davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

by the Spaniards is still a question.
suppose 1t will soon be decided. In my
own opinion, the disaster came from
the outside, but do not know, and not
knowing, I am willing to wait for the
sake of human nature. 1 sincerely hope
that 1t was an accident. I hate to think
that there are people base and cruel
enough to commit such an act. Still
I think that all these matters will be
settled without war.
L am in favor of an international
court the members to be selected by
the ruling nations of the world; and
before this court 1 think all questions
between nations should be decided, and
the only army and the only navy should
be under its direction, and used only
for the purpose &C enforcing it's de-
crees. Were there such a court now
before which Cuba could appear and
tell the story of her wrongs, of the
murders, the assassinations, the treach-
cry, the starvings, the cruelty, think
that the decision would instantly be in
her favor and that Spain would be
driven from the island. Until there is
such court there is no need of talking
about the world being civilized.
i am not Christian, but 1 do be-
lieve in the religion of justice, of kind
ness. I believe in humanity. 1 do be-
lleve that usefulness Is the highest pos
sible form of worship. The useful man
is the good man, the useful man is the
real saint. 1 care nothing about super
natural myths and mysteries but 1 do
care for human beings. 1 have a little
short creed of my own. not very hard
to understand, that has in it no con-
tradictions. and it is this: Happiness
is the only good. The time to be happy
is now. The place to be happy is here.
The way to be happy is to make others
So I think this creed, if adopted,
would do away with war I think it
would destroy superstition, and 1 think
it would civilize even Spain.
Cuba, and while 1 have been anxious
that the United States should acknowl-
edge the independence of Cuba, still 1
am willing to admit that President MIC
kinney KNOWS more about this matter
than I do; and I think that probably
he has many facts in his possession of
which 1 know nothing. Now 1 am sat
isfied that he is a brave and patriotic
man. I am satisfied that he sympa-
thizes with all people struggling to be
free, and consequently I am willing to
wait believing that the end will JUS
tify his course. At the same time l re-
member, and hope the administration
will not forget, that the people of
America are with Cuba
Copyright, 1898.
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03
IN MODERN WARFARE

A careful examination of both wrecks
conclusively proved that the explosives
the vessels contained remained prac-
tically intact.
Turning from historic Illustration, we
shall have to confront an elaborate
classification to define the various
kinds of torpedoes. There are three
chief divisions consisting of buoyant
mines, subaqueous mines and locomo-
tive torpedoes. The first class Of tor
pedoes, as well as the second is purely
for purposes Of coast defense. Although
the authorities on the subject enter
tain pretty diverse views. it is gener-
ally held that these contact mines are
available for use only in rather shall
low water. Their use involves many
perplexing conditions. such as the
twisting and wearing of the cables and
mornings, the depression due to cur
rents, the danger of sympathetic ex-
plosions, the leaking of the cases. So
difficult, indeed, is the problem that
the best torpedo system of today Is
really compromise between conflict
ing requirements. AS obstacles in
shunting off a hostile squadron, the use
of these mines Is imperative in modern
warfare. Beside the surface mine are
the submarine mines, sub-divided into
O observation mines, fired by an cleo
trio current when the enemy appears
within the destructive area Of the
mine; (2) electro-contact mines. which,
on conclusion. explode by automatic
ally completing the electric circuit
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

Spain and the Spaniards" was the
topic submitted by our correspondent
to Col. Ingersool. 1t interested him and
the words that flowed from his lips had
in them indignation and contempt and
the fire of eloquence. Here they are
exactly as he uttered them:
Spain has always been exceed
ingly religious and exceedingly cruel.
That country had an unfortunate
experience. The Spaniards fought
the Moors for about seven hun
dred or eight hundred years, and
during that time Catholicism and pa
triotism became synonymous. They
were fighting the Moslems. 1t was
religious war. For this reason they be-
came intense in their Catholicism, and
they were fearful that if they should
grant the least concession to the Moor,
God would destroy them. Their idea
was that the only way to secure Di-
vine aid was to have absolute faith,
and this faith was proved by their
hatred of all ideas inconsistent with
their own.
Spain has been and is the victim of
superstition. The Spaniards expelled
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03
GREAT EFFECTIVENESS OF
TORPEDOES
IN MODERN WARFARE.
Many Of the Best Informed Assert That Ten Years
Hence All Naval Conflicts Will Be Fought
With Them Exclusively.

