The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-08
WEYLER THE BUTCHER.
TERRIBLE RECORD OF THE PRES
ENT COMM ANDER-IN-CHIEF
IN CUBA.

MGu III SDAAns nc mas aAeAcntu the
Top by TrampIing Everybody In
der His Feet-A PitiIess Extermi-
major of Men-His Personality Very
Interesting.
From the New York Journal.
Here, broadly outlined, for the inner /
details Of his masterful life are known |
only to himself, is the story of Senior /
don Valeriano Weyler Nicolau, THE /
Butcher" now captain general and COM
mander-ln-chief of the island of Cuba, /
the prince Of all the cruel generals this /
country has seen.
With all the shrewdness of an expert |
enced diplomat and tactician, Weyler, |
the new commander, has issued three ter |
rible proclamations, and the grip of the |
iron hand that savagely scorns the vel |
vet glove will hold Cuba from its center |
to its outlying reefs.
If the past may be taken as a criterion
Of the future the reign of terror that Cuba
will now see is more than likely to be un-
surpassed in the annals of the nineteenth
century. Even the savagery of the "un-
speakable Turk and the crime of Ar
menia stand out in no darker colors than
do Weylers deeds in the Cuba OF 80 and
20. The proclamation this steely, devil
prompted military man just issued APP
pears innocent enough as black words on
white paper, but their purport it is easy
10 see. Much more terrible are they
than the proclamation of Valmaseda in
1869, against the brutality of which no
less a parsonage than Hamilton Fish,
then American Secretary of State, pro-
tested. The real significance OF Wey-
ler's orders is that any man or woman
he pleases can and will be killed without
a trials formality, without the chance
off u-nr n Ypfp a M
paign of unprecedented assassination
and butchery all over the island.
Should Weyler fail in his attempt to
subdue Cuba. SPANS final chance is
gone, for this flower of all her generals
Is in himself her last hope. Never, to
look at the situation cooly, was a nope
placed in better hands. Neither pity nor
mercy does the new captain general ever
feel, or has he ever felt. Pitiless, cold,
an eXterminator of men-that has been
his record since the first day he left
school and became a young officer mad
TO stain his hands with blood.
His personality is extremely interesting,
because in his carriage and in the very
lines of his face his every thought and
every emotion are pictured. t1tty-SeVen
years of age this winter, his life has been
one great pageant of military triumps.
Never once has the man failed in anything
he has undertaken. Step by step he has
climbed up the ladder of rank, beginning
as boyish young captain, until now he
stands at the head of armed Spain. Few,
II any, or the great commanders of history
have been men of large stature. THE
Butcher keeps well within this rule. OF
only medium hight, he is broad-should-
cred, stockiy built, and muscular. His
face is remarkable study in itself. The
head is large, and all it's features promi-
nent. Sparse, once dark hair, now turn
ing TO an iron gray, meets broad, reced-
ing forehead. There are tense and sharp
lines and burrows just over the bridge of
the nose, the latter the most prominent
feature Of the face. Shrewd, cold CLINT
ing eyes are set far back in their sockets,
under bushy eyebrows. The nose is
strong and masterful. A broad, thin
4 Tipped mouth is not at all hidden by the
thin mustache that is supplemented by
. luxurious, well-cropped side-whiskers, al
q so tinged with gray and framing in the
"a hard and stern chin.
Masterful alone is this square set chin,
n smooth shaver. save for a little tuft just
under the lower lip, of that sort that the
French denominate as a "barbiche." 1t
is the chin and the nose, the long upper
lin and the burrows in the forehead, Just
over the eyes, that are the characteristics
of this mans face. Taken altogether, or
taken singly, they set forth the cruelty
OF his nature in unmistakable terms
n There is no opportunity for misapprehen-
81 sion, no dallying with the facts. Sensual
shreWd, murderous, both because OF the
"a power of relentless ambition and because
the man likes to be cruel Weyler shows
himself in every lineamnt.
His military coat bears upon it every
honor, every cross and every badge known
IN Spain, save those set apart for those
OF royal blood.
By descent Weyler is a Prussian, as his
name indicates, only of Spanish ancestry
on his mothers side. Yet so aggressive
ana SO successful in all he had under
taken has THE Butcher been, that even
m the peninsula of proud and naughty
dons his lack of Spanish family has been
forgiven and his birthright has weighed
as nothing in the scale.
Not many words are needed to outline
ms career. He was born Sept. II. 1899, in
Palma de Mallorca, and at an early age
entered the Collegio de Infanteria of To-
I Iedo. Though but boy, and of tender
i years at that, he even then was of bril-
IIdilJ promise. Glass by class he moved
up IN that renowned institution filled with
the most brilliant boys of Spain, and so
Tar did he outstrip them that on the day
on ms graduation he Stood as the Span
IbaroS says Number One" that is, at the
IT was a brilliant performance, but a
TMctory only won by unremittng work.
me power and the willingness to work
Matnoql ceaslng, 1t may be said, has ever
SINCE been characteristic of this brutal
master Of troops Even now, though near
ING MS 6Oth year, he frequently rises at
IN the morning to get to his work of
Hendlshly planning and plotting in order
That every one may be ground under his
IRON heel. With the boy it was the same
as II is to-day with the middle-aged man.
once out of school he was made a cap
IAN Immediately, and, strangely enough,
ne was at once detailed to Cuba. 1t is
wonderful how fate will weave it's warp
..lu WooI about man. Cuba has been
NE PIVOT the one essential, crucial point
vi WeyIers fortunes, the great stamping
sIouhd Whereon he has made mark after
marx III In Cuba he went as a boy soldier
y
una man with the first bloom of youth
an gone-this in 1S69-he made himself the
N-osI wonderful junior officer of the time.
Now, once again in Cuba he is filling the
center of the stage
= me young officer who did so well in
= una IN the late '50S that he was sent To
eeah Domingo, on which island he per-
tgqrmed deeds of great valor in the rev.
.tauon OF that early day, conquering the
4 SIetch of country he was assigned to
i WIN such ease and such an evident ac-
yulrement of the arts of brutality that
4 NJ was recognized as destined to advance
ttaPdly. He made one famous march in
LHdt revolution, with 100 men and six
n noises, that has gone down in the an
"qIs OF Spanish rule in the West Indies.
EVen at that early date he soon got to
4 E known as one Of the very best Off
& IN the Spanish possessions, and when,
lew years later the Cubans attempted
~ establish a republic and orders came
4 s19n Spain, supplemented by transports
NJ aLled with troops. to put down the insurg-
eals, Count Valmaseda. the general in
9hmand, appointed Weyler general of