The true northerner., 1885-05-14
A MODERN BAsTILE.
Tho Unknown Horrors OF MORO Castle, IA
the Harbor of Havana.

The Unknown Horrors OF MORO CASTLE Ia.
the Harbor of Havana
Who enters Castle MORO leaves ali
hope behind. To pass between its
portals involuntarily, for any reason, is
considered equivalent to sentence of
death. and many who have gone there
cannot even be traced beyond the iron
doors. If any record exists OF prison
ers who enter the castle common rumor
lies, for it is generally said and believed
that only in heaven are the books kept.
No one on earth has ever seen them,
and none ever know positively where
they are. Some. say that the records of
arrest and confinement are sent to the
Minister of Justice at Madrid. Others
suggest that the daily reports of the
commandant are sent TO Spain and de-
stroyed after perusal But, however 1T
may be, the common understanding is
that whoever enters MORO loses his
identity and never comes out again. for
the bodies of the dead are said to be
cast over the parapet into the sea.
The castle stands at the entrance to
the harbor of Havana, picturesque
but gloomy pile, massive masonry rest
lnH uPOl tlo CtCct Va - AOSh WhAth toto
about 200 feet perpendicularly out of
the sea. 1t is the point of a peninsula
which embraces the harbor OF Havana,
and makes the latter, when once en-
tered, as safe as any in the world. Gov
ering many acres with it's walls and
dungeons, the castle is one of the larg-
est and most formidable fortresses in
the world, surprising even Fortress
Monroe In its extent. The present cas-
tie is not so ancient as some others on
the island, as the English captured it
aud blew it up 100 years ago, compel
ling the Spaniards to spend a million or
two of dollars in its re-erection. Mod
ern artillery would batter down the
walls, but would make no impression
upon the eternal rocks, among whose
crevices and ravines the dungeons of
this castle have been placed. There is
no prison in Europe so secure from
capture, either by exterior or interior
attack, for the corridors constitute
labyrinth in which it is said the COM
mander himself requires a guide.
No pen will ever record and
no mind can ever correctly inn
agine the horrors which have taken
place within those walls. The iniqui-
ties of the Inquisition did not surpass
them, if the stories that are told are
true, and people say that the cruelties
still continue. The life of every citi-
zen of Cuba is the property of the
Captain General, to be disposed of as
he chooses. and he has chosen that
many Of them be spent within these
castle walls. Nobody knows how large
number are in confinement; nobody
knows who they are or what they
suffer; all the public ever knows is that
Senior So-and-so has been denounced"
and taken to the castle, and it is better
for his family and friends not to ask
why. The castle is Tor political pris-
oners exclusively, and when we were
over there our guide told us it was
full. He showed us the place-a little
parade ground-where the executions
take place, and the precipice over
which the bodies OF the dead are cast
into the sea, but could give no clew to
the number annually shot, or the num-
ber who die in the dungeons, and the
officers and guards on duty were quite
as uncommunicative, if they were not
as ignorant. 70 AN inquiries they
have one answer. If you ask them how
many prisoners are in the dungeons,
the same reply will be:
'"Dios sabe" God knows).
"How many ever come out alive?'
@Dios sabe."
do they ever secure release%
"Dios sabe.'
And the words were true. Heaven,
and heaven only, knows all that has
transpired within those gloomy walls.
The officers on guard are changed
often, and while they stay it is their
business to learn as little as possible.
When prisoner is sent there, they
lock him up and report the fact to
headquarters. With that their duty
and their knowledge ends. And it is
in this way that Cuba is governed. The
theory of government which Spain has
followed since she assumed control of
the western hemisphere, and by which
she has lost all that she once had, is
still in vogue. The Spaniard has
learned no lesson by experience. He
seems oblivious to the results of tyr
amy in Mexico and South America,
and has seen magnificent empire pass
from his hands without realizing that
murder and cruelty are not the best
modes of securing peace and proInot-
ino civilization - Har11ln IpffeT