Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-28
YOUNG GOMEZ DEAD
He 0sntered. on Himself the. Hatred Of
the spauiarda
His Remarkable Fortitude While suf.
! fering for His Efforts In Be-
half of Cuba.

MIR. Gonzalo de Quesada and Mr.. Horatio
s. Rubens. the secretary and counsel, re-
spectlvely, of the Cuban legation in this
CITY, DO not place any oredence in the tele-
grams from Havana which indicate the
probable death of Gen. Antonio Maceo, one
OF the two great leaders Of the insurgent
forces.
Both gentlemen, however, were very
much affected by more definite news of the
death Of two Of their very close friends
and warm adherents Of the Cuban cause.
Mr.. Manual de la Cruz. private secretary
OF Minister Tomas Estrada Palma, died
suddenly In New York Thursday night and
will be buried tomorrow Mr.. de la Cruz
was but thirty-two years Of age, but had
already achieved the eminence Of being re-
garded as Cuba's most distinguished young
writer and q literary critic of fine discrim-
nation and excellent judgment.
The Death of Young Gomez.
Messrs. Quesada and Rubens had also re-
ceived news of the death, at Ceuta, Africa,
OF Juan Alberto Gomez, who was the rep
resentative of Marti in Havana previous TO
the outbreak of the present instruction,
and through whom Marti sent his COM
munications to the different chiefs of the
island. as well as the final order for the
present uprising. Gomez was a light-col-
ored mnlatto about forty-five years Of age,
and was regarded as an able journalist.
He edited La Lucia, and published q news
paper himself previous to that time, In
which he was the first In time of peace to
openly print separatist propaganda. This
led him into trouble with the Spanish au-
Gomez was imprisoned. The cause was
tried in the Cuban courts and thence trans
ferred to Spain, where the highest court
decided that such teachings were within
the f1fin long thew
advise resort to force.
In the Hands of the Spanish.
Gomez was one Of the first leaders to rise
against the Spanish authority during the
present rebellion, which he did on February
"a. last year. with few followers. This was
near Matanzas; and the Spanish soldiers
quickly dispersed the small body and Gomez
was forced to surrender. He came within
the provision of the decree Of the captain
general which granted amnesty to all those
who surrendered within eight days. and he
was taken to the palace in Havana. where
he was liberated In coming down the mar
BILE steps. however, he was rearrested and
thrown into prison on the charge that he
had bought arms for the followers who
had risen with him, and he was tried and
condemned to twenty years penal servitude
In Africa. Previous to his deportation to
Spain he was confined in Moro Castle, where
uC vas tIedteu dtIOClOuSlJ anu Ills vigorous
health undermined. In the trials of San
Gully, Coloma and Aguirre, Gomez refused
to be a government witness and shouldered
the responsibility for all the acts that had
been charged against the government, say
ing that he did everything which was at
tributed to them.
Exhibited In Chains.
Gomez was sent to Spain in chains and
carried through that country in that condi-
ton and displayed to the people, who revled
him and stoned him on frequent occasions
He was then sent to Ceuta. the penal colony
of Spain in Africa. where the merciless ven-
geance Of the Spanish government pursued
him still more bitterly. The Spaniards stop
ped all correspondence between him and his
family and all writing materials were taken
from him. He was treated to horrors and
tndignities that were appalling. The last
letter received from Gomez smuggied
through the Moorish lines. 1t was written
In his own blood. apparently with the splin-
tered end of stick or match, and that
CHASTITY proof of Spanish cruelty is kept to-
day by his stricken family. In this letter
Gomez begged his friends not to write to
him and asked them not to send money to
him or any other of the prisoners at Ceuta
because the Spanish authorities appropri-
ated the money to their own uses. AS yet
the actual cause of Gomez's death is not
known. but the Cubans believe that he was
the victim of the policy which the Spanish
government is pursuing against the revolu-
tionists whenever it gets them into their
power