San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-10-15
BURN LITTLE CHILDREN.
Atrocities Perpetrated in Cuba That
Are Almost Beyond Belief
The Kind OF Warfare the spaniards Are
wsging-Report Their Butcheries as
Battles-Fearful Tales of Cruelties
from Spanish Sources.

Well authenticated stories of barbar-
Gus acts by the Spanish troops continue
to reach Key West, Fla. Recently the
Havana papers published an account of
an alleged battle near Bhucho de Arper,
inwhich, after anhour's desperatefight-
ing, the Spaniards drove the rebels off,
killing 10 and taking many prisoners.
The papers suggested that the govern
ment should reward Col. Aguilera, the
Spanish commander, for his bravery.
The facts in regard to the "battle"
are as follows:
On September IS ten rebels went to
attack guerrilla band that had started
from Vegas to the field. When the
rebels, in ambush, were ready to at
tack, they noticed a strong body of SOL
diers coming toward them. Hidden in
high grass, the rebels let the soldiers
come closer, and then fired a volley,
killing two officers and wounding three
soldiers. The troops fired back vol
ley in the grass, hitting nobody, as the
enemy could not be seen. Lieut.. Col.
Aguilera, who commanded the troops,
and came from his headquarters, Nueva
Paz, went after this action towards
colony named Pablo Diaz. There he
found family, composed of 25 persons
men, women and children; he asked
If they had seen any rebels in the neigh
borhood. On receiving a negative re-
ply he ordered a general slaughter of
everybody, including children from one
to ten years of age.
The little children were first pierced
with the end of a bayonet, then finished
with the machete. Of the 25 human
beings present in that colony, 10 were
butchered, and six made their escape,
hiding themselves in the cane, where
they remained until late at night, when
they could come out safely. Besides
truthful witnesses, the men of the
guerrilla boosted of what they had COM
mitted when they went back to Vegas,
about two miles from the colony. On
the 18th of September, three days after
the slaughter, traveller passed by the
spot of the murder, and was Mortified at
the number of carrion crows devouring
the bodies. None had been buried.
On September IS Col. Aguilera start
ed with his troops and thegucrrilla from
Nueva Paz towards the sugar estate,
Cuervo. Near place called Cuzco, he
saw a house, went to it and found only
three children in it. He asked where
the parents were; they answered they
had gone after some fuel to prepare
their breakfast and would soon return.
The colonel ordered the three children,
10 to IA years old, to be locked up in the
house, and after this was done, he or
dered the guerrilla to set fire to the
house. The guerrilla, Mortified, dis
obeyed at first, but under the threats
of Aguilera they acted, and the house
was burned down with the children
in it.
On their return to Nueva Paz, the
guerrilla, Mortified, told the people what
had been done. This information is
from a Spanish source.
After that house was burned Aguilera
went on and met on his way man, 70
years old, carrying vegetables, who was
accompanied by two negroes. He was
asked where he was going. He an
swered he was taking the vegetables
home to Nueva Paz. The colonel Or
dered him 10 be l1illedwith the machete,
and the negroes also. The body Of the
old man was thrown into a well near
by, where he was found two days aft
erward, traced by his hat, that was
found near the well. The bodies of the
two negroes were chopped to pieces and
thrown into cave, where they were
found. All this was related by ser