The Butler weekly times., 1897-01-14
BETTER FIGHTERS

scents certainly argues the ultimate
tiumph of the Cuban cause For
nearly two years now the patriots
,.,s carried on their warfare with
aver Increasing success. The tactics
.,,.ued have been much the same as
hose practlced in the Ten Years
w.r. but there has been an improve.
m.pt in the new over the old. The
...ret of success has lain largely in
The sbrewd manner in which the
xo,o,utionists have avoided big en-
pseemsnts. Seldom has battle
occurred in tho present war in which
The patriot forces have numbered
over 1000.
Most frequently only 200 or 800
men have comprised the Cuban
forces. It has been campaign of
vorry to the Spanlards. G. n. Wey
lar. az did his predecessor, General
Cappos, has failed thus far in the
endesvor to engage in conflict with
.nv considerable number of Cubans,
notwithstanding that strenuous ef-
forts have made to locate the main
bodies of the insurgents. AS "A con-
seouence the patriot losses have been
comparatively small The Cnbans
arc constantly gaining through ex.
periencs.
WORK OF DYNAMITE GUNS.
One reason the Spanish losses in
battle have been aggregating more
than those of the Cubans lies in the
fact that the patriots are better
equipped in the matter of imple
mepts OF warfare. The dynamite
guns which have been used with
such deadly effect On the Spanish
soldiers have no counterpart in the
equipment of the Weyler army.
A hundred Cubans armed with
Mauser and Remington rifles and
machetes backed up by one dyna'
mite gun have time and again proven
more than a match for a thousand
Spaniards. The constant stream oi
arms and ammunition that has beer
flowing from America to the Cubant
has kept them fairly we'll supplied
Then, too, they have learned tt
economize in the matter OF bullets
ONLY EIGHT ROUNDS.
Those men who followed Come
on his first march from the east viii
not soon forget the lesson of tha
part of tho campaign. They wer'
not so we'll supplied as now. An'
how they managed to mako tha
brilliant series of charges with bu
eight cartridges to man seem
almost a miracle.
The machete, too, in the hands Q
o native Cuban is a terrible weapon
Though the opportunities for it
effective use are now somewhat lin
tied by the lsng distance rifles tha
have been introduced in the presen
war, still many Spaniard has falle
victim to the blade.
A POWERFUL WEAPON.
The machete is characterist
Cuban. And no one understands il
use like the native Of the coil. !
times of peace he uses 1t to cut can
tobacco and other crops. 10 tt
unskilled it, indeed, appears to be
clumsy affair, but the Cuban handle
it with the utmost dexterity. Wit
three strokes he can cut stack I
cane and trim it of it's leaves. Wit
one stroke he can split the skull of
Spanish soldier. There is now {
exhibition in a museum of Madrid
gun barrel and stock which were CT
In two by a Cuban machete durir
the ten years war, the skull of Il
Spanish soldier who held the gun l
to protect his head, having BET
split to the neck by the same bio
AN AGENT OF DEVASTATION.
The destruction of tobacco pla
tations is accomplished by means
the machete. Each soldier is assig
ed to a row, and with his trus
blade he runs along beside it, layi'
il low in almost a twinkling. Ca
fields are destroyed, OF course,
burning.
The Cnban'a familiarity with I