They are a very useful body of men; but being neither soldiers nor sailors, according to the recognized idea of the terms, they are looked down upon by both soldiers and jack tars. In England it is a common saying that a marine is "neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring." It is stated that the principal reason for the seizure of Kiao-Chou Bay was that Germany desired to have her share of the China trade. Finding that China was indifferent to her wishes, she determined to seize upon a portion of Chinese soil, and put herself in a position to force the Asiatic kingdom to listen to her demands and obey them. A later telegram from China says that Germany has agreed to give up Kiao-Chou Bay for a coaling-station at Sam-Sah, which is on the coast of China, facing Formosa, the island Japan secured from China in the late war. This report is also as yet unconfirmed, and so we must wait until next week to know which is the correct one. * * * * * From the latest Cuban news, it would seem that the insurgents are gaining a good many victories. The leader of the Spanish forces, General Pando, was met by the Cubans in a heavy engagement in Santa Clara province. The first reports that reached us were that the Cubans had won the victory, and General Pando had been killed. This report was denied by the Spaniards, but nevertheless no news has been received from this leader since the engagement. The Spanish authorities are awaiting information with the deepest anxiety. The idea is growing daily stronger that some disaster must have overtaken him, and that he has been cut off from communication with Havana; otherwise no one can account for the fact that no news of any kind has been received from him. In addition to this, the towns of Guisa and Canto el Embarcadero have been captured by the Cubans. A force of Spanish guerillas, fifty strong, have gone over to the insurgents, carrying with them arms, ammunition, and a large sum of money. Gomez is busy in Santa Clara, organizing his forces to make a strong stand against the Spanish troops. As we told you, the Government has issued an order permitting the grinding of the sugar-cane. Gomez is determined to prevent this. In the Western provinces, the rebels have divided themselves into small bands, and are burning such cane-fields as the desolation of the war has left growing. Gomez himself will destroy the fields of Santa Clara. You probably remember the methods employed by the insurgents for burning the cane at the beginning of the war. They caught snakes, which are very plentiful in the swampy districts of Cuba, and rubbing their bodies with kerosene, set fire to them, and then threw them into the cane-fields. The agonized reptiles, in their efforts to rub the burning oil from their bodies, twined around the cane, twisted from stem to stem, and set the fields on fire in a hundred places at once.