The herald., 1898-06-26

and an extra pair of shoes, and as many
tin plates and bottles and bananas and po-
tatoes and loaves of white bread as he can
stow away in his blouse and knapsack. And
this is under sun that makes even walk
ing stick seem burden. In spite of his off,
GERS, and not on account of them, he main
tains good discipline, and no matter how
tired he may be or how much he may wish
to rest on his plank bed, he will always
struggle to his feet when the officers pass
and stand at salute. He gets very little
in return for his efforts.
An example of their treatment for the
least breach of discipline is thus described:
One Sunday night, when the band was
playing in the plaza, at a heaven-forsaken
fever camp called Ciego de Avila, group
of soldiers were sitting near me on the
grass enjoying the music. They loftered
there few minutes after the bugle had
sounded the retreat to the barracks, and
the officer Of the day found them. When
they stood up he ordered them to the Guar
tel under arrest, and then, losing all con-
troll of himself, lashed one little fellow
over the head with his coloneIs staff, while
the boy stood with his eyes shut and with
his lips pressed together, but holding his
it down.
These soldiers are from the villages and
towns of Spain; some of them are not
more than II years old, and they are not
volunteers. They do not care whether
Spain owns an island eighty miles from
the United States, or loses it, but they go
out to 1t and have their pay stolen, and are
put to building earth forts and stone walls,
and die of fever. 1t seems a poor return
for their unconscious &atriotism when a
colonel thrashes one of them as though he
were dog. especially as he knows the
soldier may not strike back.
Mr.. Davis witnessed the death of Adolfo
Rodriguez, the only son of Cuban farmer,
who, when the revolution broke out, Joined
the insurgents and was taken, in Decem-
ber, 1896, by a force of the Guardia Civile,
the corps d'elite" of the Spanish army.
Having been tried by military court for
bearing arms against the government, he
was sentenced to be shot by fusillade.
His execution is thus pictured:
Either owing to discipline, or on account
of the nature of their errand, or because
the men were still but half-awake, there
was no talking in the ranks, and the SOL
diers stood motionless, leaning on their
rifles, with their backs turned to the town,
looking out across the plain to the hill.
The men in the crowd behind them were
also grimly silent. They knew that what
ever they might say would be twisted into
a word of sympathy for the condemned
man or protest against the government.
So no one spoke; even the officers gave
their orders in gruff whispers, and the men
in the crowd did not mix together, but
looked suspiciously at one another and kept
apart.
With us a condemned man walks only
the short distance from his cell to the scaf-
fold or the electric chair, shielded from
sight by the prison walls; and it often oc-
ours even then that the short journey is too
much for his strength and courage.
But the merciful Spaniards on this morn
Ing made the prisoner walk for over a half
mile across the broken surface of the fields.
I expected to find the man, no matter what
his strength at other times might be
stumbling and faltering on this cruel jour-
ney. but as he came nearer 1 saw that he
led all the others, that the priests on either
side of him were taking two steps to his
one, and that they were tripping on their
gowns and stumbling over the hollows, in
their efforts to keep pace with him, as he
walked, erect and soldierly, at quick step
in advance of him.
The crowd fell back when the procession
came to the square, and the condemned
man, the priests and the firing squad of six
volunteers passed in, and the line closed
behind them.
The officer who had the cord that bound
| the Cuban's arms behind him and passed
across his breast let 1t fall on the grass and
drew his sword, and Rodriguez dropped his
cigarette from his lips and bent and kissed
the cross which the priest held before
him.