* * * * * There is hopeful news for us of the floods in the Mississippi Valley. The river is falling slightly in some districts, and it is hoped that the floods will have entirely gone down in the next ten days. The distress is terrible, however. In some places the river is sixteen miles wide, and it will take a long time for such a quantity of water to drain off. Below New Orleans, for a distance of fifty miles, it is said that the country is entirely under water. A serious break occurred in the levee at Keokuk, Iowa, but with this exception no levees have given way. It is hoped that the worst is over. * * * * * News comes from Cuba that the Spanish have met with two serious reverses. At Guamo, in Santiago de Cuba, the Cubans, under General Calixto Garcia, routed a body of Spaniards 2,000 strong. The Cubans had mined the roads with dynamite, which they exploded as the main body of the Spaniards passed over. During the confusion and fright that followed, the insurgents fell upon the troops, killing many, and finally putting the whole force to flight. The second engagement was in the Province of Havana, where the Cubans played another of their old tricks, and led the Spaniards into a trap they had prepared for them. The Spaniards met a small force of Cubans, which retreated before them. They followed hotly, until suddenly the fleeing insurgents turned and attacked them, and before the Spaniards had time to make out what this meant, they were also attacked vigorously from the rear, and found they had been again entrapped by the enemy. The fight lasted five hours, and then the Spaniards were obliged to retreat. We spoke, a few weeks ago, of the port of Banes which the insurgents had secured in Santiago de Cuba. It is said that four cruisers and several gunboats have been ordered there to retake it from the Cubans. Many people have criticised General Gomez for not gathering his forces together to fight one big battle which shall decide the war. The General has written a letter explaining his reasons for fighting the war in the way he is doing. He says that the Spanish force is so much larger and better armed than his own, that he could not hope to win a pitched battle. It is his opinion that the only way to fight the Spaniards with success is constantly to worry them with small bodies of men, and waste the Spanish money in keeping up the army until finally they cannot continue the war any longer. He feels sure of success in the end. * * * * * General Miles, of the United States army, has made a trip to Sandy Hook, to look at a new method of defence that has just been designed for our coast-line. This consists of a concrete wall twenty feet thick, against which is a huge embankment of sand.