Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-04-23

least open and recognized enemies of
Spain, and had figured prominently in
the war. Not so the captain and the
crew of the Virginius, many of whom
mad even been ignorant of the purposes
and destination of the Inflated vessel.
these men appeared before their
Judges a few hours after the distant
rattle of musketry had told them of
the fate of their companions, and be-
fore dusk the captain and his men
many OF them youths under age-had
learned that their last moments were
at hand. Thirty-seven of them, includ-
ing Capt. Fry, were told off for execu-
ton the next day. The scene of this
horrible tragedy was the same as that
of the frst-the city slaughter-house,
an adobe structure with steep tiled
roof, encircled by a shallow trench
half filled with stagnant water.
Half a mile separated the Jail from
the place, and the wretched procession
had to march thither on foot, preceded
by corps of drummers with muffled
drums. Arrived at the place of doom,
the procession halted and formed q
hollow square, with the victims in the
midst. The line of marines against the
slaughter house next opened, and the
prisoners were placed kneeling on the
edge of the trench, bound but not blind
folded, their faces turned to the wall.
What followed is best told in the words
of Franklin Coffin, an American eye
witness of the tragedy:
''After they had knelt down." he
says, 'the captain walked along the
line and babe each one good-by separ-
ately. No one was sighted, not even
the colored men who sailed among the
crew. The last sounds they heard on
earth, apart from the roar of the mus
kets that belched forth their death,
were the kind words spoken by the
heroic Fry When this act of gentle
ness was done he knelt down with the
rest The men were formed in a line
about three feet from the wall. Three
PAGES back of them were the marines,
with the muskets at the shoulder Just
before the volley was fired Capt. Fry
took off his hat and turned his face up
ward, as if in prayer. There was one
brief moment of pause: then came the
fame, the smoke and the roar. AS the
cloudy curtain lifted, thirty-siX of the
thirty seven men were seen writing
in the agonies of a partial death. Poor
Fry lay stone dead, bullet in his
heart, his calm face upturned toward
the beautiful tropical sky"
According to several eye witnesses
the scene that ensued was hideous be-
yond description. The marines rushed
upon the wounded men and began dis
patching them with horrible brutality.
Thrusting the muzzles of their muskets
into the eyes and ears of the dying.
these fiends literally blew their heads
off. But a still greater horror was at
hand. Presently some cavalry appear
ed, and in order to accelerate the ex-
termination of the victims, the horse
soldiers were ordered to ride their
steeds over the reeking mass of dying
men. This was repeated several times
until the last breath of life had been
crushed out of the sufferers. After
this the troops withdrew, and the rab-
BILE were let loose on the human sham
bles, with the result that for the rest
of the day the streets were paraded by
professions bearing the heads of the
victims on long pixies. Thus ended the
bloody orgy of Nov. 4, 1873.
1t must not be supposed that this sec
ond butchery had quenched Gov. Bur
riel's thirst for blood. On the contrary
orders were issued by him for the
shooting of fifty more of the prisoners
the majority being boys ranging from
16 to 20 years of age--and 3 o'clock on
the afternoon of the 9Th was the hour
set for their execution. At 10 o'clock
on the morning Of that day, however,
a gallant British man-of-war, II. NJ. S.
Niobe, steamed into the harbor of San
tiago. AS soon as her commander, Sir
Lambton Lorraine. heard Of the gov
ernor's intentions, he quietly trained
his guns on the town, and sent word
ashore that, in view of the probability
that some of the crew of the Virginius
were British subjects, he must insist
upon postponement of the execution
until the respective governments had
INJURED at first, but second look at
the portfolios of the Niobe and her
decks cleared for action caused him to
acquiesce in the demand. and the re-
mainder of the crew and passengers
were saved.
The subsequent action of the United
States Government, ending in Spain's
apology for this unheard-of outrage,
and the surrender of the Virginius, to-
gether with the survivors of the ill
fated expedition, are matters that do
not come within the scope of this
article. One little incident, however,
emphasizes the absolute deyilish cruel
ty manifested by the officials on this
occasion. The day before the surviv-
ors of the Virginius, 1O2 in number,
were taken from Moro Castle to Hav-
ana, to be turned over to the United
States authorities, they were informed