Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-01-09

ltRIlIHle captured
the schooner Aurora in Dominican waters,
and by rifiing her mailbag found evidence
of treachery on the part of about thirty of
his supposed supporters in Port-au- Prince,
whom he thereupon imprisoned The seiz
ure was a violation of international law
The Haytien Republic is still anchored
under the Galena's guns waiting for disin-
lection. The indemnity has not yet been
paid. 1t is said that Legitime has put all
the money in the treasury in his pocket, and
will flee as soon rs his fall is assured He
has issued an address deplorng the use of
power by the great American republic to
Cypress the feeble He says, however, that
the fault lies, not with the American peopIe
or government, but with Minister Thomp-
son, who has led them to wrong action The
Haytien Republic not only ran the blockade,
but supplied the enemy with provisions and
arms By all the rules of international law
she was legal prizs.
NEw YORK, Jan. 9.-The Suns Port-an.
Prince correspondent, writing under date Of
Dec 80, says:
despite the fact that Pnrt-au- Prince de-
clared for Legitime unanimously, and that
the inhabitants of the place cheered them.
selves hoarse when Legitime was proclaimed
president, there are many wealthy and in
fluential residents OF the city, merchants and
others, who are diSaffected toward Legiti-
mes government, and keep up a secret CORE
spondence with the northern leaders Their
numbers and influence during the past few
weeks have been increased greatly, so much
so that Legtime undoubtedly began to fear
that counter revolution might he started
against him in his own city. He held a
council with his ministers, and they all
agreed that prompt action was necessary.
Warrants we're secretly issued for the arrest
of some two dozen residents of Port .au- Prince
who were suspected, and the service of
these was intrusted to Gen. Herard COVER
nor Of the department of the south, and
Gen Elheher, chief of police, who. accom-
panied by "A great many other generals a
few lieutenant governors, and one or two
soldiers, sallie out on their tour of seizure
on Dec % The most promi nent people they
arrested were M. Lavaud, editor OF The
LOeil; T. Auguste, advocate; C. j. Gentil,
merchant: J. Leger and Alexander Ferrand,
advocates, and NJ. Courtois, editor of The
Plaidover National. Some of the others
arrested were clerks in the custom house and
other departments of the government A
good many of the Haytians under the ban
heard of what was going on and fed to the
foreign consulates for protection. The
American legation harbored NJ Leon Fran
els, j. Acale and Bernard LEspinasse, and
these men joined there two other refugees
who have been in hiding at the legation for
month, NJ. Bartholomew and Lsger Cou-
wen, advocates
"The Haytians arrested were taken to the
city prison, than which there is probably no
more abominably vile place on the face of
the earth. They were placed three apiece in
small dungeons about ten feet square under
ground, only lighted and ventilated by
barrow window on the ground level. The
dungeon floors are covered with reeking
filth of the most horrible description, and in
this the prisoners are compelled to sit.
They were chained down, great irons bind
ing their leg closely together at the knees
and ankles The following day, Dec. %,
other arrests were made. - Among those
seized was NJ Mallebrauche, big coffee
broker and speculator, who is said co lie
worth 100000 He was released this
morning on the fearful intercession of bis
wife with President Legitime. The arrested
Haytians will have no trial, and will he kept
in prison as long President Legitime sees
fit. IF he thinks It necessary he will I'M
doubtedly have some of them taken out and
shot
There is decided feeling of personal inse-
curity in consequence of the arrests
The correspondent describes the public life
OF the natives as being honeycombed with
corruption aud their private life as a mass of
awful immortality. He says: "The lower
order OF the blacks have little idea of the re-
lations of father, mother, sister, or brother
The slaughter of young children by their
mothers, that their bodies may be sold as
pork, or fried down into lard, is common
practice among the natives Every now and
then the foreign residents of Port -au- Prince
find served up to them on their own tables
portions of the bodies of children which have
been purchased in the public butcher-shops. 1t
is very dangerous to buy cooking lard in Hayti,
Tor the reasons above stated, even when the
lard is ostensibly of foreign manufacture,
for the Haytians get hold of the old cans
ami I'LL them with lard of their own make.
Only two weeks ago woman was arrested
In the market place in Port-au-Princs for
selling as pork the arms and legs of a child
Or course this killing of children is recog-
nized as murder by the Haytian law and
punished as such; but it Is certain that the
cases which are discovered are but small
proportion of those which happen"
During the year 1887 Fl ,228, 759 were