The most ingenious and, indeed, the
most destructive engine of modern
warfare, is the torpedo. People do not
commonly realize that this instrument
of humiliation was already in use in
1885. In that year an italian engineer,
Zambelli, constructed vessels carrying
heavily charged magazines which float
ed down the Scheldt river at Antwerp
and. ignited by clock-work. destroyed
the bridge. A certain Van Drebbel ex-
perimented in England, in 1924, with a
diving boat which, laden with eXplo-
sives, was so directed as to strike a
ship below the water line. But the
first genuine submarine torpedo was in
vented in 1870 by Frenchman, Desa-
guliers. This rocket torpedo, as it was
called, destroyed several boats. The
first craft actually sunk by a submarine
mine was one attacked by a device of
Robert Fulton. of steamboat renown,
| in 1901. charged with twenty pounds
of gunpowder. Four years later the
brig Dorothea was completely demol-
ished at Dover, England, by two tor
pedoes fired by clockwork. Yet it was
not until our Civil War that the tor
pedo became a successful. systematic
agent of destruction. On December ~,
1862. the United States ironclad Cairo
was destroyed in the Yazoo river by
! two tortedoes which exploded directly
beneath her. She was so shattered she
sank in twelve minutes. Again in the
following year we lost the ironclad
Baron de Kalb in the same fashion.
From this time on torpedoes of diver
sified types have been in pretty general
use. On May 6, 1864. an electric torpedo
charged with 1850 pounds of gunpow-
der completely demolished the Com
modore Jones. Directly after this event
two federal transports and the l.oni-
tor Tecumseh were sunk almost in
stantly on collision with submarine
mines. In the succeeding year, the
monitor Patapsco was destroyed at
Charleston with sixty-two men The
Confederates. during the war. suffered
onlJ the loss of the ironclad Albemarle.
which was blown up by a so-called bar
rel torpedo.
I'm recent years the most vivid ex-
emplifications of the effectiveness of
torpedoes have been in South American
waters. A Peruvian guard boa was
the first craft to be sunk by an auto
mobile" torpedo. Still fresh in our
memory is the collapse of the Brazilian
Aquidaban from the same cause. A
torpedo was fired from a gunboat
broadside at the Aquidaban, striking
her twenty-five feet from the bow and
ten feet below the water line and maxi
ing hole fourteen feet by twelve on
one side and three-foot hole on the
other Quite as illustrative of the
eruptive force of the torpedo was the
destruction of the Huasear by Paul
Boynton, who placed a torpedo under
her bow and discharged it from a safe
distance by means of an electric cable.
Curiously enough, the wrecking of the
cruiser, Blanco Euclada, in the harbor
of Valparaiso was much like that of
the battleship Maine in Havana harbor.
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03
THE NEW CRADLE OF LIBERTY.


people rising, they were hunted with
dogs. they were tortured, they were
murdered. and finally exterminated
This was the commencement of Spanish
rule on the island of Cuba. The same
spirit is in Spain to-day that was in
Spain then. The idea is not to con-
ciliate but to coerce. not to treat justly
but to rob and enslave. No Spaniard
regards a Cuban as having equal rights
with himself. He looks upon the island
as property, and upon the people as a
part of that property, both equally be-
longing to Spain.
Spain has kept no promise made to
the Cubans, and never will. At last
the Cubans know exactly what Spain
is, and they have made up their minds
to be free or to be extermnated. There
is nothing in history to equal the afro
cities and outrages that have been per-
petrated by Spain upon Cuba. What
Spain is all know as only repetition
of what Spain has done, only a proph-
eey of what Spain will do if it has the
power.
"As far as 1 am concerned, I have
no idea that there is to be any war be-
tween Spain and the United States. A
country that can't conquer Cuba GER
tainly has no very flattering chance of
Observation-Disclosures tho I1nitad Statoc Of
course there is some wisdom even in
Spain. and the Spaniards who know
anything of this country know that it
would be absolute madness and the ut
most extreme of folly to attack U.S. I
believe in treating even Spain with per-
feet fairness. I feel about that coun-
try as Burns did about the devil: %,
wad We TAX thought an mend!' 1
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

