The New York herald., 1869-04-15
G U B A..


@ U B A.
Riot In Havana-Polltlcal ExecufIons-Dread-
fal scenes Of Excitement and Confusien-
COnnscnti0n Proposition Tabled BY the Adj
ministrative Councll-Arrival Of Troops.
HAVANA. April Q. 1899.
The readers Of the HERALD Will recollect that some
two months since depository OF hidden arms
was discovered By the police In Figueras street.
that In removing them an ARRAY occurred
in which one policeman was killed andRenother
severely injured. These were subsequently ar
rested:-Tbeodorc Cab.aa an American citizen;
Francisco Leon, who had declared his In
tentl0ns to become one and Augustn Medina,
q creole. On investigation the former was dts
charged The other two were tried by due process
OF law, convicted and sentenced to be garroted.
Great efforts were made In their behalf, particu.
larry Le0n's. The American Consul Mr.. Hall. inte-
rested himself IN the matter AMI cndeav0red 10 OBJ
tain Communication from Dulce, but without sue
cess. The day before the execution he teegraphed
to the Warrington governments asking. through 1t,
the intervention Of Madrid In the OF humanity
AL cnorts were vain, however, and yesterday morn
ing the two suffered the extreme penalty, amid q
scene which was probably never equailed before ON
this Continent.
hands with an insurgenr there confined, who re-
marked to him, 'Remember. Leon, what you prom
ised us." The execution took place at the Punta,
In front of the prison. at the very unusual hour Of
eleven. large fOrce Of volunteers cavalry and In
fantry was on the ground and the open space
around was completely filled lby an immense
concourse Of excited people both creoles
| ana Spaniards Trouble had been generally
| predicted, bat nothing could keep this ex-
| citable pOpuiuce from o scene promising so
much. Icons bsaring was the admiration Of every
one both fr1end and foe Reaching the scafTOld, ne
ran up the stairs with lively air AMI azile step, to
the evident surprise OF the priest VINO accOmD anie
him. and whom ne Turned 10 70 rescn .ne
| D ace between them. The priest was evidently DIS
suadng hum from speaking He persisted, however,
and, turning 10 the crowd, said:--"Repenance viii
allow me to address you. have sinned against
society, and hope the public VIII pardon me or It,
| This created the greatest astonishment, and the
volunteers and spanlards manifested their gratca-
| be mere strategem to gain attention ami TO be
allowed to speak. silence most profound followed.
nne ~ s the Victim but have
done my duty To my country' then raising his voice
shouted. "vira Cuba !tbrel Yira "a i',depenIencl1
vtud spedesr' The drummers ordered to drown any
| seaitious remarks, wore TOO much taken aback to
perform their duty, and his speech was finished be-
| airing and up0n the Cubans in the crowd as
magical; hundred voices responded "Yieo Css-
lowed bcggars description, and only be likenei
those recorded by historians as taking place dur
lng she French revolution % Tne noise en was xe rSe
| and bayonets flashed In the air, and troops AMI
people seemed agitated hy very ecstacy. Soon the
volunteers commenced firing, which was returned
| ny some In the crowd the greater portion OF which
began melt away through the streets leading from
| Meanwhile the execution was hurried through
WITH. Leon, as he seated himself aud the death col
la was placed about his neck, seeming to glory IN
| The CON us.on he had created. lie cestured as he
could with his bound arms and his mouth was seen
To omen until the executoper gave the fatal turn
| soon after hrs hfecss bleeding body, which seemed
{, crouch aud cover as It was removed, was placed
asi.o for The other victim. lie. too. was calm and
l, ected and eadcavored TO make himself heard by
TO TO great lie was nnrried to the chair aud when
| tunes noticed in those about to die straighteu cd
Himself glanced at the chair turned it little with
he as corpse. All this time the scene OF corfu
| SION continued maddened shouts aud shrleks were
| the more dangerous, crowded near the vouDteers.
shouting 'Vlva Espana p' and making other demou-
strations calculated 10 create the impression that
A ccnslderaSl number Of dead bodies lay scat
| tered around One tina OF staiwor.h negro. naked
to tie wa rIddied with bullets lrci lato II
by toe volunteers as they passed. to such extent
| that it mad been sec re, and the sturdy and
| leg were burn ng aud irizzng where they lay Num-
| bers Of the volunteers moved up one OF the side
| streets firing right and left IL l. reported that
sarC ltcrei Al ever sucn occas ons oct OF pr.
| vate vengeance were INDUCED IN; among these was
| tho killing o. ayoung woman, q cnnt.nera, or camp
follower, by iueatecO OF bad character and HABITS
She had obtained his il-wlll In sono manner, and
| taking advantage Of the mel.e, b: killed ner. He
| was iinme ia,ely arrested ana has oeen shot.
| The number OF killed was somewhere near ten or
| twelve and a considerable number wounded. This
| n as tar as reported. Two or the volunteers were
| s.ghts injured, one by pistol bali and another ty
| q coatusion. The PRISON front WIS soon Abandoned
after !ne execution and comparative oraer was re re,
during the day In the evening pissol shot was
fredeat party of volunteers from the Loavre. 1hey
| rushed in aud captured some person, whether tho
guilty one or not Ia question. Two or three have
been arrested charged with shouting scdIiously and
| have peen Will be shot volunteer states that
there were sixteen kIed, among whom two were
As has been ana viii be, concerning anything
plase the moderation or the volunteers while 10 Is
doubtful whether any other nationality would have
found II necessary to fire into crowd continuously
Tor evera minutes chcerfuT record the TACT that
tine volunteers really di behave far better tnan their
| nniecelcnts would have led one 10 believe. Az
close my account tue city Is quiet nor are there
ticipaaons OF further trouble.
| A meeting OF the Council Of Adninstrationn
| was held on the eth. when the "Dlrecior Gcnerali
proposed the connscaton OF property OF all Cubans
| VITO had gone from Cuba, been dcported or might
the rebcllion. Complete silence rcTvadcd through
out the assembly. Your readers are aware thar one
or more members OF this body nre Cubans. Wien
the director" re-umed, and remarked that ny their
silence he concluded they acquescet 10 his motion,
Don Domingo sterling lIefedia, one Of tue most
eminent Cubans here, rose and proccedcd to explain
to ma ExceeJey the Director mat such was iar
| from being tho case: tnat the contrary, the
| entire Silence on the part OF all the members
present q most unequvocal manifestation Of
| rnelr unanmous nor-approvnl OF hrs bxcclencv's
| proposIto on. that the suggested measure appeared
to be most uuInst. and tnnt the practice was not
! carried into enect IN any civilized country At
this date aud, In fact, IL had proved q
failure more than twenty years ago. TO tenn
| porarily condscate the property OF persons
actually engaged IN armed hostility TO the covers.
,ucnt nlp At n the authOfines deemed II wise to DO
so be rcscrted to: but II was but Just aud equitable