The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-08-20


those of the Moro. | saw mer
boy Of sixteen lying in his hammocl
day after day, suffering intense pain
without the doctor ever once seeins
him or giving him anything to reliev
his suffering.
There were very few words of com
plant from any one. Liberty ha,
long since been looked upon by tin
tenants of Moro as prize far be
yond their reach The routine of on
lives could scarcely be other than tht
same thing over and over again. L
commenced with getting up in th'
morning, and those who desired i
received a substitute for coffee. which
was poured into their cups through
the iron bars Several of the meI
who received assistance from outsid,
freinds made their own coffee owe
alcohol lamps. | was treated to thl:
coffee, and later / contributed my
supply to the larder run by one of tn,
Cubans with whom | at once foun(
myself very closely connected by /
peculiar cham of circumstances.
Most of these men with whom wa
thus thrown were educated Cubans
One of them, with eight of his fellow
citizens, simply upon the denunciatior
of an enemy, had been taken from
home and family, bound with ropes
and brought to Ell Moro. With sucf
men as these, every precaution wa:
taken to keep our quarters clean
Each one took his turn to clean the
cell. Every morning and every after
noon the guard came with two crimi
nal convicts to bring fresh water and
to carry away the slops which had ac.
cumulated
Three times a day the flags were
swept by the man whose turn it was
and twice week the flags were wash
ed. About eleven o'clock our first
meal was brought to US. This con
sisted Of soldiers rancho, bread, and q
kind of stew made of beef, potatoes
and beans or gabanzos. This stew
was brought either in battered gal
vanized pals, or in huge pan, smok
ed on the outside and dirty on the in
side, and ladled out to the prisoners
who held their tin pans to receive it
Those who had money could have
food sent from the outside. As my
first two days in this prison were &C
companied by fever, l did not care tc
eat. Afterwards [ arranged with
out considerable trouble, however
to have my meals sent to me from the
cantina. Some of the prisoners did
their own cooking over alcohol lamps.
This was rather costly method, for
not only was the alcohol expensive
but there was some one among us who
was very fond of alcohol. All kinds
of tricks We're resorted to to prevent
the rapid disappearance of our supply
One tried salt, another put carbolic
acid in his bottle, and my supply dis
| appeared so rapidly that my coffee
maker finally doctored it with coal
oil -whereupon a Frenchm an, who
was charged with being an insurgent
leader and with having burned a
government mail coach. suddenly fell
| ILL.,
Among our number was type of
| the Cuban peasant. He was power
| ful lad, with simple nature As our
little lieutenant of the guard pointed
me out as the prisoner who had photo
graphed Maceo. he was designated as
the man who had stolen chickens for
Mecco's dinner. As matter of fact.
he did not know why he was a prison
er in MORO Castle.
Five days after my arrest was cal
ed out to have a hearing before the
military Judge appointed n my case
His grade was that of major, and as |
followed him to another cell l tried
mentally to take his measure. | noted
carefully his every motion. and by his
stern demeanor | concluded that he
intended to show me no mercy My
previons experience of Spanish trials
prepared me for what was about to
take place, and as | seated myself at
the table at which the secretary Ca sol
dier of the better class) was to take
my testimony, some remark brought
out the fact that this functionary.
supreme as far as my case was con
csrned. looked upon Americans as
enemies to his country's cause. |
thought it only natural that | should
ask him if he thought for a moment
that Americans sympathize with those
house burners, destroyers of property
bandits and assassins"
Most certainly they do"' he ex-
claimed
Then | said, in a very bland man
ner, My dear major, to judge me by
the sins of my countrymen would be
an injustice of which | know you are
not capable"
The judge puffed his cigarette, and
his manner towards me changed; and
as he put the questions to me and his
secretary wrote, | had no great diff
Guilty in convincing him of the fact
that he had no case against me.
soon became on friendly terms with
my judge, the major, and as at last he
gathered up his papers he said he
would have me ont before night
There was not single specific
charge against me, lot even the
charge of having photographed the
rebel chef Macco or Weyler's cherish
ed Trocha. although these were the
accusations reported by the papers.
There was something, however, in the
testimony against me of having talk
ed politics with some one. whom / had
never seen or heard of before This
party had testified in Armetisa that /
had said that if Weyler would throw
up and go home the Cubans wsuld
get their independence. As | con-
scientlou.ly believe that Weyler's
methods do more to help the Cuban
cause than to oppose it. could truly
deny this statement of Melguizos
false witness. The Judge shook hands
with me. assuring me once more that
he would have me dining that after
noon at the Hotel Inglaterra and as
he took his departure l was escorted