Show v I I FIRE SCEERYIT SANTIAGO I THIS CORRESPONDENT SEES I NOTHING BUT LANDSCAPE I Towering Mountains Rugged Cliffs and Tropical Vegetation With Sixteen Warships Drifting About Copyright isis by the Associated Press On Board the Associated Press Dispatch Dis-patch Boat Wanda Off Santiago de Cuba With the American Fleet June 3 via Kingston Jamaica June 4 Sixteen Six-teen warships of the United States and 4000 men are drifting here under the shadow of Cubas towering mountains i In the mountain side is a small opening open-ing a rift that leads away twisting and turning up to the city of Santiago 15 miles from the sea Near this narrow nar-row harbor stream lies the fleet of Ad I i miral Cervera All day and all night I the eyes of the American sailors are fixed UDon the narrow entrance to this harbor as the warships slowly drift up and down past it 1 Perched high on the side of the entrance en-trance to the harbor is Morro castle which for two centuries has looked down upon all vessels entering thereOn there-On the opposite point some plants and tropical shrubs grow rank and green almost hiding the battery that has been placed at that point i i Sailing along the shore four miles I off one would scarcely distinguish Morro castle It looks like a thousand other rocky spurs that project from the mountain sides all along the eastern east-ern shore of the island This is the picture of the Santiago blockade today The landscape is one of great beauty The mountain scenery is majestic Great peaks greenrobed rise 8000 feet above the sea with sunlit clouds obscuring them and then drifting away from their gleaming summits Down in the deep shadowed blue at their base are the warships silent and grim drifting waitingfor the battle At night the moonlight makes a beautiful beau-tiful picture of the mountains and sea Imagine the ocean washing from the hills of the Rocky Mountains with a I tropical sky above all and you would have a picture of Santiago de Cuba I No attempt is made by the fleet to go into this harbor Mines are near the entrance and it would be suicidal for I large ships to attempt to enter i So there is nothing to do but sail up and down past the harbor mouth hoping II hop-ing the Spanish ships may again show I I themselves or come out for an ODen I combat The Spaniards have plainly laid a I I trap for the American ships The harbors har-bors are mined batteries have been I planted all along it on either side and I the Spaniards are well equipped with I i good guns and smokeless powder But I the Americans will not fall into the trap One ship may be sacrificed but if blown up and sunk it will block the I harbor and prevent the Spaniards from I j getting out i I |