344 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 7 
The War. 
BRIEF NOTES FOR BUSY PEOPLE. 
DIARY OF THE WAR. 
Intervention ordered by Congress, Tues., April 19. 
Resolutions signed by President, Wed., April 20, 
11:24 a. M. 
Ultimatum cabled to Minister Woodford, Wed., 
April 20. 
Ultimatum given Spanish Minister, Wed., April 
20, noon. 
Sefior Polo received his passports, Wed., April 
20, 3:50 p. m. 
Minister Woodford given his passports, Thurs., 
April 21. 
Beginning of the war, Thurs., April 21, 7 a. m. 
Key West Squadron sailed for Cuba, Fri., April 22. 
First gun in the war fired by Nashville, Fri., 
April 22. 
Bill for raising volunteers signed, Fri., April 22. 
Proclamation of blockade issued, Fri., April 22. 
Blockade begun, Fri., April 22, at night. 
First Spanish guns fired at fleet off Havana, Fri., 
April 22. 
Proclamation for 125,000 volunteers issued, Sat., 
April 23. 
Bill declaring war begun April 21 passed, Mon., 
April 25. 
Spanish steamship Panama captured, Tues., 
April 26. 
American squadron sailed from Hongkong to 
Manila, Tues., April 26. 
Spanish steamer Guido, loaded with supplies 
for the Spanish troops, was cajjtured by the 
monitor Terror and gunboat Machias, Wed., 
April 27. 
The cruisers New York and Cincinnati, and moni¬ 
tor Puritan, shelled the batteries at Matanzas, 
Cuba, reducing them to silence in 18 minutes, 
Wed., April 27. 
American bark Saranac, with 1,640 tons of coal 
on board, captured by Spanish gunboat in 
Philippine waters, April 27. 
Army ordered to Cuba, Thurs., April 28. 
The House passed the War Revenue bill. The 
Asiatic squadron has been sighted off Manila, 
and a battle is imminent. The Spanish sloop 
Engracia, manned by members of the Span¬ 
ish Naval Reserve, was captured by the gun¬ 
boat Newport, Fri., April 29. 
As we go to press, dispatches from 
Spanish sources report a great naval 
battle at Manila, in which our fleet 
secured a decisive victory, Sunday, May 
1. From the Spanish official report it 
appears that one Spanish warship was 
blown up ; two were burned, and several 
others were damaged or sunk by their 
crews to prevent their capture. The loss 
of life on the Spanish side is reported 
heavy. It is not yet known what damage 
has been done to our fleet. It is thought 
that Manila is still in the hands of the 
Spaniards, but that it may be taken 
by the combined action of Commodore 
Dewey’s warships with the insurgent 
forces. 
The reports of the bombardment of 
Matanzas agree that the American gun¬ 
ners fired with great accuracy. This 
ability to shoot straight has always been 
characteristic of American seamen. The 
Spanish aim was bad. It is settled that 
the modern warship is an awful engine 
of destruction. How will it withstand 
such firing ? Can it live against such 
shells ? Doubtful. We shall know more 
about it after a fairer fight. The war¬ 
ship is still an experiment. 
The war is making new business for 
railroads. High rates of insurance have 
greatly reduced the coastwise traffic. 
Railroads now bring from the South 
much freight that formerly came by 
steamer. Western produce that formerly 
went through New Orleans, Galveston 
or Mobile is now coming by rail to New 
York, Boston or Baltimore, to be shipped 
under foreign flags. The German and 
English ocean lines are reaping a won¬ 
derful harvest, in freight, since Ameri¬ 
can shipping has been called off. 
Recruiting for several independent 
regiments has been going on in this city 
during the past week. There appears 
be more curiosity than patriotism about 
the recruiting tents. Most of those who 
offer themselves appear to be workmen 
or mechanics. Thousands of flags are 
displayed, and there are great crowds 
before newspaper offices, but of course, 
there is nothing to compare with the 
excitement shown at the outbreak of our 
Civil War. There is a feeling of satis¬ 
faction that this war has brought vet¬ 
erans and young men of North and South 
together. The southern white soldiers, 
however, are inclined to draw “ the 
color line ” on negro volunteers. It is 
not known what they will do in Cuba, 
where a good share of the insurgents are 
black. 
