Show A SPANISH VICTORY when one considers the utter hopelessness of the spaniards situation in ift the absence of intervention he can scarcely find fault with them for going into over a brilliant spanish victory which had no other foundation than that perennial and fruitful imagination which seems a part and parcel of the Span spanish lish nature furthermore ther more the fates have not been friendly to the dons none of the prizes and nearly all of the calamities have fallen to their lot so that a very little thing must be made the most of for the want of better filling the government recently sent three old hulks down to Sch leys fleet to be used as obstructions to the entrance to santiago harbor the design was to run them in and then sink or let the enemy sink them one of the boats so sent was the merrimac Merrl mac a worn out collier yesterday morning this was sent in as an experiment more than anything else it being thought that if there were mines the craft would develop them by contact or by their explosion from the shore it usually carried some forty men but all but eight just enough to handle the boat were taken off and it was then run into the dragons jaws jams where the expected happened whether by a mine a torpedo boat or can no from the shore it is not yet clear which the t boat was sent to the bottom considerably injured the eight men of course were made prisoners and expected to be fearing that cervera might some time or other in the future want to use that passage tor for purposes of exit the spanish blew up the shell with dynamite the total loss to the united states being perhaps as much as 75 and this la Is the brilliant victory of the enemy if they had but restrained their impatience for even a a short time they might have got the other two scows in the same way and thus have had an overwhelming dazzling victory all this time the people are led to believe that something is going on in front of santiago harbor or in the front of the town itself that Is going to result if if has not already resulted in a victory of a vastly different character i at this writing there are no details and the cables seem to be all cut the dispatch boats have been ordered to remain ten miles from the entrance to the harbor so as to be in a plaice place of safety a precaution which of itself presupposes hot work to come that was long enough ago tor for great events of which we have not heard to take place in the Inter interim lm but of which we may likely be informed at any time cervera Is still in the harbor and the american ships are or were at latest advice ad vices st just outside of it the whole situation seeming to presage an inevitable collision within a very short time if the mountain will not come to mahomet assuredly the only plan is for mahomet to go to the sin in order that the meeting may occur if the spanish wont come out and fight the americans will have to go in and compel them to do that or surrender it may result in their doing both we can all afford to hope so as to the alternative at least |