El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1896-12-22
THE CUBANS WILL WIN.
An Insurgent officer Talks Of the
War with Spain.
The Cubans Are Confident OF Winning
Independence-Injury to Busi-
ness Interests in This


The Cubans Are Conhdent OF Winning
Independence-Injury to Busi-
ness Interests in This
Country.
If the people of Florida had their
way about it Cuba would be free to-
morrow. The state is practically
unanimous in favor of the independ-
ence of the island from Spanish rule
The war has practically destroyed the
tobacco and cigar industry of Key
West. Tampa and Jacksonville, locking
| up thousands of dollars of capital in
vested in property fit only for tobacco
manufacture in some form, and throw
ing out of employment thousands OF
men who are unable to find employ
ment in any other industry. and who
are in the main unsuited for any other.
| Il am using up my last bale of to-
oacco to-day" said dealer to the Sun
| correspondent. land shall have to close
| down my factory. | can't get any to-
| bacco. How many men Will be thrown
| out of employment? y very large
number, and when added to the others
| in this city and the state, will make
quite a small army whose means of
subsistence have been destroyed by the
war in Cuba. But we all, labOrcrs and
manufacturers. bear our losses cheer
fully. We feel that it is necessary to
make the sacrifice that. Cuba may be
free. and we feel certain that it will be-"
The Sun correspondent had the good
fortune to meet three officers of the in
surgent army, who have just come over
from Cuba upon special mission. One
of them spoke English fairly well. He
lis a colonel. and looks it every inch.
He said:
''Weyler has under his command in
the island fully 100000 men. 1t is es-
timated that from 10000 to $4,000 of
them are laid up in the hospitals. The
remainder of them stick TO the cities
When they sally forth it is in large
numbers. Are they afraid of the Gu
bans?" The colonel shrugged his
shoulders. and a comical smile ag;tated
the stiff hairs of his mustache. The
idea of a Spaniard being afraid of 4
Cuban" said he, ironically. No, it
must not be that. Oh, no; something
else must keep them in the cities. The
Cubans have fully 10000 armed men in
the field, and fully 10000 reserves
ready to fill up the ranks as fast as
they are decimated by the enemy.
We have plenty of men, if we could only
equip them. 1t is estimated that we
have three men to every gun.
Every armed column has an unarned
column following it. and whenever
soldier falls there is a mad scramble
for his weapon.
Gen. Maxine Gomez commands the
eastern department. Gen. Antonio
Maceo commands the western depart
ici, I lott
Havana and Pinar del Rio where the
principal operations are to-day. The
Maceos have a glorious record" said
the colonel. There were nine of the
brothers. of whom Gen. Antonio is the
only survivor. All the others were
killed in battle. fighting for the indie
pendence of Cuba. This is n record of
which Spartan would have been
proud.
What are our prospects to-day? We
shall win. We cant fail. In the ten
years war the insurgents did not in
wade the province of Matanzas at all.
They were keptoutof it. But Gen. Maceo
has gone further than that, so that
Weyler has not only to drive us out of
Camaguev and Matanzas, but out of
Pinar del Rio as well. We have the
eastern depart ment in our grip. 1t is
the more important of the two depart
ments, and the inability of the Span
iards to collect any taxes there is one of
the severcst blows the insurgents have
inflicted upon them.
The industries of Cuba are para
lived. The extent of the para ySis may
ce inferred from the fact that it is cs-
timated that not one bag of sugar will
be sent out of the island this year
Last year Weyler ordered the planters
to grind their cane. The insurgents
we're opposed 10 their doing so. Now
he has no power to command them to
grind. There will be no sugar crop
this wear AiI the tobacco that was col
lected has been burned, and that which
remained in the fields has been ruined.
THE policy of the insurgents has
been to destroy the sugar and tobacco
estates in order to cripple the revenues
of Spain.
The people of Cuba are determined
to achieve their Independence. They
are tired OF Spanish eNtortion and tyr
amy, and prefer death to further sub
mission. The war began February p,
1898. We gained more in the first six
months of the war than we gained in
the whole time of the ten-yrars war.
When Spain could not crush the war of
1865. when it was confined TO one prov
ince, in ten years, with the sacrifice of
POO, 900 men, how can she do so now.
when we have the run of the island
from one end to the other?
Then ii should not be overlooked
that in the ten-years' war our men
numbered hardly more than 1000 with
arms; to-day we have more than 10000
armed men, with 10000 unnrmed re-
serves. The men are so eager to fight
that they contend with each other for
armS."-N. y. Sun. j
Sharp Detective.
How did you spot him. asked the
reporter of the detective who had just
nabbed brilliant young confidence
RI