The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-12-15

The following thrilling accoun, Of An
tonic MASeo's career app AIRED In the
New York Herald last week. previous
% MacCo's assassination:
"la tho gloomy EorGcs OF the Cnndela'
ria" says the new York Herald. u"
Plnnr del Rio. Cuba. there Is a nan for
whose head the Spanish government
would pay 100000 pesos. As he sits
under the raln-scalcd roof OF his mIserl-
bic hut, his gaunt face standInE out
clearly in the freight, his clothes rag.
god and torn by the jungle thorns, md
the four Gilt stars on his coat faded by
sun and storm, there Is apparently
nbout him little that would cause a
Spanlard to give 81 for either his HE
or DEATH"
wAll around him in the ilIckcrinE
darkness Is the champ!ng OF horses, the
CLEAN OF hlgh-pommeled saddles ana
the occasional clang OF buckle and bit.
over under the edge OF the woods. In
long, qule; lIneg, like wipdraws, lie the
Cubans. Half OF them are b~arcfootcd.
and harchreasted. Half OF them arc
bound with bloody rigs. Half OF them
should be In hospitals. though no hos
pltals exist. You can sec the glram ar
white bandaSes all along the line. But
even the slCkcst and most desperately
wounded In their fcvHrcd dreams, Still
cling 20 their machetes. Hospitals? Not
II they know II. Not while they have
an arm to WELD or L leg TO stand on.
"Out under the tall palms. In black Sill
houettes. against the star-sown sky,
stand the sAntr!es. silent and alert. The
man at the fire rises 10 his feet. turns up
the flap OF the old. faded tent. n peers
earnestly down the dark wooded ridges
OF the mountains towards the east,
where other canp fires are cleaning.
Then you may tee why Il Is that the
Spanish government would pay Il million
pesos for the death Of this man.
ct Is Antonio Mncso,
''You MAY know him by the fierce eyes,
by the heavy brows. by the broad Shout
ders. by the square, bulldog Jaw. Just
such men Il was who stood with shield
and buckler In the arenas among Wild
beasts In the nlden times and snecrrd ~
Hauno and Nero and the Caesars OF
Rome. The camp fires to the east arc
those OF the Spanish along the trochn.
and as Maceo watches them his lips curl
with contempt. They are his hereditary
enemies. He has fought them from his
boyhood and will fight them until he
dies-or Cuba Is free. Why not? The
blood OF his family stllns the island
from end to end. lie Is the last survI-
vor.
Revenge? Perhaps. Many tines
ere this, however, Maceo's revenEetul
feelings have been sluttcd by blood.
Many times has he ridden rough sh0i
a., t;ail, -, nh. h,r,bN., -rItL,
dead and dying enemies. The doml-
nant feeling in his breast Is Z longing
Tor lgberty-the eternal spirit OF tho
chainleSs mind. that torture and time
cannot conquer. Twenty-ciSh; years
ago Antonio Mlcco and hiE ten brothers
,woee never to lay down their arms uu-
III Cuba was free. Antonio. the eldest.
IS now the sole surviving fighter. His
brothers were all killed or permanently
injured in battle. In lSiS Marcus Ma
.eo lived in a little Ialm-thatched VIII
ige OF B~lrajaSul with his wife. Mhrl-
ana, and his little son. Antonio. FIe
awned a comfortable plantation and
sept pack mules for hire. The mules
we're driven along she lonely mountain
:o1ds by Antonio. In this way the boy
made trips 10 BarlcoA, 70 Guantanamo.
70 Santiago, and "vcn to fIolgaiI.
He saw the slaves in!llng their lives
away In the fields, fc;,crcd and lashcd
by oveTseers. He s. the red and yell
low flag OF Spain msL.!UE abave the for
tilted towns end car1c 10 understand /,
as an emblem Of rapacity. cruelty and
greed. Young Antonio. naturally, be-
gan 10 dream OF III" whys and where
fnrcs. Why should ;hr people. with dis
similar Interests and d!ssimllar lives, BE-
forced TO pay tribute % a king. and a
people who cared nothing for them and
who fattened upon them?
why had God given any nation d
right 10 say 20 another nation: We dis
covered you and You are ours. Give Us
20 much NJ Your riches and be thankful
that We allow you TO live
Young MaceO could not understand
all this. No more could his father Mar
Gus. In good time. and almost with the
regularity OF the years. other children
came to bless the Maceos. until there
were eleven cons, stalr-stepping down
from Antonio. the Oldest. a young man
OF 20. 10 Jose, the youngest, but little
more than 4 blb| in arms.
Then one carly autumn day In 1858,
Antonio returned 10 his fathers planta.
ton from Baracoa with the information
that the CublHH had rchHIlcd. NlccO,
the father. being n careful man. at once
: advised the family 20 remaIn strictly
neutral. Antonio chafed under this re-
~stralnt. but Obryed. SO did his BROTH
crs.
From time to time news Of the wal
reached the little plantation at Blrajl-
qua. The MaCeuS secretly cNulted owe
the successes Df their cOuntrymGn In the
field and Il may have been that the
Spanish may have obtained an lnkllHr
. .. .knIV. On At. l.,tV a-,F rata NHr.
Spanish spies began 10 annoy them, and
more Than once they were thrcG ;cncI.
'The revolution had been In progress
FOR som. months. and the Spanish were
Wild over 4 series OF disasters. when
there appeared Mt the M-2cJ playtatIOr
n band OF Spanish gucrillas, led W Cap
tain Campillo. Senior MIRCro and hlf
older sons were aw-.y with n mule trllr
In the direction Of fIarlcOl. They re.
turned AZ nl-htra!l. As the mules, wit!
their tIni;iIHS belts and heavy pacF
saddles came into view. n hOrrilylnf
sight met the gazn OF M1c"o and his
sons. Where his home had been there
was nothing but a FmouldcrinG heap q
ashes aud cInbcfs. HIS barns wcrt
burned. his crops destroyed. his mules
sheep, horses and cattle driven on. Ru
where are the members OF hls family?
"OUt In the jungle 4 woman screams
Father md SONS rush In the direction o
the voice Six young hoys lie on The
ground, bound. bleeding AMI E"ns"l"S'
Th. gray haired mother stands bound Il
a tree. moaning, with a broken arm
Two young girls COwcr weeping ant
half deal. In the bushes. on the follow,
The Enemy Is Ours!