National Republican., 1883-08-31
A WEIRD ROMANCE.
The story OF Girl who wHs stolen, Sold
into Slavery, and Escaped from Her
Cuban Master.

into Slavery, and Escaped from Her
Cuban Master.
Kansas Ciiy Tines
Thcre arrived in this city recently young
negro girl named Matte Young whose story
of her life forms as weird romance as is
often found outside the pages of lurid fiction,
The object of the girls visit to Kansas City
is to hunt up her mother, Sarah Young, from
whom she has been separated since she was a
year old, and who, she has been Informed, is
now living in this city.
Having heard something Of the girls story,
n Times reporter yesterday went in search OF
hcr. After passing up narrow alley, across
u back yard and UP two flights of rickety
stairs, the girl was found lying on bed in
colored boarding house kept by Wiley Wier,
the house fronting on Main street, ncar Fourth,
but having no front entrance. Miss Ioungat
first declared she was suffering such bodily
pain she could hardly sit up. was shot
by tho Cuban soldiers" sho declared, and
carry in my body seven of their bullets"
Then, without hesitation, and requiring very
little questioning, she proceeded to give tho
following account Of her very extraordinary
experience:
al was born at Nashville, Tenn, and,
though am unable to count or to reckon
time, think / must be about sixteen years
old. When L was something more than
year old | was stolen by Robinson's circus.
They made dancing girl of me, and l got so
that l was a good performer. We went to
Cuba finally, and after | had been with them
about seven years, should think, was put
up for sale on the block at Havana. Henry
Grannison, who owns n coffee plantation
about eight miles from Havana, bought me
and / went to his place as his slave. They
have no mercy on their slaves in Cuba, and l
was treated like q brute. Whom | first went
4 lnl lnt.i In haal NVi q h
teen names, and as often as the scars would
dim / was branded again. Tho names were
Spanish, and included the name Of my master
and his slaves.
81 was made to plow like horse. They
would hitch three women in n harness, and
make us drag the plow along, ono of us carry
ing q regular bit in the mouth. The food they
gave us consisted of cats, dogs, and grasshop-
pers, and they made us pick tobacco worms
and eat them, too. We were sometimes
whipped as often as three times day, and
we never knew what Sunday was
1.-TWO months ago, while was at the house
Of my master, one Of the little children got
mad and declared l had beaten her. They
wouldn't hear anything ! said, and told me
the queen had ordered my throat to be cut, |
begged for time to pray, and they gave me till
the next morning. In Cuba our god is big
snake we call Sarah, and we pray to it for
mercy. believed l would bo killed, for had
heard of slaves having their throats cut and
l had been struck on the head with knives
before. SO that evening l planned to run
away. got life preserver from ship
where l was sent to carry coal. When night
came j put the life preserver around me,
climbed over the wall, and jumped into the
ocean. was good swimmer, and wasn't
afraid. But the Cuban soldiers heard mo
splashing in the water, and they began
firing at me. The first ball struck me
in the thigh, the next hit my foot, and before
they quit shooting they hit me seven times.
My arms were not hurt, though, and kept on
swimming. Finally reached an island, and
l stayed there five weeks, living on
whatever could. Ny wounds hurt me terri
bly,, but as they hurt me worse on land than
in the salt water, kept my life preserver on
and swan along the shore of the island most
of the time. At the end of five weeks a ship
came along, bound for Galveston, and l was
taken aboard. When we reached Galveston
was put in the hands of some colored church
people, and as l heard that my mother lived
| in Nashville l was sent there. At Nashville l
| found that my mother had gone, they said, to
Kansas City, and SO / got help and came
here"
Though the girl is evidently quite ignorant,
and is filed with superstitions which may
make portions Of her narrative very fanciful
yet she possesses n good deal Of natural intelli'
| gence, and her strange story is in some points
corroborated by her condition. She TALK
Spanish fuently, and says it is much easier
for her to use than English. Her wound:
have not got entirely healed, and she com
plains continually of the pain they give her
1t is the girls intention to remain in this
vicinity till her mother has been found, OF
| until it has been determined that she Is not
\ residing in this city.