Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1896 — SPANISH CRUELTY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SPANISH CRUELTY.

AWFUL TREATMENT OF AMERICANS IN CUBA IN 1873. Tta Blood thirsty Slaughter of the ▼(retains Prisoners—Cavalry Biding Over the Bodies of the Dead and Dying to Complete the Execution. Page of Cuban History. ’ Tho “Virginius massacre” was one of ■m Dtosi atrocious of the many Spanish outrages in Cuba during the last insuraoction. From the New York Times the following detailed account of the Moodthirsty execution of the prisoner* is taken: Late in 1870 the Cuban revolutionary party purchased in New York a ClydebuUt iron side-wheel steamer, called the Virgin, and, reehristening her Vlrfitted her up as a cruiser and

transport for landing men and supplies •n the Island of Cuba, and in the following year she sailed under orders from Gen. Raphael Quesada, the revolutionary chief. She succeeded on this •ceasion In landing a force near Santiago de Cuba, and rendered similar services some time later. In the fall ®f 1873 an expedition on still larger ■eale was planned by the Revolutionary Committee, and on October 8 of that year 175 volunteers and a full complement of able seamen, the majority native Americans, left New York to embark on the Virginius, then Ivlng tn the harbor of Kingston. Jamaica. The ship was commanded by Capt. Joseph Fry, of Louisiana, who had dis-

tinguished himself as a blockade runMr during the civil war; and among ths revolutionary leaders who boarded her at Kingston were Gen. W. A. C. Byan, a native New-Yorker, who had already fought in Cuba; Pedro CesKs, a younger brother of Carlos uel Cespedes, President of the Cuban republic, and Gens. Jesus del Sol and Varona, prominent patriots. It was on the 24th day of October, 1873, that the Virglnius steamefl out of Kingston harbor. The original intention was to sail direct for Cuba, but a mishap to the machinery necessitated a stoppage at Port au Prince, Haiti. A. second start was made on Oct. 30. Meantime the Spanish consul at Kingston had been keeping a watch on the movements of the cruiser. This resultad in Gov. Burrlel, of Santiago de Cuba, ordering the Commander of the warship Tornado to sail in quest of her. On the morning of the 31st the Spanish weasel sighted the filibuster on the high sea. The warship headed for the

.Wgfnius under full steam. The fllitast&r* realized’their danger, -and teartwi to make a rtmfor the Jamaica ■*a*L rs .e t, r.- r -at By a strange lack of foresight on the Bof her commander, the Virginius run short of coal; but, as it was an tame of life or death, no exertion was •pared to reach the protection of the British waters. To supply the lack of tael all the greasy substances bn board, tach as oil, fat, and hams, from the pro- ▼ Mon stores, were thrown into the furnaces; all the weapons, the horses, and the cargo were consigned to the waves. Sat all to no avail. Even the coming •a of night proved of little benefit to Cta fugitives, for the moon rose in full tropical splendor. Finally, toward 10 ta the evening, a shell was sent across •he bows of the ill-fated cruiser. There Was now no alternative; surrender was ■■avoidable. Presently two armed taats from the Tornado came along■Me, and taking possession of the Vir•tatas, made all on board prisoners. The first order of the Spanish officer ta charge was to lower the American

flag and hoist in its place the Spa- 'srh ensign, notwithstanding the fact that Capt Fry presented his papers, demonstrating that the Virginius had been duly Reared for colors; and shortly after midnight the two vessels started for Santiago de Cuba, which was reached the following afternoon at 5 o’clock. The arrival of the Tornado with her prize created a tremendous sensation, and the wharves were soon crowded with exultant citizens and officials eager to gaze on the foolhardy "Yankees.” Whatever dismal foreboding the actual leaders of the Virginius expedition may have entertained, it does not appear that the purely American portion of the crew looked forward with any serious apprehension to the outcome of their enterprise. While it Is true that the Spanish authorities had good reason to suspect hostile intentions on their part, not a scintilla of evidence had been obtained which would war-

