countries on account of the war in the Philippine Islands. Spain, as you
may remember, accused Japan of assisting the rebels in Manila with the
hope of securing the Philippines for herself.

Inquiries were also made of the Secretary of State, but the department
denied the truth of the rumors as firmly as the Japanese had done.

We should not be too sure that these rumors are false on this account,
for Ambassadors and diplomatists are frequently obliged, for state
reasons, to deny facts which they know to be perfectly true.

There has been considerable excitement in Havana on account of the
arrest of some fifty of the most prominent merchants in the city.

The charge made against them was that they had been shipping goods into
the interior of the island without a license, as required by a recent
rule of Weyler's.

The true cause of their arrest was that a number of packages containing
medicine and ammunition were found on board one of the trains leaving
Havana. Weyler declared that these packages were intended for the Cuban
rebels, and had the merchants arrested.

There is intense indignation in Havana over this outrage. All the men
arrested were wealthy and prominent, some having held important official
positions in the city--one in particular having been Mayor.

It is openly said that the whole affair was planned by the Spaniards to
give them an opportunity of plundering these men of their wealth. It is
reported that the Chief of Police has informed the prisoners that they