display. The populace gave the new captain-general an enthusiastic greeting. In his speech to them he declared that the towns must defend themselves, must provide guides for the army, and must report news of the enemy in their vicinity. On February 12 the new captain-general received the American newspaper correspondents in a body, greeting them cordially, and saying:

* * *

"Notwithstanding the reputation which has been built up for me by the filibusters, you can tell your people that whatever I may do, the United States would do under similar circumstances."

He promptly reorganized the military departments. Before General Weyler's departure from Madrid it was understood (though not officially announced) that his military policy would be to appoint military men as mayors in towns and villages, to procure the establishment of local defenses, and to enlist and drill citizens as volunteers. He would withdraw the small detachments of troops scattered through the interior protecting sugar estates, and would garrison only the towns of strategic importance and capable of withstanding a siege. He would begin military operations at the extreme west in the province of Pinar del Rio, and, reducing the provinces one by one, would drive the insurgents gradually eastward, finally sweeping them off the island.

On February 17 Captain-General Weyler issued three important proclamations, in effect establishing martial law

of the sternest sort.

The first proclamation defines the offenders subject to summary trial by court-martial, with penalty of death or of life imprisonment. Among the fourteen classes specified, are the following: Those who invent or circulate by any means whatever news or information directly or indirectly favorable to the rebellion; those who in any way facilitate introduction to the enemy of arms or ammunition through the custom houses; telegraph operators delivering war messages to other persons than the proper officials; those who by word of mouth, through the medium of the press, or in any other manner belittle the prestige of Spain, the army, or any forces operating with the army; those who by the same means praise the enemy; those who furnish horses or other resources of warfare to the enemy; those who adulterate the food of the army, or alter the prices of provisions.

The second proclamation decrees that all inhabitants of the country within the jurisdiction of Sancti Spiritus and the provinces of Puerto Principe and Santiago, will present themselves at the headquarters of a division, brigade, or column of the army, and provide themselves with a document proving their identity inside of eight days from the publication of this order in their respective townships. It declares the revocation of all former passes; and requires that to go into the country within the radius of the columns operating therein,

a pass be obtained from the mayor or military commander. It requires also that all stores in the country districts be vacated at once by their owners.

In the third proclamation General Weyler delegates full powers to proceed with military trials to army corps commanders. Prisoners taken in action will be subject to summary court-martial.

Military Situation and Operations.-As to the military situation, on February 22 the indications were of a concentration of insurgent forces on the borders of Matanzas and Santa Clara provinces, with a view to serious operations soon to be renewed in the great central sugar districts. Weyler promises protection to the planters there in grinding their cane immediately after the first of March. Gomez forbids grinding till belligerent rights are accorded to the insurgent army. Official reports of fighting, on February 22, in the streets at Punta Brava and the neighboring hamlet of Guatao, twelve miles from Havana, were soon discredited by strange rumors of massacre; and two American press correspondents went to the scene to investigate. They found no signs of any fighting in the streets; no house fronts marred by bullets, no outside doors or windows broken. All the visible evidence (which they made permanent by photographs) was that the dreadful stories told by the wives, mothers, and sisters of the dead were true: these women testified before General Weyler on February 26 to the killing by the troops of eighteen unarmed and unresisting men. The authorities, to prevent the facts being published to the world, arrested on February 25, as the two investigators, Charles Michelson, correspondent of the Journal of New York, and his interpreter, Lorenzo Betancourt, and lodged them in Morro Castle. On February 26 they discovered-so runs a current report that they had blundered, having taken the wrong United States Consul-General Ramon O. Williams served official notice on General Weyler that one of the eighteen prisoners held for court-martial was an American citizen, shot in the arm in his own house, though guilty of no act against Spain.

men.

It should be added regarding the case of Charles Michelson, the Journal correspondent, that General Weyler released him on Consul- General Williams's urgent representation and assurance that Michelson had not conferred with the rebels as charged; and that Mr. Williams is said to have been greatly annoyed at General Weyler's intimation that he had been deceived in the matter. On March 2 it was made public that Mr. Williams had tendered his resignation to President Cleveland after twenty-one years

of efficient service. It is said of him that he has invariably demanded civil instead of military tribunals for trial of naturalized American citizens suspected of aiding the

insurgents.

There had been about this time many rumors, greatly annoying to General Weyler, of midnight military executions at the Cabanas fortress. The authorities in the strongest possible terms denied the truth of all these rumors, and it cannot be said that they have been verified. The case of José Lorenzo Cepero, an American citizen, a prisoner in Cabanas fortress, accused of conspicuously siding with the rebels, had drawn the intervention of Consul-General Ramon O. Williams. There was much urging of his trial by court-martial; but General Weyler recognized the provisions of the treaty with this country as applicable in the case, and on February 18 gave ofcial notice of its transfer from military to civil jurisdiction.

