Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1898-02-17
STOLEN IN HAVANA.

stolen y HAyANsA:
How De. Lomc's Famous Letter Fell
Into Wrong Hands.
& Philadelphia eb.s Press
Eprints what it asserts Sto be the true
version Of the acquisition and .puhlica-
|$Ifon of the letter from Mr.. De LONE to
Senior Canalejas. The authority cited
.for it's authenticity is "a Cuban of the
highest standing in the councils Of his
party" who receives INSTRUMENTATION
s'.from headquarters in New York. = The
story proceeds to5saX; ~
IA "The letter, was not stolen from the
United States mails mai 3 but was secured by
I fce at Havana, Don Jose .Canalejas, to
whom. the letter: was addressed, never saw
the original: He did not know until eight
idays after the .letterfrea ched HAVANA that
ssuch q letter from spain,s preventative
i Lone wrote the lettersin his private resi-
spanish Legation apsr; however; was
. rlrEds with the official type and read in
same: scription: was upon the left+hand
/ upper corner: OF the envelope. Senior dc
Lone did not mail the: letter from his
,,:house: III .fac st, he had- not quite xcom-
s;pleted 1T upon. the morning it4Wasfwrit
.sten, and carried it to- the legation, where
Sit was first seen and noticed by ID person
who is in the employ of the embassy, act
Sing in q subomcial capacity. The. letter
s;lay Upon theS desk of the; minister in his:
aee of e rscept the a eo Gse bapg
absence Of half an hour:.from the inner
coffee Of De Lone the clerk in question
-.saw the open letter and read some az It.
1.-THE next daysthis same person sent
word to his Cuban associates in Washing
ston to the effect: that he had seen asletter
from De LONE. to. Canalejas, in (which
President Mckinley was vllifled and au-
t.toriony called "a. scheih e::Nf Several Of the
. Cuban leaders got together and asked the
s elnploye Of the embassy to SECURE the let
ter. They did not believe Implicitly in his
story, although he urged them to- come
into the public print and make charges
!: against De LONE. Because they did not
have the letter in their possession. the lead
:Sers refused:to. say anything about it. The
%employe of:the legation was urged to use
all means in his power to secure the letter.
although 1t was. considered probable that
the letterJwas already in the snails when
the Cubans at the Hotel Raleigh were in
& formed Of its existence. .Ng $
Nj 1.-The clerk in the e1nploye Of Minister De
Lone saw no more of the letter. His mem-
tory-written abstracts We're forwarded to,
New York, and it was quickly agreed that
could possession of the letter :besobtained
ana his statements sproven to be. true. the
. letter. would be of incalculable value to
the Cuban cause, as substantiatng what
Cuban leaders had maintained regarding
autonomy and the general Spanish policy,
in official circles, toward this country and
its officers. Immediately words Of warning
and urgings to be5on the alert were sent
to every Cuban who might be in a position
to obtain track Of or intercept the much
Sought-for misSiVe.
1.-The letter reached Havana five days
after it's poStmark in WashingtQn. An
agent. Of the: Cuban party who is an en-
ploye Of the Spanish post office. knew that
the letter was;ion the way, and when it
came into his hands it was carried from
the post office and a copy was made of it.
Word to- this effect was sent to the: Cuban
leader lr in. Jacksenville. Fla. who at once
asked the secret Cuban junta in Havana
to secure the original letter-that a copy:
was not what was desired. The Havana
post Office clerk was ot'willing to do this.
at first. but afterward consented, as he
was obliged to account for a certain num-
Der Of letters to. other employees Of the de-
partment. The original was then taken.
several blank sheets were substituted in
place. of, the paper upon which De LONE
had written. and the letter finally post
its way.
Eight days from its arrival in the Ha-
vana office, the sealed envelope, properly
addressed to Senior Canalejas, was deliv-
cred at the Hotel Inglaterra. Senior Canal
ejas communicated. almost Immediately
with Minister de LONE, and for several
weeks letters and &cablegrams passed be-
tween the two. but no trace Of the letter
could be obtained. Canalejas shortly there
after left Havana, going to Madrid.
1T is not explained why the letter was
kept by the Cubans for several weeks be-
fore it was given out for publication, An.
informant, other than the person who gave
the foregoing, but who is on the inside in
| Cuban official circles, declares that the
delay was occasioned by desire on the
part Of the junta to be assured absolutely
that the writing was that Of the Spanish
minister so that he might not have any
chance to deny its authorship, and thus
cause reaction which undoubtedly would
have been the result of the propa cation Of
q fake" H. s-ss,-- ..r,.I
Washington, Feb. 14.-The 3OO-word
cipher dispatch received from Minister
Woodford Saturday night was trans
lated at the state department. Sunday.
but no intimation of its import could:
be secured from official sources. AS
sistant Secretary of State Day, who has
been entrusted with the whole corrs;
respondence" by the president; refused
| to discuss the message. He said mere:
~ that there was nodevelopment in the
case which properly could be made pub
lie at this time. In one instance he sup
plemented this statement by. the re-
mark that the mere fact of information
being withheld is*not. to be. taken as
serious indication. Secretary Day
dined at the. white house, Mrs.
Day still being out of town. Every
effort to supplement- Secretary Days
statement with some Information from
the white house failed, To urgent ap-