The reverberations had hardly ceased before the captain of the port and an officer from the Spanish war-vessel, each in his gaily decked launch, came alongside the battle-ship in accordance with the rules of naval etiquette. Lieut. John J. Blandin, officer of the deck, received the visitors at the head of the gangway and escorted them to the captain’s cabin. A few moments later came an officer from the German ship, and the courtesies of welcoming the Americans were at an end. The Maine was an ar

It is admitted that, as a rule, details, and especially those of a political nature, are dry reading; but once take into consideration the fact that they all aid in giving a clearer idea of how one nation begins hostilities with another, and much of the tediousness may be forgiven. Just previous to the disaster to the Maine , during the last days of January or the first of February, Señor Enrique Dupuy de Lome, the Spanish minister at Washington, wrote a private letter to the editor of the Madri

“The signing by the President of the joint resolutions instructing him to intervene in Cuba was no sooner communicated to the Spanish minister than he immediately asked the State Department to furnish him with his passports. “It was defiance, prompt and direct. “It was the shortest and quickest manner for Spain to answer our ultimatum. “Nominally Spain has three days in which to make her reply. Actually that reply has already been delivered. “When a nation withdraws her minister from the territo

All the world loves a hero, but idolises him when he performs his deeds of valour without too many preliminaries, and, therefore, when on the seventh of May the telegram quoted above was flashed over the wires to an anxiously expectant people, it was as if all the country remembered but one name,—that of Dewey. April 25. It was known to the public that the Asiatic Squadron had sailed from Hongkong on the 25th of April to avoid possible complications such as might arise in a neutral port, and had

The Baltimore had but just steamed away, when Commander Lamberton was ordered to go on board the Petrel and run over to Cavite arsenal in order that he might take possession, for on the previous day a white flag had been hoisted there as a signal of surrender. To the surprise of Lamberton he found, on landing, that the troops were under arms, and Captain Sostoa, of the Spanish navy, was in anything rather than a surrendering mood. On being asked as to the meaning of affairs, Sostoa replied that

The Cardenas land defences consisted of a battery in a stone fortification on the mole or quay, a battery of field-pieces, and of infantry armed with long-range rifles. The gunboats were equipped with rapid-fire guns. Firing commenced at one o’clock, and when the Cardenas batteries were silenced at two in the afternoon, the Wilmington had sent 376 shells into them and the town. Her 4-inch guns had been fired 144 times. She had aimed 122 shots from her 6-pounders, and 110 from her 1-pounders, ove

May 12. The story of an attempt to land American troops in Cuba is thus told by one of the officers of the steamer Gussie , which vessel left Tampa on the tenth. “In an effort to land Companies E and G of the first U. S. Infantry on the shore of Pinar del Rio this afternoon, with five hundred rifles, sixty thousand rounds of ammunition, and some food supplies for the insurgents, the first land fight of the war took place. Each side may claim a victory, for if the Spaniards frustrated the effort

At about midnight on May 29th the officer of the deck on board the Texas saw, by aid of his night-glass, two low-lying, swiftly-running steamers stealing out of Santiago Harbour, and keeping well within the shadows of the land. As soon as might be thereafter the war-vessel’s search-lights were turned full on, and at the same moment the sleeping crew were awakened. It was known beyond a question that the Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera was hidden within the harbour, not daring to come boldly

June 1. The government of Paraguay represented to the American consul at Asuncion that the Spanish torpedo-boat Temerario was disabled, and had been granted permission to remain at that port until the war between the United States and Spain had come to an end. In Spain there are many differences of opinion regarding the conduct of the war, as evinced by a newspaper article to which was signed the name of Emilio Castelar, the distinguished republican statesman. Señor Castelar attacked the queen r

Inside the harbour, caught like rats in a trap of their own making, lay the Spanish fleet under command of Admiral Pasquale Cervera, consisting of the armoured cruisers Cristobal Colon , Vizcaya , Almirante Oquendo , Maria Teresa , Admiral Cervera’s flag-ship; torpedo-boat destroyers Furor and Pluton . The Americans were on the alert, lest by some inadvertence their prey should escape, and it may well be supposed that the Spaniards, knowing full well they were not in sufficient strength to give