! That intercourse with the Phoeni-
clans did, after all, have considerable
effect on the impressionable Iberian
character. is strongly suggested by the
ease with which the Cartha ginians sub
sequently attained a dominant infu-
ence in Spain. This was practically the
same thing, for these new invaders
were an offshoot of the same evil stock
They We're about as merciful as our
American Indians-every one is famil-
lar with the horrible story of Reguus-
and 'Punic faith was by-word
These Carthaginians overran most of
the country, and we know that their
generals encouraged intermarriages
between soldiers and natives Very
popular for time were the Carthage
mans in Spain-the accepted type of
cleverness and manhood. Few traces
of their blood probably remain nut it
was a bid start. The clay was still
soft, and their example was potent.
Like master, like man."
Then came the Romans, with a yet
more masterful dominion that lasted
for centuries. Here there was no poison
in the blood, but again the example
was baneful. Rome'S method of deal
ing with subject provinces, which
Spain learned by bitter experience, she
seems to have adopted model for all
time. Every school-boy has read of the
rapacity and arrogance and inhumanity
of the Roman governors, who regard
ed provincials merely as a source Of
revenue, with no rights that lordly
| Roman need respect. These notions
seem to have fallen on singularly fer
| tile soil and unlucky Cuba is today
reaping the fruits of SPANS Roman
| training. No masters are SO intoler-
able as those who have learned the
trick of tyranny in the school of servi-
| tude.
| And still the corruption of blood
| went on if Spain had been made the
worlds penal colony she could scarcely
| have Jared worse. After the Romans
came the Vandals, whose name has be-
come synonyme for brutal destruc-
| tiveness; and close on their heels, the
Visigoths, of whom a celebrated au-
thority has declared that to them may
be traced all the maXirns of the mod
ern Inquisition."
Even this was not enough. The dis
tracted country-as yet it could hardly
be called nation-Was next overrun
by a horde of Moors from Africa,
bringing an alien and fanatic creed 20
be enforced by the edge of the sword.
Under this regime the Spanish Chris
tians soon became even more intolerant
than their Moslem conquerors. The
ferocious racial and religious strife
which ensued lasted for the major part
(of millennium before it received its
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

| final quietus by the expulsion of the
Moors, and probably had more to do
with making Spanish character what
it now is than all that had gone before.
| In such conflict, almost of necessity,
piety became bigotry, patriotism but
another name for cruelty, and loyalty
to friends synonymous with treachery
to foes. Such conditions, of course,
have from time to time arisen else
where, but rarely have they been SO
prolonged or SO acute.
Out of this fiery ordeal-too often
literally eXemplified on the cringing
flesh-Spain emerged with just one
commendable quality. The Spaniard
had become a fierce fighter, whether in
private broil or open battle,-and this
zest for fighting, even at desperate
odds, he has retained. 1t is fact not
to be forgotten nor ignored.
For a season this prowess and feroc-
ity in war made Spain one of the fore
most nations of Europe, though in al
most everything else one of the most
backward-a few brilliant instances to
the contrary Notwithstanding. Her
boosted art was florid foreign impor-
tation. Her literature is bombastic in
style, and full of the mendacity and
exaggeration which seem to character
iZe Spanish thought. For the discovery
of America she is entitled to small
credit; but the ingratitude with which
she requited those who had served her,
and the greedy savagery with which
she seized and ruled and robbed the
territory thus acquired, are quite her
own.
To this period likewise, belongs the
Inquisition. This, in the opinion of the
present writer, is often seriously mis-
understood 1t was not the outcome Of
her creed but of her character; it was
! essentially Spanish. True, persecution
was no new thing; in a barbarous age
men are sure to give barbarous in
depreciation to their religion-even
though it be the Gospel of Peace. But
the denominations of injustice and
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

