Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1885-06-12
A MODERN BASTILE.
The Unknown Horrors OF MORO Cas
tie, In the Isarbor oS Ifayann.

ft' III tnt sssfbOf az Efatann.
Boston Herald.
Who enters Castle MORO leaves all
hope behind. To pass between its
portal Involuntary, for any reason, is
considered equivalent To "A sentence Of
death, and many who have gone there
cannot even be traced beyond the iron
doors. If any record exists of prisoners
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 knew 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 tho
commandant are sent 10 Spain and des-
troyed after pcrsual. But, however
it may be, the common understanding
is that whoever enters MORO castle
loses his identity, and never comes out
again, for tho bodies of the dead arc
said TO be cast over the parapets into
the sea.
The castle stands ut the entrance TO
the harbor of Havana; a picturesque
but gloomy pile, massive masonry rest
ing upon the crest ri rock which rises
about two hundred feet perpendicular
ly out of the seas. 1t is the point Of
peninsula which embraces the harbor
of Havana, and makes the latter, when
once entered, a safe as any in the
world. Covering many acres with its
walls and dungeons, the castle is one
of the largest and most formidable
fortrcsscs in the world, surprising even
Fortress Monroe in its extent. The
present castle is not so ancient as some
others on the island. rs the English
captured it and blew il up 100 years
ago, and compelling the Spaniards to
spend q million or two of dollars In its
re-ercction. Modern artillery would
shatter down the walls, but would
make no impression upon the eternal
rocks, among whose crcvices and ra-
vines the dungeons of the castle have
been placed. There is no prison in
Europe so secure from capture. either
by exterior or interior attack, for the
corridors constitute a lybrinth in
which it Is said that even the COM
mandant himself requires no guide. No
pen will ever record and no mind ever
correctly imagine the horrors which
have taken place within those walls.
The iniqutes of the inquisition did not
told are true, and people say that the
curositics continue. The life of every
citizen 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
a number are in confinement; nobody
knows who they are or what they suff-
er; all the public ever knows is that
Senior So-and-So has been denounced
and taken TO the castle and his friends
keep mighty quiet lest they may have
to join him there. These Seniors So
and-So seldom, if ever, come back from
the castle, and it is better for his fami-
ly and friends not to ask why. The
castle is for political prisoners cxclu-
sivcly, 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 precipicc over which the
bodies of dead are cast into the sea; but
could give no clue to the number an
nually shot, or the number Who die in
the dungeons, and the officers and
guards on duty were quite rs uncom-
if they wee not as igno-
rant. To all iniquities they have one
answer. If you ask them how many
prisoners are in the dungeons, the same
reply will be:
"Dios sabe God knows)
GLOW many ever come out alvey"
"Dios sabe.
"Do they ever secure releascP'
"Dios sabc.
And the words were true. Heaven,
and heaven only, knows all that has
trarspired 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 n prisoner is sent there they
lock him up and report the fact at
headquarters. With that their duty
and their knowledge ends. And it is
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 tyranny
IN Mexico and South America, and has
seen a magnificent empire pass from
his hands without realizing that MUIR
der and cruelty are not I'D best modes
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