Wichita eagle., 1888-06-10
BRIGANDS OF CUBA.
BOLD BANDITS THAT lNfEST THE
QUEEN OF THE ANTILLES.


Journey OF the United states-Half Wild
Peasants and Town Roughs Taking to
Brigandage.
Tales of brigandage in Cuba during the
past few years have reached New York
from time to time, but the true situation
is not known save to those who live on the
island itself, and it has become so familiar
to these as to have little novelty. 1t is
largely the result Of the present almost
bankrupt condition Of the once proud and
wealthy Queen Of the Antilles. Poverty
is now almost universal save among the
planters and merchants in the cities, and,
unable TO obtain a livelihood save by the
precarious and scarcely remunerative oc
equations Of cock fighting and lottery
ticket selling, which appear to the tourist
to be the main occupations of the Cubans,
many of the half wild peasants Of the in
terror and rOughs OF the towns have taken
to brigandage. They are most numerous
in the central part OF the island, between
Matanzas on the north and Cienfuegos on
the south. making their lairs in the woods
and hills Of the center Of the island and
operating on the roads every place where
there is any chance Of wealthy persons
passing.
The eastern end Of the island has been
singularly free from bandits, and travel
through its still virgin forests and lofty
volcanic mountains is comparatively safe
The Guardia Civile, as the Spanish
sOldiery is called, make periodical incur
sions from Matanzas and other cities
against the bandits, but as rule these
raids have little result. 1t is more than
limited that there is an understanding be-
tween the soldiers and the bandits. The
Spanish government is always behind
hand in its payment of its Cuban soldiers
wages, and there is a general impression
that the soldiers make up for deferred or
unpaid wages by share in the ransom
paid by some wealthy planter for his re-
lease from captivity. Not that the
Guardia Civile are always unfaithful!
A DREADED BANDIT CHEF.
"Matagas," said our informant, "is
now the bandit chief most feared He is
a mulatto and rules his followers abso-
lutely. He changes his location con-
stantly and has been rather quiet of late,
but we may hear of him at any time. He
has placed price of $4,000 on the per-
sons of the Messrs. Stewart, who own the
well known sugar plantation, La Caro-
Gna,' near this city, and these gentlemen
have been obliged to use much caution III
going to and from their plantation on
their visits to the city"
''Teu US about Senior Casanova" we
asked.
"WeIl, Senior Casanova was driving
through the back country one afternoon
in a volante, over rough and lonely
road, when the bandits suddenly appeared
from the chapparal. They surrounded
the volante so quickly that he could do
nothing but surrender at once. They
ordered him to mount mule, and at his
protestations that he was suffering from
a bladder complaint and that it would
kill him to ride they only laughed. They
carried him off to little hut in the noun
tain and kept him there a week. The old
gentleman, from the complaint above
described, could only subsist on milk, and
as the bandits could not furnish this he
nearly died before he was ransomed."
How did they ransom him?'
1.-The bandits had a note conveyed
secretly to his friends demanding
$4,000 for his ransom within week.
This his friends raised and sent by
trusted messenger to place agreed upon.
Senior Casanova was produced, the money
paid over and the bandit who received it
disappeared as suddenly as if the earth
had swallowed him. Casanova says that
he was not treated badly during his short
captivity, but imagine his state of mind
and suspense during the days he was a
captiver'
HAS no concerted action been taken to
apprehend these bandits throughout the
tsland?'
''No. It is a sort Of local option with
different places whether they can drive
them away or not. We're all growing so
poor however, that unless your good and
great Uncle Sam will pity and annex us
the bandits will soon suppress themselves
for want of prey.
READ THEM LECTURE.
cone place, however, has rid itself 81
the pest, and in this way. You know 1t
is very rarely that a Cuban becomes an
officer in the Spanish army. The position
is not considered worthy of ambition by
Cuban, and will not be as long as the two
peoples dislike each other as they do now.
But in this place son of a well known
Cuban family was an officer in the Guardia
Civile. He pursued and caught body Of
bandits, Cubans like himself. Then he
read them lecture in this wise:
"'You know me and you know l under
stand your position. sympathize with
your poverty and know the wretched gov
eminent has made your calling possible,
but | do not sympathiZe with your law
lessness. I'll release you now only on
your solemn oath that you'll leave this
district at once. If | hear of any Of you
here again III show you no mercy He
meant what he said, and that district was
troubled no more.
How are these bandits armed;i
Every poorly as rule. They have old
fashioned muskets and now and then
rife. 1t is not their weapons, but their
familiarity with the country and its hid
ing places and the fact that they have
relatives and friends aud sympathizers in
most of the villages, and even in the
cities, that make them at ell formidable
with the wretched soldiery we have. A
squad of United States cavalry could
probably rid the island of them in two
months time
Does not their presence make IL unsafe
for Americans to visit Cubafn
Not il the least. These bandits do
not interfere with the railroad trains, on
which a squad of soldiers always travel,
more as a matter of form than anything
else, and the bandits are not to be feared
on the beaten lines OF travel. Besides,
they do not lie in wait for tourist. They
generally learn or know all about their
man, his wealth and whether his friends
will or will not be likely to ransom him,
before they prepare 70 capture him They
would not be likely to attack a traveller
simply on the chance of securing a roll Of
bills and watch. They have also,
strange to say, high regard for Ameri-
cans. Like all Cubans, they look 10 the