cruelty practised in Spain-whether d.
rected against infidels or Jews or here
tics-reach an extreme hardly to be
paralleled elsewhere, and they persist
ed and intensified in an age of increas-
ing enlightenment until the whole civil
lied world stood aghast at them. And
while the horrors of the Inquisition
were the inevitable outcome of Spanish
history and Spanish character, the sys-
tenn continually reacted to foster the
traits that had given it birth. So,
while the world advanced, Spain Jagged
behind in Medieval darkness,-and she
is still far to the rear.
That is the trouble today. With
Phoenician cruelty. and Carthaginian
duplcity, and Roman arrogance and
Vandal greed, and Moslem intolerance
Spain belongs to the dark ages-ar alta
vistic survival. We look upon her with
nmazement as she sits in the tawdry
! remnants of her ancient grandeur"
intent upon her bull-fights, metaphori-
cal and literal, while all the other ma
tions of the earth are marching onward
But this ancient grandeur" never
was anything but tawdry; like all
things Spanish it has been made the
subjec. of gross exaggeration. In the
case OF people whose more tnan chi
nese vanity makes them almost incap-
able of listening to the truth, who
habitually turn defeat into victory--in
words-and magnify the most common
place occurrences until all sense of pro-
portion is lost, the statements which
they make in glorification of themselves
must be taken with large allowances.
Many passages in Spanish history read
like mixture of their Cuban war dis
patches and their melodramatic ro-
mances. Especially is this true of the
eXtravagant tales about Mexico and
Peru-where the too credulous Prescott
seems to have relied with rather child
like faith upon his authorities" Later
Investigators have been more cautious,
and perhaps there is still room for the
skeptic
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

mines the detonator is inserted in q
printing charge of dry gun-cotton with
In a metal case surrounded by wet gun
cotton. The least distance between
mines for safety is one hundred feet.
SO that two or more lines of mines are
necessary to insure a vessels hitting Q
mine. A torpedo electrically connect
ed with the shore, IL struck by an out
rigging or netting of the enemy's ship.
signals the fact to the operator in the
casemate, who delays sending the fir-
ing battery current through the fuse
until the torpedo Is directly under the
hull of the vessel.
Small vessels of great speed, known
as torpedo boats, carry and discharge
these ponderous missiles. This torpedo
resembles in shape a porpoise It's orig
inal design, in fact, was said to be
fashioned after this fish. It is made
chiefly Of steel, weighs eight hundred
and fifty pounds and is about twelve
feet in length. It consists Of four prin-
cipal sections, the head, which carries
the explosive; the flash, or air-receiver.
which is filled with compressed air at
a pressure of 1850 pounds to the square
inch.-the escape of this air runs the
engine and propels the torpedo; the i'm
mersion chamber, which contains the
mechanism for regulating the depth
and position of the torpedo; the en-
CINE, fed by compressed air which
passes through the valves of a pipe SO
adjusted as to fix the speed and dura-
tion of the run. The apparatus in the
third section consists of a pendulum
and hydrostatic piston that control q
horizontal rudder through an air steer
ing-engine. This rudder Is movable; IL
the torpedo goes too deep or inclines
downward this rudder moves up, bring
ing the torpedo to the set depth. If the
reverse takes place the rudder moves
down. The engine of the fourth section
turns a shaft on which there are two
propellors moving in opposite directions
at the tail of the torpedo. Finally on
each side of the tail are vertical rud-
ders which keep the torpedo in
straight path.
The head of the torpedo Is made Of
bronze and is charged with one hundred
and twenty pounds Of wet gun-cotton.
The point of the head contains the
pistol" consisting Of propeller
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03
WHY SPANIARDS ARE CRUEL
Starting With Bad Blood From Several
Sources They Are Not to Be Pited
Because They Are Pidless.

