The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-02-11

the word considered" was used. How
ever, he called Lieutenant Galvo and
explained that he wished certain papers
Looking ovr them, General Gomez said
while reading first one sheet and then
another.
MEN IN THE FIELD.
we have at present a registered totai
of Al 800 men in all the provinces. There
are SIG commissioned officers, and of
these about 20 are in the United States
or elsewhere abroad. The force is div
ided in round numbers about as fol-
lows In Santiago (Orient, Gomez call
ed it), are 5000 men. In three distinct
divisions, in Puerto Principe (Cama-
guay) there are 1900, of which 1900
or over are cavalry. OF this 1000
more than half belong to my immediate
command and perhaps will shortly be
in Las Villas (Santa Clara) province.
In Las Villas are $500, nearly all cav
airy; in Matanzas are about as many,
in Havana $500, nd in Plrar del Rio
(Occidente) 5000. The forces in Matan-
zas, Havana and Pirar del Rio consist
mostly of infantry.
LAS for arms, we have twenty-nine
cannons of all kinds, from the old Span
ish brass gun to the best make of
Hotchkiss rifle. About half these guns
were secured from the enemy. The to-
tai number of rifles in our possession
is not more than $4,000, perhaps several
thousand less. Nearly every soldier has
machete, and / figure that there are
about 8, 900 revolvers in our army"
General Gomez folded the papers and
handed them back to Galvo.
When asked about the stock of am
munition on hand he did not speak.
Could YOU materially increase the
size of youi army If you had plenty OF
arms and ammunition?"
Il could march into the province OF
Havana with 5000 men in a month,
replied General Gomez, and that would
mean the almost immediate freedom OF
| Cuba, for one Cuban IS as'good as two
| Spaniards any time. More than that,
| [ am convinced that with $4,000 men
properly armed and equipped, and sup
ported by artillery, the Spanish army
could he driven from Cuba within three
months
General Gomez was then asked Tor
his opinion of General Weyler.
"All the world knows my opinion of
that man. He is not a soldier, like
|
He is not a Christian, like CamDos.
What do / think of him? What
could any Cuban think of him?
What mast all true lovers of right
and liberty the world over think of a
man who. because he has the power
to punish innocent ones does not spare
them He has not whipped the Cuban
Army of Liberation, and what Is more
he cannot. But he can burn the cabins
of the poor, take the -four from the
mouths of peasants, and outrage our
| wives, our daughters, and our sweet
| hearts.
"lIe knows that the people of Cube
are fighting this war against Spain, and
he knows that the women, yes, and even
the children, pray to God from the
bottom of their hearts for the success
of our cause. If Weyler was true
soldier / would respect him, though he
opposed uS. If his troops We're true
soldiers 1 would respect them. ever
though they come to hold Cuba il
chains.
But he is not soldier, nor are his
men soldiers. They are here to butcher
desecrate and destroy. They think the
people of Cuba a lot of beasts whom
they must eXterminate, ii matters MOI
how.
THE FIRE OF LIBERTY.
But how mistaken they are. They
may burn our homes, destroy ou
churches, mutilate our dead, and out
rage our women, but they cannot eX
tinguish the fire of liberty in our hearts
or quench the determination that il
| there to obtain it,
Cuba may bleed and weep and burn
but God is with us, and the right vii
come at last
From the time that Weylers nam
was mentioned Gomez was a dfferen
man. He sat uneasily in his chair ant
spoke in a loud and clear tone, some
thing very unusual to him. His face
usually calm, became radiant and hi
eyes told the depth of the feeling be
hind his words.
In the midst of it he feelingly re
ferred to General Maceo and later I
his son Pancho, who died with tn
famous cavalry leader in Pinar dc
Rio, but he did not desire to have hi
words repeated. Their deaths hav
cast a gloom over the grand old sol
dier's mind, but he seldom refers t
them except in a most general way.
| When the Cuban commander wa
again calm ! asked whether or not h
, had thought of retaliation for the out
RACES committed by Spanish troop:
To this he replied:
Yes, the matter of retaliation ha
been thought over time after time, bu
+ just as often have l decided, after con
, sultation with my officers, that to d
so would bring us to the level of tn
i, Spaniards in the eyes of the worlC
We were already branded as murder
ers and ruffiansl and somehow tn
wcrld began to accept such a view {
+ us.
IF we should commit one-half tn
= outrages that our enemies do, then tn
a world would believe and know that th
Spanish characterization was true BI
we shall not retaliate. We captul
. prisoners almost every day but we d
II nou shoot them nor subject them
!. torture. They are prisoners of war an
4 are treated as such. There will be Il