Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1891 — A CRISIS IMMINENT [ARTICLE]

A CRISIS IMMINENT

IN DICTATOR BALMACEDA’S AFFAIRS. Th® Insurgents Prepared to Give Decisive Battle—Terrible Besults of the Hurricane in the West Indies—Over Sixty Live* and Twenty Vessels Lost. A dispatch from Valparaiso, Chill, says: The insurgent army ha® effected a landing at Quintero Bay, only twenty miles north cf this city. According to the lowest estimate it numbers 10,090 men. They were brought down from Caldera on eight transports, three tugs i and four warships. The point of land- I Ing is about fifty miles from Santiago, where Balmaceda’s forces to the number of 10,000 have been stationed. Quintero { Bay is the entr nee to a fettle va’ley and is in direct line with Santiago and Valparaiso The Balmacedlsts have for* some time anticipated a movement south on the part of their foes, but they believed that Coquimbo would be the fir.-t place attacked. It now appears that the hovering of I the insurgent fleet in the neighborhood J of Co ,uimbo Bay was only a scheme to deceive Balmaceda. By coming so far | south the insurgents leave the large , force of Balmacedlsts atCoquimbo many miles to the north of them and helpless to render any aid to the Government army in this neighborhood. Ihe landing at Quintero Bay was therefore a complete surprise to the President, but as soon as he learned the news he acted promptly. By his command a large force was sent north to meet the enemy. Admiral Brown, from his flagship, the San Francisco, saw the landing of the insurgents They are all well armed and enthusiastic. The United States warship Baltimore is in this harbor. The Esmeralda, commanded by Silva Faina, is just outside the harbor. It is expo tod that it will be joined at once by the other insurgent war vessels from Quintero Bay. It looks as if, in conjunction with the advance of the land forces upon this city, the fleet will open fire* upon the forts that defend this harbor. Valparaiso Bay is st ongly fortified. The forts mount thirty guns, among which are a ten-inch muzzle loader, eleven eightinch and nine-inch breech loaders, and five Krupp guns of 24 centimeters caliber. The remainder are 300-pounders. Most of these guns are masked, and offer a small target for thlps to fire at. The gunners are all skilled men, who have a great deal of practice They know the distances across the bay, as they have a range finder. The insurgent fleet has altogether some nineteen guns, including 10-inch, 8-inch, and 6-inch breech-loaders. Unless some of the government gunners turn traitors it does not seem likely that the fleet can silence the forts. So far it is quiet here, it looks as if the most important engagement so far in the history of the present war is about to be fought Until the present time it has been nearly altogether a battle of words. Now a fierce fight is imminent, On its result depends in all likelihood the .complete overthrow of Balmaceda or of his opponents. The rout of the President’s forces would undoubtedly be quickly followed by the capture of both Valparaiso and Santiago by the victorious army of the insurgents.

OVEB SIXTY LIVES I. OST. Terrible Results o the Hurricane tliat Visited Mer lnlque. The hurricane that swept over Martinique of the West India Islands, caused greater damage than at first supposed. So far as can be learned there were over sixty deaths as the result of the hurricane’s visitation, but it will be •otne time before the full extent of the disaster Is known. At Fort de France alone there wore twelve lives lost, and at both Fort de France and St. Pierre, to say nothing of the country districts, there have been large numbers of people injured. Five persons are known to have been killed in St. Pierre, but it is feared that this does not represent the entire loss of life in the capital. Communication with the different ports of the island was never an easy matter, and it is excessive y difficult to get detailed news at present. As the reports from the various sections reach St. Pierre it becomes evident that the extent of the devastation has not been much exaggerated. Destruction of property and less of life are re ported from all parts of the coast. The latest report received here from Lamentin shows that there are ten dead in that place alone in addition to a large number of injuied At Francois there were sixteen people killed and large numbers injured, and at Riviere Pilote there were two or more deatns, and so on from all parts of the island comes the tale of woe and desolation. La Trinite sends in the list of its dead at ten and numbers of more or less severely injured. The damage done to shipping and property may safely be classed as stupendous. About two-fifths of the island was under cultivation and the mountain slopes were covered with forests. All the cultivation and all the forests in the path of the hurricane appear to have been swept away. The numerous sugar, coffee, cotton, and cocao plantations which felt the force of the tornado seem to have been destroyed. The number of ships wrecked in the several harbors of the island is at least twenty.