English grain dealers appear to think 
that the war, if continued, will not add 
greatly to the price of grain in England. 
It is expected to stimulate grain-grow¬ 
ing in India, Egypt, Argentina and cen¬ 
tral Europe. Along the Danube is a sec¬ 
tion where maize grows as well as in 
Illinois. That country sympathizes with 
Spain. Its people hate America because 
of the competition from American food 
products. All through central Europe, 
farmers are severely hurt by imports of 
American bread and meat. 
The bill to provide means for carrying 
on the war was introduced by Mr. 
Dingley on April 23. This bill provides 
for a bond issue of $500,000,000, and this 
provision is exciting serious disapproba¬ 
tion from the silver men who constitute 
a majority of the Finance Committee in 
the House. We shall give further par¬ 
ticulars regarding this measure when 
it is finally perfected. War taxes are 
placed upon liquors, tobacco, bonds, 
notes, etc., with provision for stamps on 
many articles. The Democrats desire 
taxes levied on incomes. 
There were 99 American craft of all 
kinds making ocean voyages when the 
war opened, of which only 16 are steam¬ 
ers. The Spanish war vessels can do our 
country more damage by capturing these 
merchantmen than by fighting the 
American fleet, and that is, probably, 
what they will do. This war is likely to 
be settled by coal supplies. It will be a 
risky thing for a modern warship to 
travel across the Atlantic unless she is 
sure of fresh supplies of coal after she 
gets there. Without coal, such a ship 
would be useless, and Spain’s fleet is not 
likely to take the risk of sailing 3,000 
miles from a coaling station. 
Manila is the capital of the Philip¬ 
pines, a group of islands in eastern Asia. 
These islands form a rich Spanish colony, 
more valuable to Spain than Cuba. There 
are nearly 9,500,000 of people on these 
islands, producing rice, coffee, indigo 
and hemp. The Spanish rule there is said 
to be even more cruel than in Cuba. 
Manila forms a base of supplies for 
Spain’s fleet, from which it could operate 
to destroy American merchant vessels. 
Since war became probable, an American 
fleet of seven vessels, large and small, 
has been collected near China. This 
fleet has sailed to meet the Spanish fleet 
of 15 vessels—mostly old and out of date. 
If Spain is driven out of the Philippines, 
the effect upon Europe will be marked, 
for France, Germany, England, Russia 
and Japan are scheming to control the 
commerce of the East. 
The torpedo boat Somers, which was 
lying in harbor at Falmouth, England, 
was unable to leave before Great Brit¬ 
ain’s neutrality proclamation went into 
effect, and is consequently laid up there. 
It is understood that the apparent se¬ 
verity of the British government in dis¬ 
missing the United States squadron from 
Hongkong, and in regard to the Somers, 
was prearranged by American and Brit¬ 
ish diplomacy, the real object being to 
force the Portugese government to order 
the Spanish fleet to leave Cape Verde, 
and to prevent other nations from offer¬ 
ing similar hospitality. The expected 
effect was produced. Portugal declaring 
neutrality April 29. France and Italy 
had already declared their neutrality, 
but, so far, Germany and Austria decline 
to take such action formally, although 
there is little doubt that neutrality will 
be observed. Neutrality has also been 
proclaimed by Belgium, Mexico, Argen¬ 
tina and Korea. The neutrality of the 
last country is important, owing to 
her proximity to the Philippines. Aus¬ 
tria's delay causes no inconvenience, as 
she has no ports in which Spanish ves¬ 
sels can take refuge, but it shows that 
her sympathies are with Spain. The 
Brazilian government is very friendly to 
the United States, and the other South 
American republics will observe strict 
neutrality. 
The Government is likely to have con¬ 
siderable trouble with Spanish sympa¬ 
thizers in this country. A letter ad¬ 
dressed to the Spanish Prime Minister 
at Madrid has been seized by the Gov¬ 
ernment. It was written by a woman, 
and was filled with information relat¬ 
ing to the Pacific coast defenses, and 
other matters of interest to an enemy. 
There seem to be several hotbeds of trea¬ 
son in California. A powder mill near 
San Francisco, and two in New Jersey 
have recently been blown up, and in each 
case it is thought that a Spanish spy 
might have been at the bottom of the 
trouble. A man has been caught at New 
Orleans with fortification drawings con¬ 
cealed on him, and others have made 
threats to wreck trains carrying soldiers 
to Cuba. This sort of business is only 
bearing out the old-time reputation of 
the Spaniards for treachery and cow¬ 
ardice. 
