The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. TUESDAY, MAY 3, 1898.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 283, 3 May 1898, Page 2

The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. TUESDAY, MAY 3, 1898.

- Tine advance news which we printed yesterday gave the intelligence that a naval engagement had taken place off the port of Manila in the Phillipine Islands. Up to the time of our last leaflet the Spanish fleet was reported to have scored a victory and that the American vessels were sheltering behind some merchant vessels. All this, from the wording of the cablegrams, we, in common no doubt with all who read it as sent, left the impression upon our mind that the fight had taken place on the coast of the Phillipines. The fact is, however, that the American fleet forced the port of Manila and opened fire on the arsenal and the Spanish vessels in the harbour. The latest cablegram explains that the American vessels had only retired behind the merchant vessels in order to land their wounded, and subsequently renewed the engagement, with the result that .the Spaniards have suffered a total defeat, they having resorted to the last desperate expedient of sinking their vessels to prevent capture by the enemy, Considering the relative strength of the fleets of the two nations in the vicinity, it is impossible to believe that all the Spanish vessels were in Manila harbour, as the following list will show the Spaniards had the superior force. American vessels : —Olympia, 5500 tons, 412 men ; Baltimore, 4600 tons, 375 men ; Boston, 3189 tons, 270 men ; Raleigh, 3183 tons, 312 men ; Petrel, 890 tons, 132 men ; and Concord, 1700 tons, 193 men. The Spanish squadron at the Phillipines :—Castilla, 3342 tons, 300 men ; Don Juan de Austria, 1130 tons, 130 men ; Den Antonio de Ulloa, 1130 tons, 130 men ; Isla de Luson, 1030 tons, 160 men ; Isla de Cuba, 1030 tons, 160 men ; Keina Christina, 3520 tons, 370 men ; Velesco, 1152 tons, 173 men; Aragon, 3342 tons, 300 men ; Elanco, 524 tons, 116 men ; General Lezo, 524 tons, 97 men ; Marquis del Duero, 500 tons, 98 men ; besides three troopships and twenty-four small river gunboats. The cables only mention the names of two or three vessels. If our surmise be correct, the decisive naval battle has yet to be fought. The people in the Spanish capital seem to have been very premature in rejoicing over a victory which resulted in a disastrous defeat. This incident reminds us of one which is said to have taken place after the battle of Waterloo. In those days news was conveyed by the means of the semaphore. In the middle of the transmission of the message giving the result of the battle a thick fog came on and the message then stood, "Wellington totally defeated." The fog caused a long delay, and something approaching a panic took place in London. When the fog lifted, the message was completed, and the words, " Napoleon at Waterloo," came through. The cases are exactly contrary ; in the former the population was raised from dejection to exaltation, and in the other cast down from the height of rejoicing to the verge of despair.