St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-03-22
THE WAR IN BRAZIL.

IuOuIHS Is NOW PIdCllCdlIy over anu
President Peixoto and the support
ers of the republic have won the day.
Admiral de Canals troops have sur
rendered and their cowardly leader
is fugitive on Portuguese corvette.
Admiral Mello has fed to the most
southern province in the country,
taking with him his two big war
ships, the Aquidaban and the Repub-
lica. The former was one of the
ships that represented Brazil in the
naval parade at New York last
April and is very formidable bat
tleship.
This southern province of Rio
Grande de Sui has been in state of
rebellion for the last two years and
Admiral Mello thought the time was
ripe for the resignation of Peixoto.
So on Sept. 5, 1893, with the entire
feet at his service. he steamed into
the harbor of the Rio de Janeiro and
declared hostilities against the presi-
dent. But the army of Brazil stood
Loyalty by its president and he also
held the forts which guarded one of
the largest harbors in the world.
The only fighting of the entire war
occurred in the few weeks that fol-
lowed. The forts and the ships
opened fire on each other and the
city was bombarded. In the course
of these hostilities one of Mello's
ships was struck by well-directed
shell from one OF the forts and Pe1xo-
to captured some of his fleet. Adj
miral Mello finally left for the
southern province, where he was
joined by Admiral de Cana, who
had previously remained neutral.
=, - In the meantime PeiAoto's agents
had been sent to the United States
and to Europe to buy warships.
Over million dollars was spent IN
New York and one of the newly
purchased ships was armed with a
dynamite gun that could destroy
the largest ironclad ahoat. Admiral
Mello never met this fleet and he
probably never wanted to meet it
in regular battle. Naval officers
all over the world were awaiting
the result of such a conflict, anxious
to see the effect of the dynamite gun
on board the Ell Cid. The trial of |
this gun in the Hudson river proved |
that it was the most destructive
war implement ever invented.
President Peixto did not wait for |
his European vessels, but when all |
the rest of the fleet had assembled in
the harbor of Rio de Janeiro and the
and Republica were hun
dreds of miles down the coast, he
notified the insurgents that he
should begin firing on them within
48 hours; and to say that there was
among the citizens of
that beautiful capital is expressing
1t mildly. Everybody but the insur-
gents made preparations for battle
and the citizens Of Rio expected
another bombardment. But the
revolutionists capitulated before
hardly shot had been fired. De-
serted by their admiral and not hav-
ing their big warships in the harbor,
there was little else for them to do. |
The harbor of Rio was filled with |
foreign ships all through the HOSTILE
ties, and the largest fleet there foated |
the stars and stripes. The flower
OF our navy was there, and once it |
did more to preserve our national |
prestige than whole volumes of d. |
plomatic correspondence This was
when one of Admiral de Gama's |
vessels attempted to prevent an
ing at certain wharf A six pound |
shot from the Detroit showed the |
courage and quick foresight of
Admirable Benham and notified De |
Cana that the United States would
not be bulldozed. An unfortunate
incident occurred earlier in the revo-
luton when the insurgent admirals
ship was saluted by the United
States flagship. For this impolitic
and indiscreet act the United States
admiral was Immediately relieved
of his command by Secretary Herbert
and succeeded by Admiral Benham.
The six months war resulted in
little bloodshed and it served to
strengthen the hold of the republic
upon the people. Many OF the in