Some people are afraid that the war 
will entirely destroy our export trade, 
but it is likely to be harmed very little. 
A very small per cent of this trade is 
carried on in American vessels, and the 
vessels of all other neutral nations will 
not be interfered with unless they are 
carrying articles which are contraband 
of war. Of course, our exports to Spain 
will cease, but our trade with that 
country has been gradually shrinking 
for the past decade. The average an¬ 
nual value of both imports from and 
exports to that country for the past 
flve years was only a little over $14,- 
000,000. The exports are largely agri¬ 
cultural, and these have been increasing, 
being over 86 per cent of the total in the 
last decade. The imports have been, 
also, largely agricultural, but these have 
been decreasing. As the total value of 
our agricultural exports to Spain has 
been only about $10,000,000 annually for 
many years, the loss of this trade is not 
irreparable. 
A FEW things about Spain and the 
Spanish war may need explanation. The 
boy who hopes to be the future Spanish 
King is now 12 years old. It will be nine 
years before he can be crowned. His 
mother, the “Queen Regent”, is an 
Austrian, which may account, to some 
extent, for the sentiment favoring Spain 
in central Europe. “Don Carlos” is a 
pretender who claims to be the proper 
heir to the Spanish throne. About 65 
years ago, King Ferdinand died, leaving 
no male children. By Spanish law, his 
younger brother should have taken the 
throne, but Ferdinand secured a special 
act granting the succession to his 
daughter. The present boy King Alfonso 
is the grandson of this daughter of Fer¬ 
dinand. The younger brother who was 
thus deprived of this throne became a 
pretender, that is, he claimed to be the 
true king. The present Don Carlos is 
his grandson, and he, of course, claims 
that his grandfather’s rights have de¬ 
scended to him. He has a large follow¬ 
ing, especially among the country people, 
and those in the north of Spain—the 
classes who have been least in favor of 
the present war in Cuba. Don Carlos is, 
evidently, to play a prominent part in 
the outcome of this war. 
The 
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skimming has never been equalled — 
leaving scarcely a trace of butter fat in the 
skim-milk. 
All sizes for hand and power nse at prices that will 
interest you. Agents wanted in territory where not 
represented. Write to-day for our 1898 catalogue. 
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Some Bargain Combinations. 
This is a popular combination. The four books are 
by P. H. Jacobs, and Illustrated. The poultry papers 
are well pdlted, and recognized authorities. 
Price alone 
Poultry Keeper.80.50 
Inter-State Poultryman.50 
Designs for Poultry Houses.25 
Incubators and Brooders.25 
Diseases of Poultry.25 
How to Judge Fowls.25 
The Rural New-Yorker. 1.U0 
Total.$3.00 
Combination price, $1.50. 
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Gives you all the news of the whole world 
every other day. It is the next thing to a 
great daily paper. Wo can send it and The 
Rural New-Yorker, both one year, for $1.65. 
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and The Rural New-Yorker, both one 
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The New York Weekly Tribune 
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We send It and The Rural New-Yorker, 
both one year, for $1.30. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. NEtV YORK. 
A Watch for a Dollar. 
During the month of May last year, 
we offered to furnish our old subscribers 
with a Watch for $1. It was a great 
bargain, and we did it only for one 
month. We were obliged to refuse orders 
afterwards, but we are now going to re¬ 
peat the offer for the month of May 
again. The Watch is fully warranted, 
solid nickel case and movement, jeweled, 
stem-wind and set. Any time during the 
month of May, you may send us one new 
subscription and $2, and 15 cents extra 
for postage and registering Watch, 
and we will send you the Watch by re¬ 
turn mail, and the paper for a year to 
the new subscriber. Of course, you get 
the dollar for the new subscription, so 
the Watch will cost you only $1, besides 
the postage. If you are not satisfied, 
we will return you all the money. The 
Watches are actually worth $5 at retail. 
We do this for the new subscriber, but 
only during May. All orders after May 
must be returned. Act quickly if you 
want a bargain in a Watch. 
The Rural New-Yorker, New York. 
IW-H-WIG)* 
I SEND 2c. STAMP FOR 
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