Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1873-12-10
The yirgluIus Executions.

n. STAR At Nsw York. Tue ssoo"a @a's
-Pansis Coai--a high-miuded. is'eiii'
ssut yoang usan. ~ss az sye-w''nes' o. al
the proceedings. frOa the h'ome"' tue
Virntius entered the harNor OF san''as"
De Cula. esoOrted b. the spanish 'nan-0i'
w.r Tornado. u1til the last executives
to,k place. The story as told ey HIN 10
= Ttass reporter, differs, It sill be seen
IN several respects Tres. the fTe''ous'!
ruhli.hed. which Is very natural. sinoe al
vr,yious accounts have necessarily been
obtained ouly through Spanish sources
Pr. Cofih states that IN Transferring ihe
prisoner, from the .hip 20 the jail all were
m,naclel and piuiuBed except Ryan, a.
roma. Cesrcdrs and Jesus dc Soi, who
we're ireared With more consideration than
the rest. The news Of their condemnation
became known in the evening aud created
intense excitement. Many persons. +; was
arpaIent. condemned the action Of the au-
,horities. but wsre.afraii to express ihei.
sentiments for fear Of becoming involved
10 trouble. How the four condemned men
spent the uight before their execution Mr..
Coffin dad DOT lnow. Ryan obiaircd per-
mission TO make his will, after bret taking
an oath not to attempt TO escape.
Absnt 8 O'Clock. the next morning
Monday. The faied four were marched
TO the =. slaughter house. Ryan was
dressed in blue flannel shirt and light
pantaloons, wore a white felt hat looPcd
an at the side. and carried a small silver
star on his left bre at. lie showed more
grit aud courage than one would havs
thought possible. A person would have
imagiHed he was going TO his wedding IN
stead Of 10 his death. The Utners, too,
acted ike brave wen. especially Cespcdrs.
the youngest Of the three. whose courage
never tor an instant quailed~- On the way
TO the execution ground, Ryan spoke two
or three times to the Spanish officer who
salkei beside him, protesting that his ex-
ccutou was without justification, as be
had rot had a fair trial, or any trial at
all. in fact. A Catholic clergyman offered
his minlstraiions TO Ryan. but he refused
10 speak TO him and moved away. On
arriving at the slaugtter-house, Mr,Cofin
states that the Spanish officers directed
the condemned men tc kneel down with
their faces to the wall RYAN aud Ces.
peles protested against this rs an indighi.
". aud asked TO 0e allowed to kueel with
their faces turned toward their execution.
crs. Finally, however, they Submitted,
AMI assumed the requires position. Then
there was a pause for an Instant, followed
BY fash and report. aud the four were
writing in the agones of death. Their
suForngs did not last long and all were
dead within the space of four minutes
The reports circulated that Spanish Off
Ger thrust his sword through Ryuu's heart
and that the heads were chopped IF the
four murdered man aud carried through
the streets. Mr. Coffin pronounces alto
cetacr untrue. The moment life was ex.
tlnct, the four bodies were placed in a cart
aud taken to the me'ery,w here they were
thrown into rude hole hastily dug, aud
some shoyel-tus Of clay thrown over the
remains.
Meanwhile the house Of Mr.. Smith, the
American Consul, had been placed under
Il guard Of Spanish soldiers, and Mr.Smth
was compelled 10 remain within doors, and
not allowed to hold communication by l,t-
ter or otherwise with any one outside He
was not even permitted to come out on his
veranda.
The massacre Of Captain Fry and the
crew, Mr.. Coffin describes as follows: "Tho
execution took place in the afternoon. |
talked with Capt. Fry on the way from the
Jail to the slaughter.house | asked him
where was the Nirginius when she was
captured. He said she was just | $ miles
soulh-souiheast from Fort Morant on the
coast of Jamaica, aud that when he saw
they we're certain to be captured he sent
for Farona and asked him what he pro.
posed to do, TO fight or surrender, adding
It's all one to mo- Varona replied that
he thought it best to surrender. There
was SLOW match to the magazine but he
had got the men into their present posi-.
tion and thought he ought to give them 4
chance for their lives. Accordingly y, they
had surrendered. At the place Of exeeu.
ton, continued Mr. Coffin, one OF my
mates, Charles Bell the steward Of our
vessel, gave poor Fry glass of water
The Spauiards treated the Captain we'll
aud never pinioned him from first to last
He, and indeed all the others. bure up
hravely. aud never finched for m instant
When the crew had knelt down the Cap
tain walked along the line and babe good
! bye 10 all the men in turn, white aud
black, for there were several negroes in
the crew As the men kcelt they were
distant from the wall that surrounds the
execution ground about three feet, while
about three PAGES behind them, with lev.
eled muskcts, stood the detachment oil
marines detailed to execute the sentence
just before The fatal volIey was fred, Cap.
tain Fry took of his hat He seemed a.
il he was saying prayer, Or the whole
~, Capt. Fry was the only person who
fell at the first fire, His body was riddled
with bullets. and he died almost instantly
All tho others we're but slightly wounded
The scene that followed was the most
trightiul | ever witnessed, and | have
been on many "a battlefield. After the FIRST
volley | jumped upon the wall, aud from
there could see everything that happened