The morning news., 1897-05-31
DAUNTLESS A DARE DEVIL.
TWO TRIPS TO CUBA MADE IN
QUICK SUCCESSION.

with Sixty-TNO Men, Arms and
ammunition 60 Miles OF the Cuban
Coast-Thc FiIibuStcrs and Their
Effects transferred to the Daunt-
less in Two Detachments and Two
Trims to Cuba FOIIOw-GeR Nunez
one of the Party.
wilmington, N. c., May 3O-The Mes
senger to-day prints a detailed story of
tbe loading of the tug Alexander Jones
and her departure with the schooner John
n Long on a Cuban filibustering expe-
diton. The facts were obtained from
member of the crew of the Alexander
Jones. which returned to port several
days ago.
His story is substantially as follows: On
Thursday right May 10, the Jones took
on a cargo of rifles, machetes, rapid-fre
guns and ammunition at the wharf of the
wilmington, Newberne and Norfolk rail-
road. in the southern limits of the city.
Before she had entirely finished taking on
her cargo a report was started that off,
GERS were approaching and that the rev.
enue cutter Morrill, was getting up steam.
Taking alarm. the Jones pulled out and
started down the river at 10:45 p m, and
IN A few hours crossed the bar and an
chored outside.
The Long, having meanwhile been load
ed with coal and other material at the
Wilmington and Weldon railroad wharf,
was shortly afterward towed out to sea
BY the tub Jacob Brandon, going past the
revenue cutter Colfax.
on the schooner were Gen. Nunez and
another officer of the Cuban army, a Gu
ban pilot and Capt. John OBrien of the
fhbustering tug Dauntless. At the sea
buoy they went on board the Jones, an
Chored near by, and Capt. O'Brien took
charge of the expedition.
A hawser was made fast from the Jones
to the schooner, and early Friday morn
ing the tug steamed to the south with her
tow. The Jacob Brandon returned to
Southport
on the way down the coast no port was
entered, but off Palm Beach, on the coast
of Florida, sixty Cubans were taken on
board. The Jones then towed the schoon-
er to the Bahamas and anchored in the
open sea on Tuesday, May 49,
on Thursday morning, May 90 the fill
buster Dauntless hove in sight and came
alongside the Jones and the schooner.
She coaled from the schooner, took a
cargo of arms from the Jones, and with
Capt. O'Brien in command, headed for
the Cuba coast, about sixty miles away.
She left the Jones between and O'Clock
Thursday night, made a successful land
ing in Cuba, near Matanzas, and after an
absence of twenty hours exactly, returned
to the Jones, took another cargo of war
material and started for Cuba Friday
night On the last trip Gen. Nunez and
siXty-two Cubans left the Jones and went
on board the Dauntless, accompanying
Capt. OBrien. When the Dauntless left
with her cargo, the Jones coaled from the
schooner, towed her off Cape Canaverala,
Fla, and turned her loose. She sailed
back and got into Southport yesterday
morning. The cargo was valued at $4,000
and Is said to have been the second larg-
est ever landed in Cuba.
The members of the crew above refer
red to say there is no truth in the story
that the Jones was chased and fired on by
a Spanish war vessel. The Jones did not
see the smoke of such war vessel while
on her trip.
The Dauntless slipped ont of the Savan-
nah river Monday morning, May II. She
was last seen putting to sea in south
easterly direction under a full head of
oNtduls WIN ali sails .Stls anu lAlCAG was
little doubt that she had gone to Cuba.
The later departure of the tug Jones from
Wilmington with arms and ammunition
confirmed this belief. When the Dauntless
left here she went prepared for a voyage
She had been here a couple of weeks or
more under charter to the Bristol Tow
boat Company, but had done little busi-
ness. She was constantly under suspicion,
and when she left port refusing to tow a
vessel which the company had contract
ed to tow, carrying instead of
capt Sinclair. who had commanded
her here, her former master, Capt. Floyd,
and a crew of thirteen picked men, there
seemed to be little doubt of the purpose
of her voyage.
lhere was a story that the tug had been
loaded with arms and ammunition at Ty-
pee but this was emphatically denied. and
her owner Mr.. w. A. Bisbee of Jackson
Ville, offered a reward of $3.50 to any de
'ective or constable who could show any
reliable evidence that the Dauntless took
on any arms or ammunition, or violated
any law of the United States, either upon
the coast Of Georgia or Florida, upon her
recent departure"
ne Dauntless seems to have gone into
other waters before taking on any cargo.
one Is expected to arrive here any day,
ana resume her place with the Bristol
IoWboat Companv