less temper, as well as his swarthy
compleXion; but an infusion of this
blood does not necessarily result in Il
cruel and treacherous dispositions -
though it gives an uncommOnly keen
edge to such traits when they appear.
And they appeared soon; the importa-
ton of the virus of cruelty began early.
That the Notwithstanding the
most atrociously cruel of the races Of
antiquity-gained foothold in Spain in
almost prehistoric times may be passed
by with mere mention. These are the
people who gave its name to Cadiz, and
who in the height of their alleged
civilization fed Moloch with human
sacrifices. We know too little of the
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

That the Spaniards are, as a race eX-
ceptionally and VIGOROUSLY cruel ] shall
take for granted. 1t is an opinion al
most universally received, and with
most people argument would be super
fuous. The question of real interest is.
What has made them SO? For nature
is never arbitrary; not even the seem
ingly wilful perversities of men are
without cause.
In the case of Spain some of the
causes date very far back; they began
their work almost before the dawn of
history-as we might expect from the
logged persistency of the traits devei-
oped. 1t is a case of bad blood almost
from the beginning.
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03
Feeding Elephants in the Indian
Army.

The manner in which the elephants
of the Indian army are fed is most
peculiar. 1t is also economical, for by
the method employed not a single grain
of rice is wasted. An elephants break
fast includes ten pounds of raw rice,
done up in leaves and then tied with
grass. At meal time, the elephants are
of this food. At the word attention."
each elephant raises it's trunk and a
package is thrown into it's capacious
mouth. The promptness and precision
of this movement make the sight not
only interesting but amusing.
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

know that nations like people, do as
victim and result of conditions, the
fruit of tree that was planted by ig-
norance and watered by superstition.
1 want that island to give a new flag
to the air, whether it ever becomes a
part of the United States or not My
struggling for their rights, trying to get
the clutch of tyranny from their
throats; for those who are defending
their homes, their firesides, against ty-
rants and robbers.
whether the Maine was blown up
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

1t may well be doubted that Spain
was ever prosperous in any proper
sense of the word. In her best days
the number of beggars in the country
was appalling. / hesitate to quote the
flgures-for they are Spanish-but $780,
900 is the estimate. During the same
period there were scarcely any manu-
features. The exports were in the main
the products of a soil practically I'M
tilled,-such as wool, hides, minerals,
raw silk. kermes, and olives. What
does this signify? 1t means that Spain
in her palmies: estate was largely &C.
cupied by mining camps and cattle
ranches; anil this conclusion is in per-
feet accord with Spanish characteris
tics.
The popular ideas about pastoral life
are Numerically wrong. Far from be-
ing one of the most peaceful occupa-
The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03
ROBERT G. INCERSOLL.

| industry of Spain. Nothing was left
but Spaniards; that is to say, Incidence
pride, cruelty and infinite superstition
So Spain destroyed all freedom OF
thought through the Inquisition. and
for many years the sky was livid with
the flames of the Auto da-fe; Spain
was busy carrying fagots to the feet
of philosophy, busy in burning people
for thinking, for investigation, for ex-
pressing honest opinions. The result
was that great darkness settled over
Spain, pierced by no star and shone up
on by no rising sun.
"At one time Spain was the greatest
of powers, owner of half the world, and
now she has only a few islands, the
small change of her great fortune, the
few pennies in the almost empty purse,
souvenirs of departed wealth, of van
rupt, bankrupt not only in purse, but in
the higher faculties of the mind. a ma
ton without progress, without thought;
still devoted to bull-fights and super
stition, still trying to alright conta-
gious diseases by religious professions.
Spain is a part of the medieval ages,
belongs to an ancient generation. 1t
really has no place in the nineteenth
century.
"Spain has always been cruel. S. S.
Prentice, many years ago, speaking of
Spain said: ON the shore of discovery
it leaped an armed robber, and sought
for gold even in the threats of its vic
Tins The bloodiest pages in the his
tory of this world have been written
by Spain. Spain in Peru, in Mexico,
Spain in the Low Countries-all pos
sible cruelties come back to the mind