Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 69, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1898 — HAS NOT REPORTED. [ARTICLE]

HAS NOT REPORTED.

No Official Information of His Victory Sent by Dewey. PROBABLY TOO BUSILY ENGAGED. .. -© ■ $$ - Anxiety at Washington to Learn of the Looses of the American Fleet —Future of the Philippines— Spain’s Navy Is Weakened.

Washington, May 3.—lt fg a curious fact that the nation most Interested of all the great powers in the combat that took place at Manila Sunday should be among the last officially to know of the result. Up to the close of office hours Monday absolutely the only Information that our government had received of the brilliant victory of Commodore Dewey and the winning of the battle of Manila on May day .came to the government through the medium of the press dispatches. If the report is true that Commodore Dewey has begun a bombardment and blockade of the city of Manila it is unlikely that he can spare a yessel from his fleet to carry the news to Hong-Kong, the nearest cable station, so it is not known when official advices will come. There was some expectation that through the surrender of the city the commodore rptght acquire control of the cable, but even then there might be practical difficulties in communicating through it. The mere cutting of the cable, as reported by the Spaniards, is not regarded as particularly serious, since being temmed in port by the American blockading fleet the Spaniards would not be able to make the cut far off shore; so that thei cable could be easby grappled and repaired. Great Anxiety. The greatest anxiety 1b felt as to the casualties sustained by the American fleet. ! From the stubborn defense made by the Spaniards it Is feared that before they burnt, blew up or sunk their ships they managed to inflict severe damage upon Commodore Dewey’s squadron. All of the ’ships engaged were vulnerable In one respect—namely, in their lack of protection to life. There was not an armored ship in Commodore Dewey's fleet, the nearest approach being the flagship Olympia. She had some coal protection around the sides and an arched steel deck calculated to protect the vitals of the ship. The other vessels of the fleet, save those recently added to the navy, like the McCulloch, have lighter steel decks of this character, but in all oases, with the exception of some slight protection In the shape of gun shields, the personnel of the ships was exposed to the fire of the enemy. If Commodore Dewey j has lost a considerable portion of his men it is feared he will be much embarrassed In the work of maintaining possession of Manila for lack of sufficient forces. United ! States naval vessels are always undermanned, according to European standards, and it will not be possible, having regard to the safety of the ships, to spare any contftdorable number of men to keep the city, especially if the engagement has disabled many of them. Slay Send Reinforcements. There was some talk of sending troops out from San Francisco to aid in this work, but this has not yet tgken shape, as far as can be learned, and it Is likely that the department will wait to hear from Commodore Dewey himself before taking any action. It may be, and in fact it is expected, that by combination with the insurgents he will succeed In having his men relieved of the task of garrisoning Manila. Future of the Islands. As to the future of thjs island, it is likely that the government will retain possession of at least one good port such as Manila for a coaling station and base of supplies for the remainder of the war. There was understood to be a considerable Spanish force in the Philippines, and s large number of natives are said to be “loyal,” meaning, in Chat sense, attached to the Spanish fortunes. With this materia! on one hand and the insurgents on the other, the latter stimulated by the overthrow of the Spaniards at Manila, It i» probable that civil war may rage on Che island for some time outside of Manila proper. It is believed the officials have not decided what to do with the islands at the end of the war, but in their possession, the United States will enjoy a powerful weapon in enforcing terms of peace with Spain. Supposing Puerto Klco shall next be seized, it would seem that Spain will have ilitlo jto encourage her In further resistance, particularly as the fall of Puerto Rico would ' mean the loss to her of her lronolad fleet ' should it cross the Atlantic.

Equal of Any Navy. There Is no talk yet of European intervention, but one of the moat beneficial' results of Dewey’s victory is that a deep impression has been made upon the Eu- ' fopean powers, who can now no longer as- j ford to blind themselves to the fact that man to man the American navy Is equal to any in the world. There was no exhibition, such as was seriously predicted in the European press, of weakness in the American fleet caused by the fact that it was of heterogeneous composition. It is safe to say that after the battle at Manila the European powers will conclude that the American flag alway%floats over the American screw regardless of the nativity or racial descent of the men who light the guns. The impression produced is likely to ieter the European powers from hasty Intervention, and the present indications are that we shall be left to settle our affaire, with Spain at our own pleasure, always providing we do not get involved in the eastern question through obtaining possession of the Philippines. bpanlali Nary Weakened. The Spanish reverse at Manila seriously tepletes the Spanish navy at a time when It is most In need of ships. With the burning of the two cruisers. Reins Christina and the Castilla. Spain has lost two of her best second-rate cruiser*. The Christina was s •ingle-screw, barque-rigged ship, 180 feet long, with a displacement of 1,090 tona. She had a total of 21 gurus, ranging from the six-inch breech-loading Hontorla down to the small machine guns, and several torpedo tubes. She earned 870 men. The cruiser Castilla was slightly larger than the Reins Christina, having LMO tons’ displacement. She had 14 large guns, all breech-loading Krupps, and two torpedo tubes. The Don Juan de Austria, whloh was blown up. was another good craft of the gunboat type. She was 110 feet long, 1 152 tone displacement, had nine guns and carried 171 men. Aside from the orlppltng of the Spanish naval strength, the burning up end the blowing up of the ships specified entails an actual money loss running Into the million*.