Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1912 — HAYTI PRESIDENT SLAIN BY BLAST [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HAYTI PRESIDENT SLAIN BY BLAST

Palace at Port Au Prince Destroyed; 400 Killed. POWDER MAGAZINE LETS GO Fire Follows Explosion, But Family of Island Ruler Escapes—Military Authorities Maintain Order at Capital. Port Au Prince, Hayti, Aug. 9.—ln an explosion and fire which destroyed the palace here, 400 persons were killed or injured. General Cincinnatua Leconte, president of the republic, who, with his family, was sleeping in the palace at the time, is among those who perished. His family escaped. Whether the explosion which followed a fire in the palace cellars was part of a Dominican plot to wipe out the Haitian government or due to accidental causes is not known. The explosion occurred when the palace was darkened and the president's family was sleeping. Without warning they were hurled from thteir beds and the palace walls fell in tumbling ruins around them. Rescuers Perish Under Walls. The women members or the president's family were rescued by attendants, who perished in falling walls before they could reach the state chamber where General Leconte was sleeping The holocaust has thrown all Hayti into a state of anxious expectancy. Relations with the Santo Domingo government have been strained for months and General Leconte was regarded as the head of the forces that

are mobilizing on the border and the prospective leader of the Haitian army that is expected to invade Santo Domingon. Dominicans also regarded him as the moving spirit in the revolnUonarv movement now in progress in their country. Fire Precedes Explosion. Port au Prince is in an uproar. No cohesive story can be obtained as to the incidents leading up to the explosion except that there was a fire in the cellars and an hour later the whole palace was a smoking ruin. The first explosion was followed by others when the fire reached the cellars of the palace, where a great quantity of ammunition was stored. So great was the force of the explosions that a number of small cannon, fragments of iron and shells were thrown for great distances in all directions. The first explosion shattered the palace. ” Fire followed quickly upon the explosion and the palace, which was a wooden structure, was consumed within half an hour. Panic Prevails In City. -—•* All the houses around the palace were greatly damaged by the explosion, but as the palace itsplf was isolated. the firemen succeeded In their efforts to localize the fire. For a time a great panic prevailed and the military authorities immediately took charge of the situation. At a joint meeting of the chamber and senate General Tancrede Auguste, senator, was named as president. Assassination Is Hinted. Washington, Aug. 9.—The death of President Leconte of Hayti is reported in senate circles to be due to assassination and not to an accidental explosion of a powder magazine as reported in press dispatches from Port Au Prince. The information to a senator is that a new revolution was ushered In by the murder of the president of the republic. It is reported here that there is no “powder magazine” attached to the palace at Port Au Prince and that further investigation Is bound to show that the dynamite, or powder, was recently conveyed to the palace by conspirators.

President le Conte.