Omaha daily bee., 1896-02-28
COUNTRY IS ALL UNDER ARMS
Government and Rebels in Nicaragua Pre-
pairing for the Contest,
INSURGENTS FORCES BETTER ARMED
Important cities Decide TO Cast Their
Lot with President Zelaya-
SOs,a rica NAY iuKe
Hand.

SOs,n rics may iuke a.
Hand.
Copyrighted. 1896 by the Associated Press)
MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Feb. 27.-(Via
Galveston, ex)-The revolution is now in
full blast and all the cities of Nicaragua on
this side of the country are In arms and
preparing either to support President Zelaya
or contribute men for the march of his enc
mics upon the capital, Managua. Fugitives,
who have reached this city from Leon, the
old capital of Nicaragua, headquarters of
the rebels, which is opp sed to the liberal
or Zelaya party on general principles, and,
as result of differences of long standing,
chief of which is the transfer of the capital
from Leon to Managua say that the Leon
lists are in arms to a man, and rapidly or
ganizing an army with which to advance
upon Managua. They have the advantage
of possessing more modern arms and artil.
lery; but the adherents CT the president are
not discouraged, and especially the
Granada conservatives. concerning whose
attitude as body, there was some doubt,
declared themselves today in favor of Zelaya.
This means almost half of the battle won.
for Masaya will undoubtedly follow the lead
of Granada The latter city has more I'M
p,rtant commercial interests than any other
city of Nicaragua. Besides it is the
eastern port Of Lake Nicaragua, and the
| stopping place cf the steamers which cross
| the lake to Fort San Carlos, at the mouth
| Of the San Juan river, by which waterway,
| communication with the Atlantic ocean is
| maintained, via San Juan del Sur, better
known as Greytown, near the eastern en-
| trance to the proposed maritime canal OF
| Nicaragua, in which citizens Of the United
States are interested.
Thus, with Granada and other smaller
cities supporting him, President Zelaya hopes
| to crush the rebellion in due time. The loss
| Of Granada would most likely have turned the
tide against the president. Then again the
support of the conservatives of Granada, who
| are in the majority by long odds. is not
ukewarm support. They telegraphed to
| the president today offering him the sum of
$1,000 with which to equip the troops being
| hurriedly enrolled to defend the capital
| against the Leonists and their clerical sup
| porters. The offer was promptly accepted
| In addition, the government cannot only
withdraw all the regular troops from Gran
| ada, but in addition, a strong corps of vOlun-
teers is being raised there to support the
president, and its advance guard will shortly
| leave Granada for this city, where every
preparation possible for defense has been
made.
| PREPARING FOR RESISTANCE.
| The military authorities here are work
| ing night and day, and the populace is wild
! with warlike preparations The military
band which, on certain nights of the week
| plays in front of the presidents palace, now
! plays there nightly, and all the patriotic airs
| are loudly applauded by the crowds which
| gather about the executive mansion. Last
| night the president was compelled to appear
| three or four times in answer to the demands
!! Of his supporters.
| Three thousand men and twenty pieces OF
artillery are already mustered here; but the
| men are armed with old Remington rifles;
| the supply of cartridges is limited and the
| ammunition is bad. Out of ten cartridges
| tried by an officer this morning, cnly four
| exploded. However, this Is the ammunition
which has been handled about the differ
ent guard houses and the boxes Of the cart
| ridges from the arsenal are believed to be
| Of much better quality incidentally, it
may be added. the soldiers of Nicaragua go
| barefc oted are dressed in Jeans jumper
| and pants. and a straw hat rife, bayonet
and cartridge belt completes their equipment.
| Consequently, the expense CT putting a few
| thousand men in the field is not very great,
so long as the government can obtain arms,
| The cost of feeding a Nicaraguan is also
very light. A few beans and a plantain
make a good meal for soldiers in this coun-
| try, and they will undertake long marches
| without shoes on this diet and fight fairly
| well into the bargain.
The presidents army, it has been de-
| termined. will not wait here to be attacked.
| So soon as all the necessary arrangements
are made. the government force will ad-
| vance upon Leon and try to capture that
city before the Leonists receive the rein
| forcements they expect from Chinandega and
| other places north. This step is especially
| advisable as it is well known that the
| Leonists are expecting men and arms from
| the clerical party Of Honduras. In short, it
| looks very much like a struggle between
| clericalism and liberalism, which may involve
other Central American republics besides
| Nicaragua.
| ZELAYA WILL LEAD THEM.
| From present indications President Zelaya
| will lead his army in person against the
| rebels. This is the determination he has ar
| rived at; but his intimate advisers hold that
| t would be risking too much to leave the
capital at such crisis The president COM
hats this idea, saying he can confide the capt.
| tai to the care of the loyal inhabitants and
| that his place is at the head of the army.
| The leaders Of the Leonists, Of course. are
| the leaders OF the clerical party, but the
| head Of the movement is General Ortiz an
| ex-president and a staunch clerical. He has
| been an active politician for a lifetime and
| has been more or less prominently concerned
| in all the national movements of recent
| years. About this time last year, for in
| stance, the government of Honduras OBJ
| tained possession of documents showing that
| plot existed to replace Carlos EZeta in
| power in Salvador and Ortiz in Nicaragua
| There was to be a simultaneous movement
| Oi III the tHTte TtpuDl cS IL usine
! judged that such step would prevent the
| three governments from helping each other
| General Ortiz was then fugitive In Guate-
| mala. but when the matter was investigated
| by the Nicaraguan government, the facts
| stated were found to be correct and guam
tity of arms and ammunition intended Cor
the conspirators were found concealed in
| warehouses at Corinto.
There is also rumor that Costa Rica may
| take advantage of the rebellion to settle some
| OF the old uuarrels which have existed for
| years between that republic and Nicaragua
regarding, principally, the route Of the
! Nicaragua canal, and the rights OF Costa
| Rica under the concessions granted to the
| American company. In any case, the situa-
! tion is a most critical one, not only Cor
| Nicaragua, but for all the Central American
] republics and the presence Of United States
warshrs on the coast would do great deal
| Of good and could certainly do no harm.
| Anti-Scmites Carried Vienna.
VIENNA, Feb. 27.-The elections have
pasoed OF quietly. A large vote was poled,
and the anti-semites carried everything.