The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1897-01-05


er Commodore, which cleared from
this port for Cienfuegos, Cuba, on
Thursday With q cargo of arms and
ammunition foundered off New
Symrna yesterday. Twenty eight men
were OH board the steamer. Last
hight twelve men reached sliofe and
today five more, with slight chance
0i' seven mor4 yet alive. The five
inef who came ashore today were
capt. Murphy, Stephen Crane the nov.
elst. the cook and two Sailors one Of
the latter, William Higgins of Rhode
Island, died soon after reaching land
from the effects of the high surf. His
family live in Boston. One of the sur
viyors gives the following graphic de-
tails: The tug sank twenty miles off
New Smyrna All the Americans on
board remained until the last moment.
A traitor iii Spanish pay was the cause
of the leak: He will be found and
dealt with 1atei; The leak. was dis
covered about 3 d. IN. The pumnS
would not work long. though they did
good service for awhile. Finding that
the water gained on us the captain
called all hands and the vessel was
turned shoreward. AS she still con-
tinued to sink, two boat loads of
CubanS, twelve in all. were first sent
off One boat containing six men was
capsized and | am afraid that the men
were lost One of the life boats con-
tanning nine men was swamped and
q hastily constructed raft was made
up from material thrown to them and
they then disappeared from our sight.
Capt. Murphy, Stephen Crane, Hig-
gins, myself and one other sailor took
to the tel-foot dingey at the last mo-
ment We tried to save the men i'll
the water around us but the heavy
sea and binding wind swept them
from us. The spray was so thick that
we could see only few rods. Their
cries were heartrending, but we could
do nothing. 1t required all cur eff
forts to keep our small boat right side
up For twenty-fOur hours we battIed
with the heavy sea, constantly bailinG,
and ut last land was sighted. AS we
attempted to land the wind drove us
into the breakers and in an instant the
boat was overturned and we were
struggling for life. For all hour we
battled for life and then managed to
crawl out on the sands almost dead.
Capt Murphy saved Mr.. Crane by
helping him when a cramp caught him.
Higgins was struck on the head by
floating timbers and he died soon after
landing.
Believes MaceO Is Alive.
Kansas City. Jan 5.--The World to-
day says: Thomas Lovelace. second
lieutenant of the Soledad, which was
wrecked off the north coast of Ameri-
ca last October, is spending few days
here with his mother. While wrecked
Lovelace spent three days at Havana
and has just returned form the
Cuban country. He talked inter-
estingly with q reporter and when
asked regarding the reported death of
Maceo. said Il am convinced that
Maceo is not dead. In my opinion the
story of his death was promulgated by
the insurgents themselves. The
Namoose that sailed from New York
and is at present detained at Key
West. can make tWentyeight knots an
hour, and | have some pretty reliable
information that her object was to
convey Maceo to the other side OF the
island where he might join Gomez and
the two plan the campaign together.
/ have not the slightest doubt, in fact,
that Maceo is recovering from his
wounds. The insurgents will take no
aggressive action until his complete re-
covery.'
Continuing, Iovelace said: ''In the
three days at Havana ! saw siXty-eight
insurgents executed on a sand bar near
the ship. They stood the prisoners up
in squads of eight or ten and then one
soldier was selected to pick them off
one at a time, just as though they were
shooting rats. The prisoners were in
all sorts Of attitudes while the shoot
ing was going on. Some were lIneel-
ing in prayer, others were standing
erect But none of them showed any
signs of fear. Prisoners ranged in
age from boys who could not have
been more than eighteen to gray-haired
men. None of the executions lasted
long. | saw one squad of ten shot
down in about fifteen minutes. At
one time ] saw three officers of the in
surgents executed and they were al
lowed volley from ten soldiers
bad for Insurgents.
Washington. Jan ). According to
official adyiceS received here the in
Surgents are in n desperate condition
since the death of Maceo. The re-
port that Gomez crossed the eastern
trocha is apparently. disposed of by a
statement coming from a reliable
source on the island saying that on
Dec. 22-some time after the date of
the reported crossing-Gomez was still
held to the eastward of that line. It
is believed also by officials that the in
surgent leader La Crete is neither dead
or dangerously wounded. The dispos-
al of him from the actual field Of con-
tiict is regarded as next in Importance
to the death of Maceo. 1t is pointed
ont that the iDsurgent cause is one de-
pending on leaders. ard that the cause
itself will end with the disposal of the