Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-05-01
A MODERN BASTILE.
The Unknown Horrors os DEo-ro
castle in the HarbOr of Havana.

/
Who enters Castle MORO leaves all
nope oehlnd. To pass between its por-
tals lnyyoluntarily, for any reason, is CON
sliereu equivalent to a sentence of death.
ana many who have gone there cannot
even be traced beyond the iron doors.
II any record exists of prisoners who en-
ter 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 the commandment are
sent to Spain and destroyed after perrisal
! But, however it may be, the common I'M
derstanding is that whoever enters MORO
castle loses his identity, and never comes
out again, for the bodies of the dead are
said to be cast over the parapets into the
sea.
The castle stands at the entrance to the
harbor OF Havana; a picturesque but
gloomy pile of massive masonry resting
upon the crest of a rock which rises
about two hundred feet perpendicularlv
ont OF the seas. tits the pointof a penin-
sula which embraces the harbor of
Havana, and makes the latter, when once
entered, as safe as any in the world.
Covering many acres with its walls and
dungeons, the castle is one of the largest
and most formidable fortresses in the
world, surprising even Fortress Monroe
In its extent. The present castle is not
so ancient as some others on the island.
as the English captured it and blew it up
100 years ago, and compelled the
Spaniards to spend million or two of
dollars IN its re-erection. Modern artil-
lery would shatter down the walls, but
would make no impression upon the
eternal rocks, among whose crevices and
ravines 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 labyrinth in
which it is said that even the command
ant himself requires guide No pen
will ever record and no mind ever cor
rectly imagine the horrors which have
taken place within those walls. The in
EQUITIES of the inquisitipn did not surpass
them, If the stories that are told are true,
and people say that the curiosities CON
tinue. 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 number are in CON |
tinement; 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 !
his friends keep mighty quiet lest they |
may have to join him there These !
Seniors So-and-So seldom, if ever, come I
back from the castle, and it is better for |
his family and friends not to ask why. |
The castle is for political prisoners ex-
clusively, 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 clue to the number annually shot, or
the number who die in the dungeons, and !
the officers and guards on duty were quite
as uncommunicative, if they were not as
ignorant To all 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.)
GLOW 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 pris-
oner 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 obliv-
ious to the results of tyranny in Mexico |
and South America, and has seen a mag
nifcent empire pass from his hands with
out realizing that murder and cruelty are
not the best modes OF securing peace and |
promoting civilization.