the front
with Gen. Shafter's army has returned
temporarily to Washington and called
on Surgeon General Sternberg.
Dr. Rudberg took an active part in
caring for the *ick and wounded on
the battlefield and has nothing but
words of admiration and praise for the
excellent and skillful manner In which
this was done. By the aseptic meth-
od of treating the wounded many am-
putation* of limbs found necessary in
former wars were entirely uncalled
for in the present conflict.
The doctor .la also highly pleased
with the ambulance ship Solace opera-
ted by the navy and the manna* of her
equipment.
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San Antonio Daily Light (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 164, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 14, 1898, newspaper, July 14, 1898; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1683246/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .