Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1889-01-23
SCENES IN HAYTL.
A Sea Captain Tells of the Turmoil
at Port au Prince.
COMPELLED TO ENLIST.
CiEilians Have No Choice in the Matter
They Must Fight whether They Want
to or Not Horrible Butcheries
of Daily Occurrence.

NEW YoRK, Jan. 23.-Capt John Evans
of the steamship Andes, from Jamaica, tells
some very interesting stories OF life and war;
fare in Hayti In describing them he said
to reporter:
'The Andes reached the harbor of Port au
Prince on the evening of Christmas day. All
was quiet except every now and then we
could hear the occasional beat of drum and
shrill intonation from fife
"On Dec. 20, at daybreak, the noises Of the
drums and flies increased, and soon grew to
an uproar. Squads of men under a black
lieutenant in blue clothes and red tape were
going through the ordinary evolutions of
military life, and learning their Hay foot,
straw foot These squads consisted of scan
tily attired men who had enlisted and few
of whom had been shanghaied for Legitime's
army, and who were being drilled and
shipped to the front to meet Hyppoite.
IE'sWe were wondering whers so many mar
tial and bloodthirsty Haytians came from,
and our curiosity was only satisfied when, on
or about Dec. 2S, we heard a great commo-
ton on the shore. Looking toward a large
wharf we saw a steamship of about 3J0 tons
decks of the steamship simply swarmed with
Haytians, among whom fights were contin-
ually occurring. The steamship was trans
port used to transfer the enlisted men to
Port au Irince from ports ON the southern
shore
Leaving Port au Prince ON Dec. 90, we
steamed around the Haytian coast, meeting
many transports loaded to the gunwales with
enlisted men. We reached Aux Gays on
the following day, and there saw the enlist
ing in active progress.
"The Legitimist man-of-war Dessalines lay
outside the city harbor, and to her were
transferred in row boats the newly enlisted
men. As soon as load was procured the
Dessalines would set sail for Port au Prince,
returning on the following day for more.
"While lying at Aux Gays left the Andes
and went ashore, principally to see how the
enlisting was progressing. L found the city
almost entirely peopled with women, chill
dren and recruiting officers. These latter
were to be seen in great in numbers patrolling
the city and poking into every deserted nook
to see if civilian might be lurking therein. II
one was found the recruiting officer would
command the lurking civilian to come forth
and announce himself.
sIf the civilian would declare himself
recruit he would be hustled off to a rowboat
and taken out to the man-of-war in the bay.
If, on the contrary, he would declare him.
self not IN favor of war, well, he would be
sent out, too. The first would be treated
with some kindness, the latter with consid-
cradle violence and cruelty. In consequence
there were not many who refused to join the
army.
II learned that about half the population
~ A.tw fsox oh had
shipped to Port au Prince to join the army
To escape from the minions of the army the
Haytians, like their white and more civilized
brethren the Germans, take to the mountains
and secrete themselves there.
at would not be advisable for the officers
to go over to the islands to look for soldiers
The refugees are fierce, and, having the adj
vantage of knowing the lay of the land, could
easily overpower their seekers. And they
would do it, too. Haytians don't mind spill
ing a little blood every now and then.
"At Jacmel, the next port at which we
touched, we found the same state of affairs
Jacmelites, as was illustrated by the little
riot that occurred on the occasion of Legi-
times election to the presidency, are enthusi-
astic over the prospects of clearing the coun-
try of their opponents, aud therefore enlist
| In great numbers without forcing the re-
cruiting officers to use violence or to resort
to the old practice of shanghaing.
"Outside the bay Of Jacmel lay the trans
port, little steamship of about $50 tons
burden, which, before the war broke out, was
engaged in the coast trade. When hostilities
were declared Legitime had chartered her, as
the elite say, seized her as the rude declare,
put two or three guns on board of her and
used her to help maintain the blockade of
the North, and at the same time helping to
transfer newly enlisted men,
II heard at Port au Prince that a spy, who
had made his way through Hyppolite's lines
into Cape Haytien and back, has reported
that barrel of flour sold at SIS, and other
provisions were of like value.
.The way thess Haytians treat their con-
quered foes is something horrible Legitime
conquered two little villages on the road be-
tween Port au Prince and St Mark. The
little huts were burned and men aud women
butchered.n
rnutrarfor Il. Frfu uan~fal FsfH4rrslfsea