LATEST NEWS FROM THE SEAT OF WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 94, 24 April 1891, Page 3

LATEST NEWS FROM THE SEAT OF WAR.

VICTORIES WON BY THE REBEL TROOPS.

Advices from Panama to March 16th are as tollows : The British man-of-war Warspite is at Callao. Tho following has been gleaned from hor oflicor.s : " We left Iquique on February 26th, subsequent to tho different events which led to tho. capture of that port by the rebels and the tire which caused the destruction of property valued at £2,000,000. It appears that when the rebels captured tho foit tho Government troops took up a position some distance from it. The rebels returned on board their vessels, leaving only fifty men in charge. Tho troops soon heard of this and marched on the place 200 strong, under Colonel Soto. Firing commenced, and the shoro fusilade led the ships to promptly open tire. "Tho Blanco Encalda, Esmeralda and Huascar used heavy guns, while the transports keptthe mitraileuees busily employed. Tremendous destruction followed, anr l the flames spread until tho whole central part of Iquique, where tho boat storee and buildings were situated, was in ruins. Up to tho 26th, when the VVarapite left Iquique, the ruins were yet burning.

" The fight which resulted in the fire was a stern and bloody tragedy, and it would have been moro prolonged had it not been for the arrangement reached by the chiefs of the two parties, and under which the opposition leaders engaged to pay Colonel Soto §10,000 to deliver among his men, who were then to join tlio rebels. The Government troops abandoned their arms and soon dispersed. Subsequently Sobo was arrested and sent on board the Amazona, accused of having distributed only 31,000 among hia men, and having retained the remaining §9,000." Those on board the Warspite were also informed that Colonel Robies had 2,000 of Balmaceda'a troops on tho pampas and it was possible that they would again attack Iquique, in which port and it? vicinity the revolutionists atatod they had 3,000 men. They were, however, short of ammunition, but were expecting some by steamer. Iquiquo is an abnormal situation, and the inhabitants have taken refuge on an island where they had previously boen stationed. Pisagua has been abandoned by the populace. The indente of Iquique sought refuge on the Warspite and subsequently left on the cable steamer Silvettown for Valparaiso. The report is confirmed of a 6ghfc afc San Francisco in which General Vidagram was killed, and where the rebels were defeated. In a fight at Iquique on the 19th, about 200 persons were killed. Some of the number lost their lives through their own imprudence. The office of the daily newspaper "Vos do Chili," which was supported by tho Government, was sacked and burned. The Warspite gave passage to Callao to 115 persons of different nationalities.

The French steamship Ville de Belaasb reports that 800 killed and wounded was the outcome.of the fights on the Tarapaca pampas. The Lima "Diaria" said on February 25th: "The present revolution threatens to result in serioua international conflicts. Peruvian territory has already been violated by the Chilian Government troops." The roporb reached Panama on March 7th that when the forces of Valparaiso died on the Blanco Encalda, killing several of her crew, the commanding officer solicited permission from the shore authorities to bury them, and the answer he received was that he might; bury them in the sea. The commander of the Blanco Encalda thereupon referred to the captain of her majesby'3 ship Champion, and the latter significantly replied : " Request me to bury them and I shall do so." The request was accordingly formally made, whereupon the British commandor had the bodies of the Chilian seamen taken ashore under the protection of the British flag and buried with due military honours in graves he had ordered prepared for them.

The condition of affairs in Chili is becoming intolerable and the end is not far off. Both sides are ru ported to be massacring every prisoner taken.

Telegrams from Iquique say that a portion of the Antofojjasfca garrison refused to fight and declared in favour of the insurgents, and the rest fled toward Caloma, closely followed by the insurgents.