into the water half a mile inside of
the American line, throwing up a tower of white spray. It ricochetted and
struck again half a mile outside.

"The mask was now off. Maddened by the failure of their plot, the
Spaniards continued to fire at intervals of about ten minutes. In all,
thirteen shots were fired, but not one struck within two hundred yards of
our ships.

"As soon as the battery opened, Commander Lilly signalled, and his fleet
stood offshore. Captain McKensie, on the bridge of the _Vicksburg_,
watched the fall of the shells, but he considered it useless to waste
ammunition at that distance. He appeased the desire of the men at the
guns, however, by letting go a final broadside at the Spanish ships, in
the chance hope of making them pay for their daring before they gained the
harbour, but they steamed under Morro's guns untouched, and, as they
disappeared, discharged several guns.

"Half a dozen shots were sent after them at that moment by the
_Annapolis_, which dropped inside the harbour, probably creating
consternation among scores of boats on the water-front."

_May 15._ The Spanish cruisers _Maria Teresa_, _Vizcaya_, _Almirante
Oquendo_, and _Cristobal Colon_, and torpedo-boat destroyers, which
arrived off the port of Curacoa, sailed at sunset on the 15th, after
having purchased coal and provisions.

The flying squadron under command of Commodore Schley arrived off
Charleston, S. C.

Admiral Sampson's squadron passed Cape Haytien.

All the members of the Spanish Cabinet have resigned.

A report from Ponce, Porto Rico, under date of May 15th, describes the
inhabitants of the island as living in constant fear of a renewal of the
bombardment of San Juan by Admiral's Sampson's fleet. There are no
submarine mines in the harbour of Ponce, and the generally unprotected
condition of the place is a cause of much anxiety.

_May 16._ Freeman Halstead, an American newspaper correspondent, arrested
at San Juan de Porto Rico, while in the act of making photographs of the
fortifications. He was sentenced by a military tribunal to nine years'
imprisonment.

In a general order issued at the War Department, the assignments to the
different corps and other important commands were announced. The order is
as follows:

"The following assignments of general officers to command is hereby made
by the President:

"Maj.-Gen. Wesley Merritt, U. S. A., the Department of the Pacific.

"Maj.-Gen. John R. Brooke, U. S.