Show I PURPOSE OF TEE MOVE Advantage That Will Follow the Occupation Oc-cupation of Santiago Washington June 21Now that the army is about to set foot on Cuban soil the purpose of this move on Santiago was pointed out today by an army official I offi-cial fully acquainted with the general plan of action He said Santiago de Cuba was not to be made a military base of operations as it was not adapted adapt-ed for such use Being far removed from the rich and populous portion of the island without railroad or ordinary I i highways for transportation of muni tion of war westward the town would be practically useless as a basis of military itary supplies For that reason he said there had never been 2 idea of occupying this place a the first base t and then gradually extending military operations westward On the contrary this occupation of Santiago was but an incident of the general plan of occupying oc-cupying such ports and in due time there would be a landing on the west end of Cuba just as there has been at the east end When that occurred each point of landing would serve for the time being as a base for the surrounding sur-rounding country Santiago could no more be used as abase I a-base for reaching Havana than could Havana for reaching Santiago The occupation of Santiago he pointed out would accomplish several incidental accomplsJ but very desirable ends First of these was the capture of Admiral Cerveras fleet which would always remain a menace and an uncertain factor until entirely disposed of Another point was the relief of Hobson and his brave band of associates and the raising of the associQtes American flag on Cuban soil whether at the east or the west end would have a powerful moral influence alike stimulating stim-ulating to our own people and our fighting forces and disheartening to Spain The humiliation to Spain was in having our men and our flag planted on her soil whether the particular point was to beused as a base of oper ations or not I would also convey notice to the world at large that the notce tat United States was entrenched on the island of Cuba as well as in the Philippines Phil-ippines Next to Havana Santiago Is the largest city in Cuba Its possession means the possession of practically the eastern end of the island including all of the two eastern provinces and well up to the famous trocha I embraces also the river Cauto the largest river in Cuba and the one used by Spaniards and Insurgents alike for their most effective ef-fective naval incursions inland Although Al-though shallow i can be navigated by light draught gunboats launches etc and It provides a water highway much better than roads for tapping a great stretch of the interior of the island CABLE I REPAIRED Direct Communication Between Guantanamo Guan-tanamo and Washington Washington June 21 There was important im-portant news at the war department when Secretary Alger reached his office today The transports with 15000 troops he was informed had safely arrived off Santiago and that direct cable communication had been established estab-lished between the United States and Guantanamo where the United States marines now hold possession of Cuban soil Thus not only is Captain Blanco cut off from communication with the outside world save through the Key West cables within our control but the authorities in Washington have been placed in close connection with our forces army and navy which are conducting con-ducting the invasion of Cuba I To General Greeley and his signal corps belongs the honor of achieving this last feat He was entrusted some weeks ago with the task of reestablishing reestab-lishing cable and telegraphic communication communi-cation with Cuba Under his supervision supervis-ion Lieutenant Colonei James Allen of General Miles staff with officers and men of the signal corps have been busily engaged in the completion of that work General Greeley immediately directed the officer to obtain and forward the earliest possible advices as to the arrival ar-rival of the United States troop transports trans-ports Lieutenant Colonel Allen applied ap-plied to Captain McCalla in command of the United States naval forces in Guantanamo baThe ba-The captain in turn sent out a boat to Admiral Sampsons squadron which returns with the news that the transports trans-ports had arrived safely and were lying off Santiago and that at the moment of the report General Shafter was onboard on-board the flagship New York counseling counsel-ing with Admiral Sampson respecting the landing of the troops General Greeley received from Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Colonel Allen this afternoon a dispatch stating that the first American Ameri-can military station in Cuba Camp Mc Calla Guantanamo bay had been brought into electrical communication with the rest of the world by the establishment es-tablishment of a telegraph office which opened at 5 oclock |