The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1873-12-31
The virginius Prisoners.

| New YORK, Dece mber 28.-A
reporter of the Tribune who boarded
the Juniata Immediately after her ar
rival, obtained full particulars from a
variety of sources concerning the
treatment received by the prisoners
at the hands oil their Spanish captors.
All these reports agree in one partic-
ular, namely that the treatment re-
ccived was uniformly harsh, and in
some eases 5arbarous. A fact which
has not generally been known, bv
the statement of the prisoners now
comes to light; which is that they
were robbed by the crew Of the Tor
nado, and all who owned ANYTHING
were robbed ofmoney, jewelry, watch
es and other valuables. The prison.
ers were taken to the Jail of Santiago
soon after their arrival in port there.
they were crowded together like
cattle. Hero their sufferings began.
They were not assigned to seperate
cells, indeed there was no opportu-
nifty for such confinement in the con-
tracted quarters of the Santiago jail
but the entire party of nearly two
hundred were driven into small
room, hardly fifty feet long and ff-
teen feet wide. There they were
obliged to live as best they could.
though the air, of course, was almost
deadly and there was no opportunity
to exercise The prisoners were suppli-
cd with provisions which though sulii-
cient as regards quantity, were poor in
quality and hardly fl to sustain life.
These provisions consisted almost
wholly of rice and water. One
night the prisoners were stealthily
taken from Jail and marched with
the greatest haste to a point seven
miles below the city, in the vicinity
of MORO. The road lay through
rough tract of country, and the jour
ney was most wearisOme, while some
Of the prisoners were SO sick as to be
almost unable TO stand The sufferings
of some of the number were
intense, and no pity was in the
breasts of the Spaniards. At this
point on the coast they were placed
on board the steamer Bazan, which |
at once set sail for Havana. At
Manzanilla it was met by the mail |
steamer coming in an opposite direc-
tion. On board the steamer was Gen. |
Burriel, who at once ordered the Ba-
zan to return to Santiago. She
turned about but soon after ran
aground, and the passengers were
transferred to another vessel. Here |
they suffered horrors heretofore un-
known. They were crowded in the |
hold of the vessel where scarcely a
ray OF sunlight could struggle in.
The air was poison; the darkness al
most continuous; the food they ate /
was wretched in quality and INSULT
cient in quantity ; the water they
drank was what remained in the
buckets after the dumb animals on
board were satisfied These animals |
consisted namely of horses and mules.
They were kept on the deck above
the prisoners, and were thus a con-
slant source Of annoyance to the
helpless prisoners confined below. 1t
is said that in the midst of all this
flth and suffering, the prisoners were
not allowed to wash while on board
the Bazan, for a period of ten days,
and that their arms were pinioned
behind them the greater part of the
voyage. They were occasionally
beaten on the slightest provocation
and sometimes on none at all. These
punishments, however, seem not to
have been ofa nature so serious as
to produce any lasting effects.
Commander Braine said to the
Tribune reporter: "The feeling at
Santiago against Americans is ex-
ceedingly bitter and Vice Consul
Smith is in actual danger of his life.
He has several times been threatened
with assassination, and | think one
of our men-of-war ought be stationed
there krmanently-at least till the
feeling subsidies, as ! hope it will. i
Vice Consul Smith was abused most
shamefully in their daily papers,
and 1t was only by my personal in
tercession with the Governor that
they were stopped"