' rant prosecution; for, as already stated, every object of a suspicious nature had been thrown overboard before the surrender, and when the Spaniards boarded the Virginius she was to all outward appearances a peaceable merchantman, duly documented, with the American flag flying at her stern. Capt. Fry and his men, therefore, expected at the worst a short Imprisonment and an early return to the United States. But the poor fellows had not reckoned on 'the bloodthirsty temper of Gov. Burrlel and the Spanish volunteers and their Intense hatred for this country. On the day following the arrival of the Virginius in Santiago, a court-mar-tial was held on board the Tornado. It begau at 9 and ended at 4 o’clock. The charge was “piracy on the high seas;” and four leaders, Ryan, Varona, Cespedes and Del Sol, were promptly found guiin- and sentenced to be shot Early at dawn on the morning of Nov. 3 the unfortunate men were led from their prison to the slaughter house outside of the town, limits, and to the cry of “Cuba forever,” they fell beneath a hail of bullets. But this was only a foretaste of Spanish vengeance. The first four victims, though executed in violation qf all international law, were at least open and recognized enemies of Spain, and had figured prominently in the war. Not so the captain and the crew of the Virginius, many of whom had even been Ignorant of the purposes and destination of the 111-fated vessel. These men appeared before their judges a few hours after the distant rattle of musketry had told them of the fate of their companions, and before dusk the captain and his men—many of them youths under age—had learned that their last moments were at hand. Thirty-seven of them, including Capt. Fry, were told off for tion the next day. The scene of this horrible tragedy was the same as that of the first—the city slaughter-house, an adobe structure with a steep tiled roof, encircled by a shallow trench half filled with stagnant water. Half a mile separated the jail from the place, and the wretched procession had to march thither on foot, preceded by a corps of drummers with muffled drums. Arrived at the place of doom, the procession halted and formed a hollow square, with the victims in the midst. The line of marines against the slaughter house next opened, and the prisoners were placed kneeling on t]je edge of the trench, bound but not blindfolded, their faces turned to the wall, i What followed is best told In the words

of Franklin Coffin, an American eye witness of the tragedy: “After they had knelt down,” he says, “the captain walked along the line and hade each one good-by separately. No one was slighted, not even the colored men who sailed among the crew. The last sounds they heard on earth, apart from the roar of the muskets that belched forth their death, were the kind wqrds spoken by the heroic Fry. When this act of gentleness was done he knelt down with the rest The men were formed in a line about three feet from the wall. Three paces back of them were the marines, with the muskets at the shoulder. Just before the volley was fired Capt. Fry took off his hat and turned his face upward, as if in prayer. There was one brief moment of pause; then came the flame, the smoke and the roar. As the cloudy curtain lifted, thirty-six of the thirty-seven men were seen writhing in the agonies of a partial death. Poor Fry lay stone dead, a bullet in his heart, his calm face upturned toward the beautiful tropical sky.”

According to several eye witnesses the scene that ensued was hideous beyond description. The marines upon the wounded men and began dispatching them with horrible brutality. Thrusting the muzzles of their muskets into the eyes and ears of the dying, these fiends literally blew their heads off. But a still greater horror was at hand. Presently some cavalry appeared, and in order to accelerate the extermination of the victims, the horse soldiers were ordered to ride their steeds over the reeking mass of dying men. This was repeated several times until the last breath of life had been crushed out of the sufferers. After this the troops withdrew, and the rabble were let loose on the human shambles, with the result that for the rest of the day the streets were paraded by processions bearing the heads of the victims on long pikes. Thus ended the bloody orgy of Nov. 4, 1873. It must not be supposed that this second butchery had quenched Gov. Burriel’s thirst for blood. On the contrary, orders were Issued by him for the shooting of fifty more of the prisoners—the majority toeing boys ranging from 16 to 20 years of age—and 3 o’clock on the afternoon of the sth was the hour set for their execution. At 10 o’clock on the morning of that day, however, a gallant British man-of-war, H. M. S. Nlobe, steamed into the harbor of Santiago. As soon as her commander, Sir Lambton Lorraine, heard of the governor’s Intentions, he quietly trained his guns on the town, and sent word ashore that, In view of the probability that some of the crew of the Virginius were British subjects, he must insist upon a postponement of the execution until the respective governments had been communicated with. Burrlel demurred at first, but a second look at the portholes of the Nlobe and her decks cleared for action caused him to acquiesce in the demand, and the remainder of the crew and passengers were saved.

The subsequent action of the United States Government, ending in Spain’s apology for this unheard-of outrage, and the surrender of the Virginius, together with the survivors of the illfated expedition, are matters that do not come within the scope of this article. One little incident, however, emphasizes the absolute devilish cruelty manifested by the officials on this occasion. The day before the survivors of the Virginius, 102 in number, were taken from Moro Castle to Havana, to be turned over to the United States authorities, they were Informed by their jailers that their walk on the morrow would be from the cell to the grave. To enhance their sufferings a ■priest entered the castle and began to shrkve them. All night this inhuman torture was Indulged in, and when In the morning light streamed in over the frowning walls they all thought It the dawn of their last day on earth. Sadly they fell into line and.marched out into the town. All this while the United States vessel Juniata was lying In the harbor awaiting them, and their feelings can be better imagined than descried when the welcome truth finally forced itself upon them. This episode was a fitting climax to one of the most hideous chapters in the long story of Spanish oppression and cruelty.

CAPT. FRY BIDDING HIS COMRADES FAREWELL BEFORE THEIR DEATH

GEN. JUAN NEPOMUCENO BURRIEL. (Author of the "Virginius" butchery)

GAVALRY TRAMPLING TO DEATH WOUNDED VIRGINIUS PRISONERS.