Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-01-09
The Sufferings Of the Virginius Pris.
OnerS.

NEW YORK December 49,
A reporter of the Tribune, who boarded
the Juniata, obtained full particulars
from variety Of sources concerning the
treatment received by the prisoners at the
hands of their Spanish captors. All these
reports agree in one particular, namely:
that the treatment received was uniformly
harsh and in some cases barbarous. A
fact which has not generally been known,
by statements of prisoners now comes to
light, which is, that they were robbed by
the crew of the Tornado, and nearly all
who owned anything were robbed of
money, jewelry, watches, and other valu-
ables. The prisoners were taken to the
Jail of Santiago soon after their arrival in
port. Here they were crowded together
like cattle; here their sufferings began.
They were not confined in separate cells
indeed, there was no opportunity for
such confinement in the contracted quar-
tiers of the Santiago jail-but the entire
party of nearly two hundred were driven
into small room, hardly fifty feet wide
by ten feet long. Here they were
obliged to live as best they could,
though the air, Of course, was al
most deadly, and there was little or no
opportunity for exercise. The prisoners
were supplied with provisions which,
though sufficient as regards quantity,
were poor in quality, and hardly fitted to
sustain life. The provisions consisted
wholly of rice and water. One night the
prisoners were stealthily taken from the
Jail and marched with the greatest haste
to point seven miles below the city, in
the vicinity of Moro. The road lay
through rough tract Of country, and the
journey was most wearisome, while some
of the prisoners were so sick as to be al
most unable to stand. The suffer
ings of some of the num-
Der 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 Bazean, which at once
set sail for Havana. At Manzeilla it was
met by the mail steamer coming IN the
opposite direction. On the steamer was
General Burriel, who at once ordered the
Bazean to return to Santiago. She turned
about, but soon ran aground, and the
passengers were transferred to another
vessel. There they suffered horrors
heretofore unknown. They were crowded
in the hold of the vessel, where scarcely a
ray of sunlight could struggle in, and the
air was poison. The darkness was almost
continuous. The food they ate was
wretched in quality and insufficient in
quantity, and the water they drank was
what remained in the buckets after the
dumb animals were satisfied. These ami
mails consisted mainly of horses and mules
They were kept on the deck above the
Virginius' prisoners, and were thus con
slant source of annoyance to the helpless
people confined below. 1t was in the
midst of all this filth and suffering thai
the prisoners were not allowed to wash fol
ten days, and their arms were pinioneC
behind them the larger portion of the voy
age. They were occasionally beaten or
the slightest provocation, and sometimes
on no provocation at all. These punis4'
ments, however seem not to have been o.
a nature so serious as to produce any last
| inc effects.