The Portland daily press., 1896-05-14
THE CUBAN REBELLION.


Senior Ruiz, Cuban refugee mas ar
rived at Skowhegan, where he is staying
with his stepbrother E. S. Cairns and
tolls this story of the rebellion in the is
land of Cuba:
"My name is Juan Ruiz, am 26 years
old and I am a refugee from the city of
sagua la Grande on the island of Cuba
Mr.. Cairns is my step brother and l
arrived here last Friday night from Key
West"
"What is the present condition of the
insurgent armyf"
"Just now Gen. Gomez has more men
than he knows what to do with. What
he wants most is arms and ammunition,
He has 40. 900 men well armed and disci-
plined. about 15, 900 more armed only
ordinarily and about 5000 that are not
armed at ALL My home is about a10O
miles east of Havana and on the north
coast
The city o. Sagua la Grande is COM
pletely surrounded by Insurgents, reports
to the contrary Notwithstanding. 1t has
been published in the papers of the United
States that the insurgents are being held
west of Havana but such is not the tact.
lhe Spanish troops in the city of Saguu
number about $500. Captain Don Benito
Carreras is the principal officer in COM
mand in Sagca and his troop are gueril-
las. Guerillas are of the lowest possible
type of humanity on the island and the
cruelties perpetrated by Captain Carrsras
are too horrible to describe.
Let me recite a few instances One
night not long before came away Cap
tain Carreras and detachment of his
men went out to the house of Luis Mesa,
we'll known Cuban lawyer in search of
that gentleman. Not finding him at home
he became wildlysangry and seized an
other Cuban lawyer named Ramon
Garcia and put him in prison. The night
OF the same day Carreras went out to the
plantatio owned by an American citizen
named Mexican and there arrested two
cousins of Luis Mesa. and imprisoned
them. At this time the prison was so
full that prisoners wero held in the bar
RACKS of the volunteer soldiery. When
Carreras brought the prisoners into the
city, he stated to all that they were in
surgents whom he had captured with
guns in their hands.
"Carreras afterwards captured the two
sons of Mcclellan, William and James, but
was obliged to give them up to the
American consul.
~ was peaceable clerk, pursuing
quiet course, violating no law, but
was notified by friend, whose name
would not dare give you, that l was an
intended victim of the prison, so I left
the island. I did not want to join the
insurgent army not did desire to join
the Spanish volunteers and be compelled
to shoot down my oountrymen. Sagua is
surrounded by the insurgents and the
Spa nish Troops know it, but they dare
not go out and fight them.
Insurgents occupy the plantations
Resulta and Ammonia within three miles
OF the city but the government troops do
not dare to go out after them. 1t is COLI
monty known on the island that when
the government troops do go outside the
fort where they remain most of the time,
and they meet even greatly inferior
force of insurgents they often surrender
after only feeble show of fight. I
would not say anything that will indicate
that the Spanish troops are towards, but
their fear of the dreaded nachete is such
that it simply demoralizes them and that
weapon is the natural one of the Cubans.
When asked why SO many Cubans were
leaving the island Senior Ruiz said that
it was because of an order that had been
issued from headquarters of the Spanish
army in Cuba that called upon all Cubans
loyal to the Spanish government to join
the volunteers and declaring that all who
do not will be considered as sympathizers
with the insurgents and would be treat
ed as such. On this account there has
become regular exodus from the island.
"You don't know what 1t means to be
known or suspected as q sympathizer
with the Cubans," said Senior Ruiz.
Many night we citizens Of Sagua Ia
Grande, have heard the rifle volley
when we knew it meant the death of
some victim of Carreras and his friends,
that had been taken from the prison and
executed but for no other reason than to
make room in the prison for more VIC
Tins"
Captain Carreras and his men go out
to the small farms about the city of
Sagua la Grande, day after day, AMI kill
innocent men, women and children, who
are guilty of nothing else than the fact
that they are Cubans. Small children
and women are brutally outraged while
the men folks are taken to a nearby tree,
bound, and one shot given close to their
breasts does the rest.'
'HWill you describe the trocha, that
Gen. Relyer had hoped to work wonders
With| asked the reporter.
ut consists Of two deep parallel ditohes
OAbSHQInS 1EOlu Ul16 bOWu VI -GdElOl
the north coast to Majana ON the south
coast, a distance of seven leagues. Be-
tween these bitches are constructed forts
of masonry armed with heavy guns
backed up BY 40, 600 troops the flower of
the Spanish army. The object of this
trocha is to keep the eastern and western
portions of the insurgent army from join
ing forces.''
Papers have stated that Maceo can not
cross this trocha or dead line, but as
matter of fact Maceo has many times sont
small Diet aohments of his army back and
forth across the bitches and his reason
for not joining his two armies is that he
had rather keep the flower of the Span
ish army looking after the trocha and in
Fl position where the fever and disease
will work the saddest havoc in the defeat
of the Spanish idea of subduing the in
surrection. The wet season has begun
and it is my opinion this war cannot last
many months longer and that the ulti-
mate result will be the success of ths Gu
ban arms"
Senior Ruiz is a very intelligent young
man and during the narrative did not
give up to excitement to any perceptible
degree, merely giving the details in an
Off hand conservative manner. He has
entered the Office of his stepbrother, F.
S. Cairns, who carries on an extensive