The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-03-10
A STORY OF BUTCHERY
The Wreck and Ruin Visited Upon the Is
land Of Cuba Is PlllfuI To Contemplate
EIGHTEEN PEACEFUL CITIZENS KILLED.
@nt For the Warmth of the Climate
Thousands Would Have PerIshcd
Ere This, nnd Cuba Would He II
Charnai House In The End-Gen.
Weyier's Orders Nos Obcyed.

Havana. March I, via Tampa, March
9.-Arrests OF civilians under this sweep
Ing provisions of General Weyler's pro-
Carnations of February 18th have been
made at such rate and in many cases
with so little evidence of guilt that Gene
raj Weylcr was compelled Il week ago
20 issue instructions to his officers to
be more careful. as he required more
proof than verbal denunciation. Yester-
DAY he issued a circular In which he stat
ca that absolute proof must he furnished
by other than interested parties before
accused prisoners will be deported and
warming commanders that they will he
held responsible for false arrests With
out doubt General Weyler has in view
tne effect of this order abroad, as we'll
as mere. for the manner In which Cuban
VINO nave never borne arms against
spain have been dragged from their
MONIES, from their families, the stores
OF their farms and thrown into prisons
with felons. and after few days DELAY
paced on board ship for what Is prob
ably the vtlest penal colony on the face
oi the earth, has become shame that
cries aloud for redress. General Weyler
upoi MS arrival set ut liberty n number
oi these civilian prisoners whom General
Pando had taken from their daily orru-
patton in the Eastern end of the island
saw twenty OF them at the Palace one
Gay. Ihey were white, Intelligent look
ing and bore the appearance of being
Shop-keepers or clerks. They were not
Drdnzcd by exposure to the weather .s
an VINO are in the field are The only
evidence against, these men was a uanar
Purporting 10 be list of the people who
We aiulns anu communicating with
inc enemy. 1t was made up bv a Snan-
iafu. Since that time General weyler
mas released others captured in thn 90 ~,
Ia m t,.,,
10 Ceuta, Africa, and to the Isle OF pines
ana the arrests are ncreasi in nrn,
Der. ' '"hi-
General Weyler has moved the Al
caiaes IN all towns in whom he had no,
.e "a confidence, and has appointed
.ne lahklhs military officers OF regular
troops or volunteers Alcalde or Navor
:, ntSe men are usually of the grade of
lieutenant or major. They posses a r,,I
:fary powers. Under the proclamation
the iiie or death OF every men. woman
VI ch'la IN their zone is In their hands
ia niae proportion or these commanders
oei'eNe WeyIer TO be q man of s.,ypre
measures. man who will quietly am
prove ana extreme act on their mar,
ihey look upon his circulars as intend
ed Tor effect III the United States 'rhey
look for no punishment for SUMMARY
eNecutaons or Cubans. who sympath
win the insurgents. They expect praise
ana promotion for shooting war prIson-
ers as soon as taken. In their reports
lhey are carful 10 have the prisoners
O! the peaceful citizens killed found i'm
Inc field after an engagement bu, he
tween the lines the manner in which
the victims meet their death is not din
cult 10 decipher General Canne,la was
sent back TO Spain by Weyler eithau,
ior having shot down seventeen prison
rrs or having reported Seventeen bo-
ules were found af:erward in another r.
parl OF the field" but the man who
confessed 10 his friends here, and pro-
Daddy General Weyler, OF having killed
seventeen people in cold blood received
no more severe punishment than being
deprived of his command.
Nncn the horrible story of the butch
cry OF eighteen peaceable citizens I'm
The little hamlet of Guatno was publish
ca IN the United states and wired I'm cIt
mere General Weyler announced thnt he
would make Il thorough examination
ma would severely punish who ever was
responsible for the outrage il one had
been committed. Two weeks have gone
by since the affair occurred and no Of
ficial has lost his stripes Guatao was
so near Havana that American cores
pondcnts succeeded in demonstrating
the absolute truth of the story Dozens
OF reports of affairs similar to that
rcaci! here, but the authorities have
placed such obstacles In the way of
tnc correspondents that 1t Is impossible
10 visit the localities and establish the
fact. The Government officials DENY
these stories and while ii is common
talk i'll Havana that certain affairs are
butcherics, the correspondents in most
cases are obliged TO accept the Govern
ment versions.
! have visited towns where nearly ey-
cry inhabitant had fled i'm terror. leav-
Ing dishes on the tables and everything
III disorder, showing the haste with
winch their homes were abandoned I
talked with the few who remained and
was told that the people did not dread
the Insurgents. hut fled from fear of
eNcesses from the Spanish troops On
the other hand. in some sections where
towns nave been used by the Spaniards.
the insurgents have burned the whole
towh and the people We're left homeless.
other towns which have harborcd the
insurgents have been destroyed by the
spanish troops and the wreck and ruin
"hich ia being visited upon the fair Is
lahd OF Cuba Is pitiful to contemplate
isnt Tor the warmth of the climate and
tne case with which life is sustained i'm
the tropics, thousands would have per-
1Shed ere this. and the Island would bo
q charnal house before the end is reach
ed. In many towns there have been M
provisions for weeks. PcopIe have lived
by sucking sugar cane and eating plan-
tains. Families have campcd for days
upon the ruins of their homes In burned