The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-01-19

You have, then, no complaint to
Of the action of the government
as a friendly neutral in this contest 2"
asked.
mo complaint whatever" was the
ut is, Of course, 10 the interest
OF b United States that the war
should be ended and Spanish supre-
macy In Cuba restored as soon as pos
sible, as the commerce of your country
with the island has suffered a great
deal, and all the United States has
made from the war was the sale of a
ship armor."
In explanation of what Weyler in
tends, touching the provinces of Hava-
ma n Matanza and the cleaning out
OF the insurrection therein, prepare
tory to his coming declaration that
They are pacified," will say that he
is at once arranging to withdraw some
20 COO to 80, 600 of the $4,000 soldiers
from his trOcha and send them into
these provinces. They are expected
to drive out the rebels.
General Lee, our Consult General, is
very popular with all sides here, and
has the confidence of both the Spanish
and the Cubaps. &c is plain, straight.
fol wsrd and soidier.like in his dealings
with General Weyler. At one point
in my conversation with the latter,
General Lee interrupted.
Il expect to keep on making you
trouble, General Weyler," he said. 81
expect constantly to seek the release
of your American prisoners, and will be
obliged to disturb you daily in that
direction"
. Never you mind, General Lee"
said Weyler. You are all right. You
are only doing your duty, as l am
trying to do mine. You do not disturb
me at all. | have nothing but respect
Tor you. You are a soldier, and | can
deal with you in IL straightforward
way. | have only one hope in connec-
ton with you, General Lee, and that
is thar you stay in Havana as long as
do"
[ asked Weyler whether there were
any i~Dsurgent troops in Pinar del Rio.
He replied thai since the death of
Macco they had quit. Before Maceo's
death 1T was estimated that the in
surgents at Pinar del Rio numbered
from 5000 to 10, 600 troops.
but they are all gone now," he
continued. None are there now. On,
there may DO a few bands of robbers,
scattered punches of outlaws, but they
amount to nothing and are Of no great
numbers"
"What has become of Macco's
forces" [ asked "those whe were
there At the time of his death Have
they surrendered to you?"
No. was the reply. "Nono has
surrendered, nor have they been cap
tured, but they have quit their fight
ing and gone back to their farm work.
They no longer are insurrectionsist."
AT this point | am obliged to dis
agree with General Weyler. At the
time of Maceo's death there was a
force, as stated. of fully 5000 insur-
rcctionists in Pinar del Rio. My best
Information is that they are there yet.
They have been neither killed off, cap.
tured nor dispersed nor have they
crossed the trOcha to the cast. They
are still in the hills Of Pinar del Rio,
with arms in their hands, as formidable
TO Spain as ever, save for the death OF
Maceo.
Weyler also informed me that there
were only n few scattered hcrdes OF
rebels in the province of Havana that
the insurgents now appeared in nc
positive or formidable foI ce in that
province. Yet only q few days before
my arrival the insurgents three nights
IN succession attacked the city Of Guam.
abacoa, OF 10000 inhabitants, within
four or five miles OF the city Of Havana,
N'e cuhhS" p"SIUy -uNfs 1tlS' = L. Dct
were unopposed by Weyler's troops
they did ds they pleased and withdrew.
After the withdrawal of the insurgents
the Spanish troops occupied the place
and slaughtered twenty-sevcn of the
people, not insurgents. They took
them to a grove near at hand and
killed them with their machetcs. My
information was that they were still
unburied while was there.
! ent out to this town Of Guiana.
bacoa and found the Spanish troops
building barricades across the streets
ia strange piece of work of itself if
there arc no insurgents in force in this
region. l attempted to visit the grove
where toe twenty-sevcn paciticos had
been slaughtered by the Spanish
troops. 1t was only q short distance
from the town. AS drove down the
road. however, | was stopped by a
Spanish guard.
You cannot go down this road" he
said.
Can | go the other road 2" | asked.
You go all tho other roads
said the guard, "but you cannot 90
this road. 1t is our orders"
My guide, who was with me. told
me that had tho wind been right
might easily have been made aware
OF the unburled condition Of the
twenty-scVcn slaughtered yacifcCs by
my nose.
referring again to General Weyler's
statement that the Insurgents had
practically been driven out Of The
province OF Havana, my information,
received from several positive aud
truthful sources, is that there are
s. veral bodies OF armed insurgents in
that region. There is General Ayuirre.
whose command numbers from l.2DO t.
l,40O men General DanchCz, with be-
tween 500 and 1000 men, and General
Cantillas, with 800 to 1000 men
There are also smaller bodies, and
there Is no possible, show for Wcylcr
to dislodgc any q fthem, as the Spanish
troops contine their military operations
entirely to the beaten roads. An in
snrgcnt force a quarter Of a mile either
to the right or to the lef. Of the plain
highway Is as safe from tie Spanish
troops as II they wore q thousand miles
away.
General Weyler more than once re-
ierred TO the fact that Cleveland and
Oiney were doing full Justice to Spain
AS an evidence OF Cievcland's pppu.
larity with the Spanish and the L!.sn
respect in which he is held by them, I
might mention that in the city of
Guanabacoa SAW IL new sign painted
NV h0 io VIZ