“Early on the morning of July 1st Lawton was in position around El Caney, Chaffee’s brigade on the right across the Guantanamo road, Miles’s brigade in the centre and Ludlow’s on the left. The duty of cutting off the enemy’s retreat along the Santiago road was assigned to the latter brigade. The artillery opened on the town at 6.15 A. M. The battle here soon became general, and was hotly contested. The enemy’s position was naturally strong, and was rendered more so by blockhouses, a stone fort a

It was Sunday morning (July 3d), and the American squadron lay off Santiago Harbour intent only on blockade duty. No signs of life were visible about old Morro. Beyond and toward the city all was still. After two days of fighting the armies of both nations were resting in their trenches. The fleet had drifted three miles or more from the land. The battle-ship Massachusetts , the protected cruiser New Orleans , and Commodore Watson’s flag-ship, the cruiser Newark , were absent, coaling fifty mile

Meanwhile the soldiers were waiting eagerly for the close of the truce, and, as the hour set by General Shafter drew near, every nerve was strained to its utmost tension once more. Then a white flag was carried down the line, and all knew the truce had been prolonged. General Kent, whose division was facing the hospital and barracks of Santiago, was notified by the enemy that Assistant Naval Constructor Hobson and his companions were confined in the extreme northern building, over which two whit

“We have just carried out our orders to capture the Spanish authorities at the capital of the Ladrone Islands, Agana. I was selected by the captain to undertake this job, and given 160 men to land as a starter. “I went ashore to have a talk with the governor about affairs, and the results were that I did not lose even a single man. The matter was all settled in one day, and we are carrying with us fifty-four soldiers (Spanish) and six officers, besides a lot of Mauser rifles and nearly ten thous

July 22. An expedition under command of Brig.-Gen. Theo. Schwan left Tampa on five transports, bound for Porto Rico. July 25. The expedition under the command of Major-General Miles landed at Guanica de Porto Rico, the Gloucester , in charge of Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright, steaming into the harbour in order to reconnoitre the place. With the fleet waiting outside, the gallant little fighting yacht Gloucester braved the mines which were supposed to be in this harbour, and, upon sounding, foun

July 1. Aguinaldo proclaimed himself President of the Revolutionary Republic on the first of July. The progress of the insurgents can be readily understood by the following extract from a letter written by Mr. E. W. Harden: “There are persistent rumours that it is the desire of Governor-General Augusti to surrender Manila to the Americans, but the command of the Spanish troops is practically held by the senior colonel of artillery, who opposes surrender. “The rebels have captured the water-works

The President’s reply showed that he was responsive to the appeal. He was evidently moved by the almost pathetic position which the once proud nation of Spain had been forced to take, but he had his feelings well under control and behaved with great dignity. The President frankly admitted that he was desirous of peace, that he would welcome a cessation of hostilities, but he delicately intimated that if Spain were really desirous of peace she must be prepared to offer such terms as could be acce

The manufactures of the islands consist of silk, cotton, and piña fibres cloth, hats, mats, baskets, ropes, coarse pottery, and musical instruments. The northern islands of the archipelago lie in the region of the typhoon, and have three seasons,—the cold, the hot, and the wet. The first extends from November to February or March, when the atmosphere is bracing rather than cold. The hot season lasts from March to June, and the heat becomes very oppressive before the beginning of the southerly mo

In the matter of attack and defence, vessels are distinguished by the number and weight of the guns they carry, and by the distribution and thickness of their armour. Protective armour is of two kinds, that which surrounds the guns, so as to protect them from the enemy’s fire, and that which protects the motive-power of the ship, so as to prevent the engines from being rendered useless. The maximum of guns and armour and the minimum of speed are to be found in the first-class battle-ship, which

“Rising gradually from the bay, upon the mountainside, to the high plain called the Campo del Marte, the city of Santiago reaches in its highest point 160 feet above the level of the sea, and commands from almost any portion superb views of the bay at its feet and of the majestic ranges of mountains that surround it. With a population of about fifty thousand inhabitants, it has regularly laid out streets and well-built houses of stone in most portions of the city; though being built as it is on

The defences of San Juan are good. San Felippe del Morro fortress is at the entrance of the harbour. It is the principal defence from the sea, and has three rows of batteries. It is separated by a strong wall from the city, which lies at the back of it, but communication between the city and fort is had by a tunnel. The roads of Porto Rico are, for the most part, bad. There are some notable exceptions. There is a splendid road built by the Spanish government from Ponce to San Juan. It is about e