St. Paul daily globe., 1888-12-19
HOT SHOT AND SHELL.
Four of Gen. Legitime'S Men,
Of-War Bombard Cape
Haytien.
Bamboo HutS of the Black:
Easy Marks for Trained
GunnePS.
Fifteen or Twenty Persons, al
Least, Succumb to the
Fire.
Legitime Is by Degrees LoS+
ing the Confidence OF
the pnOnle.
Special to the GLOBE.


New YORK, Dec. 1S.-PaSsengers on
the steamer Saginaw, which arrived
here this afternoon from San Domingo,
report that on Dec. Gen. Leg itime'S
men-of-war bombarded Cape Haytien,
after granting thirty-siX hours time for
consulS and other foreigners to leave
the place. The Saginaw is the vessel
that was vainly pursued b. United
States revenue officials after leaving
this port Nov. 5, on the sus-
picion that she carried sup
plies for the Haytiau insurgents.
On the morning of Dec. the pasSen-
gers state four of Legitime's men-of-
war bombarded Cape Haytien. The gun
boats dropped anchor four or five miles
off the shore, lying broadside to- the
town. The guns of these vessels were
at first charged with blank cartridges
which were shot off as notice of the
warlike intention of the fleet.
The people fled into the hills,
taking with them as much of their
property as they could carry. Mules were
in great demand. and as the supply was
limited to fifty or, sixty, fabulous prices
were paid for their use by the wealthy
residents; in some instances 500 being
paid for the use of one Of the animals
for one afternoon. Those of the poorer
classes who owned mules preferred
hiring them out to using them to save
their own goods. AT the expiration OF
the thirty-siX hours time given for for
eign consulS to leave the city, the
BOMBARDMENT WAS COMMENCED
earnest. The bombarding vessels were
the Dassolines, Belize, Toussaint
L'Oerteure and one other. Shortly
after day on the second day after
the arrival of the fleet, the Haytian
officers trained their guns on the town
and the bOmbardment commenced. OPP
erationS were begun at this early hour
because favoring tide enabled the four
vessels to lay broadside to the town. The
Toussaint fired the first shot, which went
whIstling through the air and buried
itself in the sand on the beach, just in
front of the frail matched bamboo
houses of the poorer natives. The
other vessels followed suit, and fired
wildly. In few minutes, however, the
shots begun to tear through the town,
demOlishing the frail structures. The
bamboo huts succumbed easily, but the
stone buildings In the central and more
elevated portion of the town, were not
so easily destroyed, the heavy
WALLS RESISTING THE FIRE
for several hours. Despite the warning
they had received to leave the fated
town, many of the residents clung to
their habitations. In fact, it was impos-
sible to remove many of the sick in the
city within the town allotted by Leg
itime, On the top Of all OF the houses
i'm which sick person was known to be
a white flag was placed, but the shot
and shell were no respecters OF the ap-
pealing emblems. None of the people
who arrived to-day could estimate
with any degree of accuracy the num-
ber killed, but it WIS thought that fif-
teen or twenty at least succumbed to
the deadly fire. Legitime is by degrees
losing the confidence of the people, and
most all the
SYMPATHY is WITH THE NORTH
The agents in this city of the steanl-
ship Haytian Republic are much sur
prised at the report that their vessel
will sail from Hayti to-day in charge Of
an American crew, which sailed from
here last week on the Atlas line ship
Alena, to be delivered at an American
port, subject to the disposal of this gov
ernment. Mr.. Austin, one Of the agents,
said:
| don't see what either Hayti or the tlas
people gain by this. / doubt very much
whether they can bring the Haytian RepuD-
lie up here She has no stores, no fuel, nor
anything else on board, and she must be
in bad condition. l doubt, too. whether
an engineer who is not used to her engines
can run her. They say she will leave this
morning. The Galena ought to be there to-
day, and will probably reach them before
she can sail. suppose the Galena Will take
possession of her at once. Mr.. Morse, one Of
the owners, is on the Galena, and he viii
take charge of his vessel.
When the gunbOats opened fire on the
9th they ventured a little further in
shore. and their gunners were delighted
to see that they had succeeded in trOw-
ing shell within half mile of the
town. But their delight did not
last long. Puff came little
cloud of smoke from the fort, and
rebel shell dropped in the water not far
from the bOmbarding vessels. The first
shell from the fort was quickly followed
Dy others fairly well aimed. This
was something that the officers OF
the gunboats had not counted
upon, and after firing four
shells altogether Legitime's squadron
turned tail and ran out to sea. Soon
after they disappeared beyond the
horizon, leaving the insurgents to bring
their families home in safety. This
was the finale of the first attempt to
HnII ~