ANTONIO МАСЕО,

In the early part of March, Gomez was suddenly heard of in the heart of Havana province, and Maceo was destroying railways and bridges within a few miles of the capital: their total force aggregated about 12,000. Cardenas was threatened by insurgent bands under Lacret. Nine towns were reported burned by insurgents in Pinar del Rio, and the great tobacco districts laid waste. The series of official reports of skirmishes with heavy loss to the rebels continued. Troopships arrived with large reinforcements from Spain; 18,000 was given as the total number of arrivals in the month ending March 8. Intense feeling was manifested in Havana at the action of the United States congress regarding Cuba.

On March 14 a report, as trustworthy as the circumstances allow, indicated the state of the insurgent movement as follows:

"Regular" army, estimated by Cubans, 60,000 men; but the number active in the field may be judged about 43,000; distribution according to provinces-Havana, 16,800; Matanzas, 8,600; Santa Clara, 6,500; Santiago, 5,500; Pinar del Rio, 3,900; Camaguey, 1,500. About two-thirds are well mounted, and about one-half well armed; the remainder have shotguns, revolvers, or only the machetes. There are also numberless local bands of from fifteen to one hundred men, not of the army, but serving the rebel interests in various ways, and acting as police and recruiting agencies. There would be great abun dance of men for the army were it not for the continual scarcity of ammunition, so that the rebels often go into battle with only six or eight rounds per man, dispersing when this supply is gone, and speedily reassembling elsewhere. Some of Maceo's men have used telegraph wire chopped into short lengths instead of bullets. The only artillery at the middle of March was probably a dozen small pieces of mountain cannon captured from government troops. In the hands of the rebel cavalry, mostly fine swordsmen, the long machete is a terrible weapon. The army as a whole is said to be well organized. Its veteran commander, Maximo Gomez, certainly shows military genius for the kind of warfare that he has undertaken, and he seems to be admirably supported by his subordinate officers. The proportion of negroes, usually mulattoes, in the army is much less than their proportion in the whole population: some of them, like Antonio Maceo, are notable cavalry commanders.

On March 18 news reached Havana of the defeat on the day before of a Spanish column near Candelaria, Pinar del Rio province, by a force of 4,000 insurgents under Maceo and Bandera, who made a dashing attack on the Spanish artillery, and completely surrounded them. The official report speaks of the engagement as most severe, but of the rebels as "suffering a tremendous loss," with final defeat. On March 24, as is reported, an insurgent force of nearly 2,000 men surprised a battalion conveying a train of army supplies in Pinar del Rio. After a hot fight the troops were compelled to retreat.

On March 22 Gomez and his men captured the city of Santa Clara by a night attack, charging past the outlying forts on several sides at once, having first gained access for a small cavalry squadron by counterfeiting the Spanish bugle call. The city, sixth in importance in the island, has 30,000 inhabitants, and held large clothing and commissary supplies. Gomez refrained from plundering or damaging the city, but took a large amount of military supplies, including more than 200,000 cartridges. After holding the city five hours, he evacuated it at 4 A. M., knowing that a strong Spanish column would soon be there. On the other hand, the capture of a strong

rebel camp and hospital in the Santa Clara province was reported on March 26 by Colonel Segura. The hospital contained 125 wounded rebels.

Elbert Rappleye, correspondent of the New York Mail and Express, was expelled by General Weyler on account of his news reports, and left Havana on March 26, reaching New York on March 30. His statements since his return are naturally not very favorable to the Spanish, who, he says, are now on the defensive. This correspondent reports that the landing at Bahia Honda of the cargo of the Bermuda-a large supply of ammunition-has greatly encouraged the revolutionists; and that Maceo, with 15,000 men, is bringing up this cargo; while Weyler has gathered forces to bar his progress, with no great prospect of success. (See notice of the Bermuda expedition below.) This correspondent has no doubt that secret military executions are frequent: the same opinion seems to be held by many. Yet reports from Havana as early as the middle of March stated that General Weyler had issued a circular requiring absolute proof to be furnished by other than interested persons before the deporting of accused men to Havana for summary dealing, and warning commanders of their responsibility for false answers.

Cuban Expeditions from the United States.-On the night of January 26 a small old fishing steamboat, the J. W. Hawkins, carrying General Calixto Garcia and 120 men, with arms and ammunition to the value of more than $200,000, sailed from Port Morris, N. J., and went out through Long Island sound. Little was known about her except that she was old and unseaworthy, and that her cargo and passengers were a mystery. Before noon the next day the worthless boat and costly cargo were at the bottom of the sea off the eastern end of Long Island, and her passengers were being picked up from open boats by passing schooners at various points in an area of many miles of tumbling It is said that ten were drowned. The survivors

sea.

were brought to New York, and it became known that the boat was bound for Cuba with men and ammunition to aid the insurgents. The leader, General Calixto Garcia, born in Cuba in 1840, is a veteran in the cause, having been one of the chiefs in the previous rebellion.

An expedition which failed to be an expedition was that of the Bermuda, a British steamship, which was at the point of steaming out of New York harbor on the night of February 24, when she was seized and held by the United States marshal, with seizure of her cargo of am