The Vizcaya, which left New York on February 25th, arrived in Havana safely. The Almirante Oquendo, a sister ship of the Vizcaya, has also reached Havana.
The Oquendo is a very powerful vessel, 340 feet long, 65 feet wide, and can steam 20 knots an hour. She is said to have cost $3,000,000. She left the Canary Islands on February 15th, the day the Maine blew up.
The men on board, of course, had not heard of the catastrophe, and when they saw the wreck they could not imagine what it meant. With these vessels and the Alphonso XII. in Havana harbor, it is said the war fever has attacked the city, and the Spaniards there are anxious to fight the United States.
Conflicting reports have reached us as to whether Spain has bought war-ships in England or not during the last week. It is, however, reported on good authority that Spain has negotiated a large loan in London; the amount is not known. Several vessels have been in course of construction for Brazil and Chile, and now that they are almost completed, it is said that the Spanish Government, by agreeing to pay immense sums, is attempting to secure them. It does not seem likely that Chile would give up a battle-ship just now, as the relations between that country and the Argentine Republic are very strained. There is no doubt, however, but that Spain is increasing the efficiency of her navy, which is beginning to assume very formidable proportions.
The United States is also busy putting the older ships in good order, and rushing the work on those being constructed. The Government, it is reported, has the details of construction of many boats now building on the other side. One report was that the United States had an option on every ship being built in Europe, except, of course, vessels being built for Spain. This report, however, has not been confirmed. For the United States to have the option on a ship means that no other nation will be allowed to buy that ship unless the United States decides that she does not wish to have it herself.
The Spaniards are disturbed at the news of an American squadron at Hongkong, on the coast of China. If you will look on your map, you will find that the Philippine Islands are not very far from Hongkong. These islands belong to Spain, and in the event of a war between the United States and Spain, great damage could be done by this fleet.
The monitor Terror has arrived in New York harbor from Hampton Roads. This boat is 249 feet long, 56 feet wide, and can steam 12 knots an hour. The Puritan and Miantonomoh are two boats in the same class as the Terror, and for harbor defence they are unsurpassed. Very little surface is exposed to the fire of the enemy, as they are very low in the water; so low, that often, when in a sea-way, the waves wash over everything but the smoke-stacks and the turrets, so you can see how very difficult it is to do any damage to these formidable boats. They are all provided with rams. A ram is a very heavily reinforced projecting bow. Many war-vessels are built this way, so that they may run down and sink their antagonists in time of war. You will remember that the famous Confederate ram Merrimac employed this mode of attack as a last resort, in her famous fight with the Monitor during the Civil War. She was not successful, for she did not strike the Monitor squarely. With their immense weight these monitors could pierce with their rams the armor of almost any ship and sink it.