Should the Cubans fortify Las Tunas, all these objections will be removed, and the United States may be able to grant these brave people the rights they ask for.

Once recognized as belligerents, they will be able to buy what they need in our ports, and fit out a navy to fight Spain.

The Spaniards are fearful that some such action will be taken. The Government in Madrid has cabled to Weyler that Las Tunas must be retaken at any cost.

An attempt has already been made on the town, but the Spaniards were routed by the Cubans, who still retain possession of their prize.

The Spanish prisoners who were exchanged have been put under arrest for surrendering. They will be court-martialled, that is to say, tried by military court, and called upon to explain why they gave up the town.

From the Cuban accounts that have reached us, it seems that they attribute the victory to the fine work done by a new artillery corps which General Garcia has just organized. An artillery corps is made up of a number of cannon, each having its regular number of gunners to serve it. The artillery is a very valuable assistance in all warfare.

The new corps of gunners had only lately landed on Cuban soil. It consists mainly of American sympathizers with the Cuban cause. The guns they serve are two heavy cannon, six rapid-firing guns, and one dynamite-gun.

The Cubans declare that as soon as the dynamite-gun went into action the victory was assured.

On the other hand, the Spanish claim that the loss of the city was due to the poor communication kept up on their side between the posts.

For more than two weeks before the attack on the city, the commander at Las Tunas had been aware that the Cubans were advancing, and contemplated an assault on it.

He therefore used the heliograph, and with it flashed the news to the Spanish stations on the Canto River, asking that reinforcements be sent him. He was surprised to receive no answer, and again and again the mirrors flashed his message across the hills. No response was received.

For some unknown reason the commander did not send out scouts and messengers to find out why his despatches were left unanswered. Not receiving any response to his messages, it is strange that he did not send scouts to find out the reason; but the idea does not seem to have occurred to him that the stations on the Canto River had been captured or abandoned.

He throws the whole blame of the disaster on the river stations, and declares that if they had only answered his appeal, Las Tunas might have been saved.

As a matter of fact, the insurgents had been so active in the neighborhood of the Canto River that the garrisons had all been abandoned, and the messages from Las Tunas were never received.

The fall of Las Tunas has made the fate of Holguin, Bayamo, and Jiguani very uncertain. These are other towns which Spain still holds in "Free Cuba." The Spaniards fear that they too will soon fall into the hands of the insurgents. It is rumored that Garcia has already sent an expedition against Holguin.

Reports have reached us that a president has been elected for Cuba. The reports, however, do not agree, and it is therefore impossible to make any decided statement about the matter.

One telegram states that General Bartolome Maso has been elected, while another, on equally good authority, says that the new Cuban president is Señor Domingo Mendez Capote. Señor Capote is a young lawyer, and while a bright and clever man, was not thought of as a possible candidate for the office. His election, if it is confirmed, will be a great surprise.

The only information which we get reaches us through Havana. It had been arranged that couriers should carry the news of the election to the West as soon as the result was known. No courier has, however, arrived in Havana. Such information as we have received has been sent through channels that may not be reliable.

General Lee has been interviewed in regard to the state of affairs in Cuba.

He gives a very sad picture of the once prosperous island. He says that there is no business doing but that which deals with the actual daily needs. No crops are being raised, except those that are required to supply food, and even these are maintained under difficulties, for the Spaniards destroy when they can all the crops the Cubans try to raise, and the Cubans try to do the same toward the Spanish. Between the two the island is being laid waste.

General Lee also says that he has distributed about $15,000 of the $50,000 appropriated by Congress for the relief of the sufferers. He says that there are very few native-born Americans among those who apply to him for help. They are mostly Cubans who have come to America and become naturalized.

Considerable anxiety is being felt on the score of General Woodford's mission.

He has been presented to the Queen Regent, and we must now wait patiently to know how the Spanish Government will receive the message which he bears from our President.

There are new rumors of a Carlist rising.

It is stated that Don Carlos and his advisers are still waiting for a favorable opportunity to come forward and press their claims.

Don Carlos is still afraid of prejudicing the people against him by coming forward and trying to seize the throne at a moment when the country is in so much trouble. He is hoping that the new leaders of the Government will make some mistake which will render it possible for him to come forward and declare himself the only person who can save the country.

It is stated on most reliable authority that the Carlists have secretly established an elaborate military organization. They have, so it is said, made lists of all the men who are willing to fight for Don Carlos, and have arranged and mustered them in troops and companies, posting each man as to his place and duties. When the time comes that the Carlists unfurl their standard and revolt against the Government of Spain, they expect, by these means, to have a well-drilled army to back up the claims of the Pretender.

Arrangements have been made for the Carlist leaders to meet at Lucerne in Switzerland. They are to discuss the situation. Many of them think that they have been passive long enough, and that it is now high time that a decided attempt should be made to secure the crown for their candidate.

A flutter of excitement was caused in this country the other day by the news that a Spanish officer had been inspecting our Southern coast defences, and had made sketches of some of them to send to Madrid.

Our Government ordered the matter investigated, and it was found that the man who had apparently been spying on our forts was a lieutenant in the Spanish navy named Sobrai. He is known to us as being the author of certain letters, calling attention to the weakness of our coast defences.

On his arrival in Charleston, Señor Sobrai chartered a boat and went over to Sullivan's Island, where the new forts are being constructed, and spent the day examining them.

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The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 47, September 30, 1897

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