Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-03-24
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.

/ learn some important details from
| them in relation to affairs on that
Island. Full reliance has never been
placed upon dispatches received here
since the outbreak of the rebellion.
and now it appears they have been
! anything but truthful
/ 1t was presumed that such news
as would tell against the interests of
/ Spain in Cuba would be suppressed,
but systematic lying on the part of
4 the authorities there was not gener-
ally calculated upon. Therefore,
more or less credence has been given
! TO these dispatches, which went to
/ characterize the actions of the insur-
gents as those eofplunderers and mur-
derers, and the public sympathy for
I the struggles for Cuban independ-
ence has not quickened as it other
/ wise would have done. 1t is full
! time, however, that the American
people should know the true charac-
ter of the struggle going on in Cuba,
and at whose door properly lie the
atrocities of which it is. the theater.
From the Evening Mail of yester-
day | take the following:
"Not the least important falsehood
! foisted upon us by the Spanish au-
! thorlties in Cuba, is that which stip-
matizes the insurrectionists as reck
| less adventures, men who desire 20
beget anarchy on the Island that
they might the better enrich them
selves by plunder and massacre. We
are satisfied that the reverse of this
| is true.n
! We are assured that the insurgent
army numbers amongst its rank and
! file, representatives of the best fami-
| lies in Cuba. "The best sons of Gu
ba are in the field for independence" :"
said one informant yesterday, "wi,ile
1t Is or the other side, the side of the
Govern ment, that hirelings and ad-
ventui rs are to be fOUnd.n To-day
there are at least sixty thousand
rebels in the field. OF these but 20
600 are armed. The others fight with
such rude weapons as they can OBJ
/ tain. Many of them are armed with
only q long bough of tough wood,
cut so as to fashion somewhat like a
two-pronged pitchfork. With this,
and this only, they rush from am
| bush against the Spanish soi,iiers,
and with unerring surety, secure
each his man by so directing his
/ primitive weapon that n prong pass
es on either side the victim's neck,
thus tlinging him back powerless,
! whereupon he is rushed upon and
! dispatched with the knife. Some
J haf IN h e.
| fought England again and again; the
Poles the Russians; the CoIonists the
English; bun anarchists and murder
! eTs never anywhere.
/ THE REIGN OF TERROR IN HAVANA.
Havana is in state of terrorism.
/ The under-current of feeling against
/ the Government is such, that in spite
1 of the omnipresence of the Spanish
soldlery and of those who sympa-
/ thiZe with them, not Cubans. but of
| Spanish birth and sympathies, man
ifestations of feeling are frequent ev-
( erywhere, leading to scenes of the
/ utmost atrOcity. Those who are sus-
! pected of sympathiZing with the
rebel cause are pointed out upon the
streets, and compelled to cry, "Long
! live Spain - or be bayoneted. 1t
has been the fashion of late for the
/ Cuban ladies to wear their hair hang
ing loose upon their shoulders. This
| has been declared as an evidence of
insurrectionary feeling "a sign of
sympathy, and the women seen with
their hair thus dressed upon the
streets are grossly insulted by the
soldiery. No Cuban, however influ-
ential his position may have been, is
sure OF his life or property for an
hour. He has only to be pointed out
as suspected to insure his being
! bly, informed that the government
| have offered areward of one-eighth
of a Spanish ounce, or 50 l-2 in gold
! to every soldier who produces the
ears of a rebel and demands this as
a reward. No Cuban's life is safe,
neither is that of an American, in
| Havana, II he dareS express himself
| as opposed to the terrorism which
/ the government exercises over the
natives.
! In evidence of the anti-American
| feelings of the Spanish Government
and their hirelings, we are told, that
as the MORO Castle was passing by
! the fortress on her way out of the
! harbor, the soldiery gathered on the
ramparts and Missed and hooted at
/ those on board, and by the vilest ges-
lures insulted the American ladies
/ standing upon the deck.
Very material assistance has been
rendered by sympathizers In this
! city and elsewhere, who have covert
/ ly sent to the relief of the "rebels"
men, ammunition, arms, money ard
| other necesSaries of no mean value.
While it has been impossible t. send
armed forces from the United States,
a large number of volunteers have
left this port for Cuba within the
past few weeks, who have arrived
safely, and are now engaged in the
| insuIrectionary operations. The Gu
bans are united, almost without ex-
ception, in this effort to overthrow
their oppressors, and the entire
/ wealth Of the country is pledged to
the support of the war. That the
/ system of slavery will completely
perish in the contest, and that speed
lily, is admit q on all hands. Indeed,
the owners o slaves have resolved
] To proclaim their freedom, at the
earliest moment practicable, and to
enlist them in the ranks of the sol
I diery. The success of the insurgents
has been almost marvelous-and
their eventual success is regarded as
certain. The people, everywhere,
says our Informant, are desirous of
annexation To the United States, and
it is confidently believed by ti,em
that before the present year shall
( have rolled away, their fondly cher
sshed ambition will be fully realized.
! Encouragement has been given TO