ltimate outcome. The inevitable may be deferred, but the United States
is pretty sure to win in the long run.

One or two of our battle-ships or monitors stationed at the entrance of
the harbor will be sufficient to prevent the exit of the Spaniards, even
if we do not succeed in so blocking the channel with obstructions as to
make exit impossible; this will leave the rest of our fleet free to
operate elsewhere. Great vigilance will be exercised to prevent the
Spanish torpedo-boats from running out and attacking our vessels under
cover of darkness. The entrance to the harbor is so narrow that a patrol
of small boats can be established, making such an attack almost
impossible.

Cables connecting Cuba with the world outside are being rapidly located
and cut, and by the time this paper goes to press Cuba will no doubt be
cut off entirely, and we will cease to see reports from Madrid of what
is going on in Havana and elsewhere in Cuba.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: =Latest News=]

May 31st Commodore Schley made an attack upon the forts at the entrance
to the harbor of Santiago, with the intention of ascertaining the
position and strength of the fortifications. At one o'clock in the
afternoon of that day the signal to form column was hoisted on the
_Massachusetts_; the _New Orleans_, _Iowa_, and _Vixen_ followed her as
she steamed slowly toward the harbor entrance. When between three and
four miles from shore two of her 13-inch guns were fired; it is reported
that one of the shells struck the partly dismantled Spanish war-ship
_Reina Mercedes_, crashing through her bow and killing a number of men;
two shots followed quite near the same vessel; the two guns in the
forward turret sent their projectiles so close to the Spanish flagship
that the spray was thrown all over her. The shore batteries at this time
began a rapid fire on the _Massachusetts_, but she was soon beyond their
range. The fire was then turned on the _New Orleans_; the shells from
this vessel struck the large battery on the hill above Morro Castle, and
a great cloud of dust and debris rose in the air as the shells burst.
They must have done considerable damage; the shells which followed sent
portions of the wall of Morro Castle tumbling down, a mass of ruins.
Almost every shot found a mark in either the batteries or vessels. It
was the _Iowa's_ turn next; her shells made things lively for the
Spanish fleet in the harbor, although it