Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-12-19
LEGlTiME'S GUNBOATS
Throw Shot and Shell Into
 Cape lIaytien.
THIRTY.sIX HOURS OF FIRING.

Seventy-five Shots Thrown Into the In-
 offensive Little rort-The Inhabitants
 Were Given but One Hour to Leave the
 PIace-A Number Killed and Wounded.
 NEW YORK, Dec 1a-The latest news from the seat of war in Hayti comes by the Clyde line steamer Saginaw, which arrived in quar- antine from San Domingo yesterday.
 The Clyde vessel, af ter a rough and stormy voyage, got inside tho Narrows at II o'clock but owing to the terrific gale which swept down the bay the steamer was unable to reach her dock et Pier 15, East river At o'clock tug was dispatched to Quarantine, which returned to the city at D. Ill. with small complement Of cabin messengers, who were landed on the st one pier alongside the barge office. Dr. August and J. H. Herman dez, two of the Sagnaw'S passengers, detailed some startling war news from the Black Republic. M". Hernandez, who has been both in Hayti and San Domingo for some time aiding ill railroad survey, gave an account of the war situation in Hayti.
 ''On the morning of the 5th fast, :" he said, -four of Legitime's war vesse!s--the Belize, Toussaint, rOverture and Dessalines an chored of Cape Haytien, one of the northern ports In an hours time after their appear ance in that locality they were throwing shot and shell into the inoffensive little port True, SD called cGntraband goods have been landed at this plaee, but no undue de- monstrations have been made by the iphab= itants. On the day the hombardment Of Cape Haytien was inaugurated Legitime gave the inhabitants only one hours time to pack up their household effects and leave the town. Many left the place, but others re- mained determined, If possible, to repel the invaders should they attempt 50 laudi but the latter were content to stand on the decks of their vessels and watch the huge iron messengers of destruction burst forth from the cannon's mouth, speed over the waters of the little bay and only cease in their onward journey Whep they had created havoc in the town h my opinion the bombaFdment of Cape Hay tien by Legitime was merely little by play on his part. Firing from the vessels was not kept up necessarily, although the bombardment is supposed to have continued for thirty-six hours A number of the in- habitants are supposed to have been seri- ously wounded or killed outright. I be- lieve, all told about seventy-five shots were fired from the different vessels The whole affair looked to me very much like little target practice on ths part of Legitime It was certainly a cowardly and despieah!e act. It's a source of much wonder to me that the whole town was not laid ID ruins. The feeling against Legitime in San Do- mingo becomes more severe as the days pass by. The general sentiment in San Domingo and places held by Hyppolyte is that the Department of the North will ultimately triumph, and that time is not far away eithern
 Dr. August, who came to this city with Mir. Hernandez, and who is said to be an official closely identified with the Depart- ment of the North, corroborated Mr. Her nandez in his statement regarding the bonn bardment. but would say nothing in regard to Gen. Hyppolyte's policy
 It was the general impression of most of the recent visitors to Hayti who came to this city on the Saginaw that Legitime's tenure of office would be of short duration after Admiral Luce reached Port au Prince.
 Gen. Contreras fondled his pen and green ink bottle as assiduously as ever as he sat in Minister Preston's office yesterday.
 '"1 think the story brought here by the Saginaw" said the general, detailing the terrible bombardment of Cape Haytien IS a grossly exaggerated one without a doubt. Even had it actually occurred, as stated, what of it! The strong will always win. Legitime is strong, and yEill remain so"
 There was a rumor current yesterday thas Minister Preston would soon follow in the footsteps of MT. Bassett and be asked to re- sign, but the minister said he knew nothing about 1t.