Evening star., 1897-06-08

the next day. but it was ten days after his
arrest and three days before mis- death
VIZ: the l4th Of February, 1SH-that the
acting governor general directed his case
to be referred to the Jurisdiction of the
civil court. and that he died before said
court considered it.
The improper judicial proceedings, in
tnc flrst place. and the length of time con-
sumed in getting the case before the proper
authority, during which the solitary prison
er was the occupant CT a cell, proved ia .al
me testimony shows DR.. Ruiz was
nealthy and unusually strong able and
athletic man. That he had no hereditary
mental or disease of the heart or other
body ailments.
He was confined "inconunicado," and
Eelther his wife, children nor friends were
allowed to communicate with him. He was
carried alive to his cell, and at the end of
al3 hours was brought out a corose hay-
ing neen subjected to "incomunicado" i'm
prlsonment in violation of his treaty ripats
Z45 hours over and above the 72-hour limit
FROM the time he was placed "incomuni-
cado until his death, all knowledge Of his
cono!tion was confined to mis- jailers, and
therefore there can be no other testimony
except that of these officials as to the mode
OF MS treatment or manner of his death.
ana 1t could not be expected that in case
OF pad treatment they would testify
against themselves or against each other
so such testimony should be received not
with a grain Of salt" but with a barrel.
"A witness named Rafael Galindo. who
NOUS government position, testified that
ne carried, at Mrs. Ruiz's request. some
bed clothes for the use of DR.. Rui. in his
cell on the same day he was arrested. but
the testimony of his most intimate friends
VIZ: Juan Gratoeos and Jose Puiggros does
not conhrm such testimony; and letter
from MRS. Ruiz to me, written four DAYS
aiter MS death, copy of which Is hereby
transmitted, says: During the thirteen
days he remained incomunicado' they dill
no. allow me 10 take to him a cot or-even
a mt f,r,lH,
oth or February, when the Jail official
nnally, after my repeated requests, con-
sented or allowed me to send to my hus-
band the chair l send you herewith, and
OF man in his full mental faculties
The Impressions referred to and which
nave seer were sentences around the rim
OF the back, evidently indelted with the
nails OF the fingers and which read:
Mercedes, Meme, Evangeline Ricardito-
Goodbye, my children of my life, 1 give
you my blessing. Be obedient to your
mother. They will kill me. If 1 am taken
of my soul -
This chair, Mrs. Ruiz says she sent for
after her husbands death, and have seen
lately persons in whose statements l place
reliance that the writing around the rim
of the back was not discovered as the
chair was of light color and the indented
letters not distinct, for some days after 1t
mad been returned to her house
L make these statements because 1 found
that with, sses who had testimony un-
favorable to the Spanish authorities would
not give 1t. for obvious reasons and If the
rlght to make them appear was exercised,
IL would result. they said, in their giving
nen-committal evidence, for in their opin-
ion the mere fact of being summoned would
make them suspects" considered disloyaI
to the Spanish authorities on the island.
An autopsy was held on his body on the
afternoon of the 18th at Guanabacoa per-
ticipated in by two Spanish doctors viz:
Francisco Vidal Alvando and Jose Marti-
nez Castrillion. and DR.. d. NJ. Burgess,
the United States sanitary inspector at
this port, at which the United States con-
sui general was rot present. That said
autopsy. signed by the two Spanish doc
tors, declared DR.. Ruiz's death resulted
from cerebral congestion: that on the apex
or top Of the head of deceased there was
found confusion or wound which is de-
scribed by the Spanish doctors as being
small abrasion which only involved the
first surfaces of the skin about a cent?
meter long, more or less, centimeter be-
ing about two-fifths of an inch, but which
Is described by DR.. Burgess as being "a
severe confusion of about an inch and
half long by half inch wide"
deduce from my knowledge of the facts
the following concIusions:
Ffrst-Dr. Ruiz was arrested on a false
charge.
Second-He was placed under an improper
Jurisdiction and died before the proper tri-
bunal considered his case. thereby giving
him no opportunity TO prove mis- innocence
Third-That he was kept 'incommuai-
cado' in solitary cell for 315 hours. in
violation Of his treaty rights, which limit
such confinement to seventy-two hours
Fourth-He died from congestion Of the
brain, produced by a blow on the top of
the head.
Fiftn-There are two theories connected
with the wound on the head. One that in
a state of mental excitement he ran across
the cell as described by one of the iaflers
and butted his head on the door in a fran
tic effort to get out. Another that he was
struck over the head with one of the clubs
carried by the jailers-by the immediate
watchman-who had probably ordered him
to cease his cries for relief and for his chill
dren. ard upon his not doing so struck him
with more force than he intended. or 1. is
possible the blow was delivered to make
him confess or give evidence against others
1t is possible he went mad, and many
causes combined to produce such a result
His knowledge of his own innocence-his
connnement IN gloomy cell, where he was
not allowed to communicate with family
or friends-or to send or write. Alone, all
alone, the thought doubtless impressed it
self upon his mind that he was liable in
the reign or terror then existing in and
around Guanabacoa to be summarily exc
cuted at any moment. He loved his wife
and children. and in the darkness and lone
illness of his cell he was constantly CRYING
out for them. The thought that they were
out rev rods away and yet he might
never see them again or hear the sound of
their voices or feel the touch of their lips
and hands maddened him and proved too
much for the mind of the distracted and
unhappy man, and thought it not improb-
able as the long hours passed by, it may
have given way and left him a madman.
His wife says his derby hat was all bat
tered up and his clothes greatly torn when
returned to her.
But whether when bereft of reason he in
hicted the blows which produced brain con-.
gestion or whether he died at the hands Of
others. the truth will probably only be
known when the hearts Of all are revealed
the fact remains. his unjust confinement
killed him, and had he been released from
tncommunicado by the hand Of man at the
end of seventy-two hours the hand of death
might not have released him at the end of
S15 hours. and today the widow would have
had the support of her husband ana the
moans of his fatherless children would
never have been heard in the land
therefore. conclude, saying as have
done In all previous reports about this case
that whether DR.. Ruiz killed himself or
was killed by some one else, will, under the
existing conditions, always remain un-
known. I am very respectfully. your obe-
dent servant, zsse7
(signed) FITzHUGH LEE.
want" ads. in The star pay because
they bring answers. .7ss;s =