Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-04-23

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 muzxles Of their muskets
into the eyes and ears of the dying,
these fiends literally blew their heads
on. 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.
It 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 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. M. 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 a postponement Of the execution
until the respective governments had
been communicated with. Burriel de-
INJURED at first, but second look at
the portfolios Of the Niobe and her
acquiesce in the demand, and the re-
mainder Of the crew and passengers
were saved. eh
The subsequent action Of the United
States Government, ending in SPANS
apology for this unheard-of outrage,
and the surrender Of the Virginius, to-
gether with the survivors of the i'll
fated expedition, are matters that do
not come within the scope Of this
article. One little incident, however,
emphasizes the absolute devilish cruel
ty manifested by the officials on this
occasion. The day before the surviv-
ors Of the Virginius, 102 in number,
were taken from Moro Castle to Hav-
ana, to be turned over to the United
States authorities, they were informed
by their jailers that their walk on the
morrow would be from the cell to the
grave. To enhance their sufferings q
priest entered the castle and began to
shrive them. All night this inhuman
torture was INDUCED in, and when in
the morning light streamed in over the
frowning walls they all thought 1t the
dawn of their last day on earth. Sadly
they fell into line and marched out into
the town. All this while the United
States vessel Juniata was lying in the
harbor awaiting them, and their feel
ings can be better imagined than de-
scribed when the welcome truth fiual-
ly forced itself upon them. This cpl
sode was fitting climax to one Of the
most hideous chapters in the long
story of Spanish oppression and cruelty.