Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-01-15

plenty. Oh, sir. there is no lack of
provisions; none whatever I have
never yet heard man complain for
want of nourishing food, and then, as
for vegetables, there is all that could
where in abundance, and, indeed,
every other vegetable to which themen
have been accustomed can be obtained
without difficulty. On the score oi
food and clothing we have nothing to
complain" .. ..- ii
PLENTY OF AMMUNITION.
Mr.. President" / next inquired,
" it IS said that you are ever in want OF
ammunition, and that sooner or later
your supplies will be cut off, and that
in consequence the war must speedily
come to an end in favor Of your adver.
sary."
THAT is mistake sir--a great
mistake" he responded, with apparent
good nature; but, quickly changing
his cheerful look to that of one who
was suddenly vexed, he added. "Yes,
aud doubtless one of the stories circu-
lated by the enemy TO injure our cause.
[ will tell you exactly how the matter
stands. We were sadly in need of am
munition until within year ago.
confess the situation then was far from
pleasant to contemplate. But now,
sir" he continued, in a cheerful and
confident tone, eve manufac-
ture our own powder The American
expeditions brought us more sulphur
than ever we can use, Our supply OF
t1ltre, however, was short, and soon
gave out. You have a good saying in
America that necessity is the mother OF
invention, and finding ourselves reduc-
ed to some extremity we managed to
extract it from the ordure of bats that
frequent the caves and rocky parts OF
the island. Perhaps the only thing we
depend upon outsiders for is fulminat-
ing powder, and when others fail to
supply it we have 10 difficulty Iii piit-
chasing it from Spanish officers. y
'Do [ understand you, Mr.. Presi-
dent, y [ inquired with some surprise,
'Eto say that the officers of the Spanish
army sell their powder to the Cuban
insurgents when they fail to obtain it
through other sources 2" 70 .r
w 1tAOttU ItOlbG, SlGf IS 1elOIueus
With q si1iile not 1nmlngled with con-
tempt they sell their powder and
occasionally they get the Benefit of it..
We are not wasteful by any means.
The cartridges, for instance, slat we
use with the rifles, are carefully pickee
up everywhere and tetilled with pow.
der. You appear TO Be surprised to
hear of our making purchases from the
Spanlards, Why, sir, we can buy al
most ANYTHING from them excepting
arms, anC Shese the officers and pri-
Yates are obliged to account for to
their superiors. You see this map,
sir, " unrolling a large map OF the rail-
road between Nuevitas aud Puerto
Principe, upon which were hot Only
all crossings and bridges, but grades
and curves, with the angles of the lat-
ter; :" this plan was purchased from Il
Spanish engineer for i've ounces $500. y
! care all your departments as we'll
provis1oned as this, which you call the
central one 2"
g [ may say they are, although vege.
tables are more plentiful in this quar-
ter. Up to the present time, as 7 have
said, ne complaint has been made by
the men, either in respect to food or
aMEglCAN SYMPATHY.
Cespedes had hitherto maintained a
calm and dignifed demeanor. He
seemed to think that the American Gov
had acted halsbly i'll frus-
trating the plans of the numerous ca
ban expeditions of relief. He dWelt at
some length OIL tie object which the
Cuban patriots had in viewo and in a
tone observed that the
cause being a worthy one should have
met with more substantial sympathy
from free republic. I advanced the
idea that the interference of the Gov.
ernment With tie expeditions to which
he referred was on account OF the Ala
ALBANIA negotiations.
81 believe that" said President
Cespedes quietly; " and yet would you
not think that we deserve the strongest
sympathy from a people who did 50
much to abolish slavery The very
first act with us was to declare all
slaves free-the unity of blacks and
whites on terms of equality"
1t struck me, coming through the
stacks ofr1f1es, that whatever difference
existed between the Spanish authorities
and their colored brethren, the pro-
tessloDs of the Cubans, so far as the
slavery question WAS concerned, were
true. In camp life, at all events, men,
black and white, could not have been
better friends. They ate and drank
and the colored officers were
by no means in the minority. Even in
our little group five or six blacks had
and to all intents and
purposes both races stood on equal
terms. r
The terms of surrender Gen. Faiardo
had authorized me to offer the in
were then referred to by, I
think, Gen. Agram onte. AL present
listened to my statement of them at
tentively, but treated them about as
the General had when I had first
spoken to him on the subiect-that is,
with the most supreme contempt.
President Cespedes said:
"I believe [ am but uttering the
sentiment Of all Cubans when [ say
that If those exceptions were stricken
out, and a promise given of uncondi-
lonal pardon to every man who has
taken up arms against Spain, even if I
had implicit faith in the offer, I would
not give them one moments serious
consideration. AS long as I live
WILL ACCEPT OF NO TERMS FROM THE
SPANIARDS
but their recognition of the independ-
9nce Of Cuba"
THE MODE OF WARFARE.
L lnterrogated President Cespedes on
5he mode of warfare carried on by the
nsurgent troops. He smiled, and ap-
oeared anxious to communicate every
hing of interest on that subject.
&c I" Our mode of warfare" he went on
to say, g is not of course a very dis
one, but as it has so far
succeeded beyond our expectations we
to continue it. It is simply
guerilla warfare-in fact, the only kind
Of hostility we could possibly carry on.
Our plan of attack is the ambuscade.
We
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