National Republican., 1888-05-16

for the approval Of the United States aud
nations of Europe. During the brief ud-
mnistration Of President Garfield lie
had visited Washington, and there
received assurance Of encouragement from
Mr.. Blaine IN his plan TO recognize the Cen
trail American confcdcracy These personal
interviews were followed by an extended
correspondence. and no one was 50 fully
Informed of DaniOs's plans as Mr.. Henry {.
Hall, the United States minister at Gulte-
mala, Unfortunately the cable 60 Europe
and the United states was under the control
of san Salvador landing at La libcrtad, the
principal port of that republic. Here was
the greatest obstacle In the way of Barrios's
success. All his dispatches to foreign gov
Cnments were sent overland to in Libcrtad
for further transmission by cable. but none
of them reached their destination. The
conmandunt Of the aNort, under orders
from Iadiyar seized the Office and sup
pressed the messages. Barrius sought TO
inform the foreign powers fully of his plans
and the motives which prompted them, re-
pcOting to each the assurance that he was
not inspired 10y personal ambition, aud
would accept only Il temporary dictatorship.
rs soon rs constitutional convention Of
delegates from the several republics could
assemble he would retire, inc declared, aud
permit the choice of u president of the cont
Solidatcd republics byH popular election, lie
himself under no circumstances 10 be
candidate. But these declarations We're
never sent. In place of them Ialdvar
transmitted series of dispatches misrep.
resCniing the situation, and appealing for
protection against Gautcmalan tyranny.
Tie replies Of foreign nations and the
comments of the press, based upon the
falsehoods of Iallivar, had very dcprcss-
ing effect upon the country. They were
more or less doctorcd before publication
and bogus bulletins were posted for the
| purpose Of dcCciving the people. The inhab-
itants of San Salvador were led to believe
| that naval fleets were on their way from the
United States and Europe to prevent the
| consolidation of the republics by force,
| that an army was coming overland from
| Mexico to attack Guatemala on the north,
and that several transports loaded with
| troops had left New orleans for the east
| coast Of Nicaragua and Honduras The
| United States Coast Survey ship, Ranger,
| carrying -four small guns, happening to en-
| ter La Union. Nicaragua, engaged in its
regular duties, was magniilcd into fleet
| of hundreds of thousands of tons: so that
| the people of San Salvador and Nicaragua.
| convinced that submission to BarriOs would
require them TO engage the combined
| forces of Europe and the United States,
rose in resistance and supported Ialdivar
| in his treachery.
The effect In Guatemala was similar,
| rcvcrsion Of feeling against the government.
| The moncyed men, who In their original
| enthusiasm had rendered their funds to the
| president, Withdrew their promises; the
| co,rmon people grew nervous aud lost con
| hdcncc in their hero: while the diplomatic
corps were in state of panic because they
| received no instructions from home. The
German and French ministers, like the
| minister from the United States, were favor
| able tO l}arriOs's plans: the Spanish minis
| ter was Outspokcn iN opposition; the Eng
| lish and Italian ministers non-cOmmittal;
| but none of them knew what to say or how
| To act in the absence Of instructions. They
teleSraphed to their home governments re,
| pcatedly, but could obtain no replies, and
suspected that the trouble might be in San
Salvador Mr.. Hall, the American minister,
| transmitted u full description of the stua-
| tion every evening and begged for instruc
| tions, but did not receive q word beyond
the advices previously sent by mail.
These informed him that the governments
| policy in relation to the plan To rcunite
| the republic was one of non-intcrfcrence,
and advised him that the spirit of the cen
| tury was contrary to the Use Of force to
| accomplish such an end Acting upon this
| information, Mr.. Hall lad frequent and
cordial conferences with the president, and
| received from him promise that lie would
| not invade either of the neighboring repub-
| lies unless forced to do so. If Guatemala
| was invaded he would rctalate, but other
wise would not cross the border. In the
meantime the forces Of Guatemala, 10000
| strong, were massed Mt the capital, the
streets were full of marching soldiers, and
the air was filed with martial music, while
Ialdivar was raising an army by conscrip.
tion In San Salvador and money by forced
loans.
Barrios, knowing that the army of Xaldi-
var would invade Guatemala, commenced
an offensive campaign In order to occupy
the attention of the people, he sent de-
| tachmcnt of troops to the FROM
tier, and decided to accompany them.
The evening before he started
there was what is called "a grand fUnctOn'
at the National Thcater. All of the milf
tary bands assembled ut the capitals
dozen or more--werc consolidated for the
occasion, and between the acts Performed a
march composed by a local musician In
honor of the union of Central America,
and dedicated to Gen Barros. A large
screen of shceting was deliberately painted
with the inscription, "All hail to the Union
of the Republic! Long live the dictator
| and the gcnelalissimO, j. RuilnO BNrrios"
This was attached to heavy rollers, to b,
dropped in front of the stage instead of the
regular curtain at the second act of thI
play for the purpose Of creating u sensation
and sensation # did create an unexpected
and frightful one. AS the orchestra com
mcnced to play the new march the curtaiI
was slowly lowered, and the audience
greeted II with tremendous applause. Bui
through the bunder of the stage carpenter
the weights were too heavy for the cotton
sheeting; the banner split, and the heav,
rollers at the bottom fell over into th,
orchestra, severely wounding several Of th'
musicians. As fate would have IL, the rem
was directly through the name of Bar
| tlut
stitious, were mortified and stood aghas
at this omen of disaster. The cheer
ing ceased instantly, and deaf
silence prevailed, broken only by the nOis
of the musicians under the wreck strugglin!
to recover their feet. A few of the NOR
courageous friends of the President at
tempted to revive the applause, but me
dered, women tainted, and Madame BNrrio
left the theater, unable to control her emo
tion. The play was suspended: the audienc
departed to discuss the omen, and every
body agreed that Barrioss c0np-Petdt woul
fail.
The President left the city at the head q
his army for the frontier of San Salvador
| his wife accompanying him few miles %
the way. A few days later a small detael
ment Of the Gautum0lau army, commando
hy q son of BurTios, started out on scout
ing expedition, and were attacked by a
overwhelming force of SalyadOri0nS. III
! young captain was killed by the first yollel
and his company stampedcd. Leaving hi
I body on the field, they retrcatcd IN confuso
e To headquarters. When Barrios heard of tll
5 disaster he caped upon his horse, cnllc'
upon his cavalry to follow him, and starte
| IN pursuit of the men who had killed hi
son. The Salvadurians, expecting 10 u
l pursued, lay In ambush and the dictator
, while gallopinG down the road at til
= head Of Il squadron of cavalry, Wa
, picked OF by a sharpshOoter and die
Instantly. His men took his body and thu
l of his son, which was foundry the roadside
and carried them back TO camp. \ couHC
was dispatched to the nearest telegrap