Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-04-02
aali5fellaneous 8main9.
THAT ANONYMOUS LETTER.

| Concerning the BLOWING UP VI uho "oiho'
WASHINGTON, March 29.-An inter
esting feature of the published report
of the Maine testimony, issued from
the government printing office today,
was the famous anonymous letter men,
toned in the evidence of Henry Drain,
the clerk of the American consulate at
Havana. The letter was received by
General Lee few days after the Maine
disaster. 1t is dated February 18th,
1898, and signed Gan Admirer."
1t is in Spanish, written apparently
by fairly we'll educated person. The
certified translation is as follows:
"It should be remembered that at
dawn of the day of the terrible catas-
trophe an individual was killed in a
small boat together with another who
was found wounded and prisoner.
They were going about the cruisers
Maine and Alfonso XII, and as the
said individuals are of the worst ante
cedents as harbor thieves, have inter-
ested myself in investigating what con-
nection this occurrence could have had
with the explosion of the Maine, and L
have discovered that those two men,
together with another, who is called
Pepe Taco, had bought in hardware
store in Mercaderes street, called La
Marina, a hose such as is used by
divers, and that the three left Regla
in a small boat, which they placed un-
der the wharves of Santa Catalina, and
they were lettering about more than
an hour and half, while Pepe Taco,
who is a corker and diver, probably
the best in these parts, did the work
to bring about the explosion of the
Maine. With the data I went to
Regla and discovered that the family
of the dead man, who lived in the
utmost misery in house in Rodriguez
Batista street, had moved to a we'll
furnished one on Colbert street. There
I learned that they had agreed with
some merchants of Muralla street for
the work of blowing up the ship for
the sum of $6,000-S2,000 in advance
and the other $4,000 after seeing the
result. But as they did not come out
of the adventure very well, having
been attacked when they were retiring,
the result of which was the death OF
one, who left his teeth in the boat, and
another one wounded, the third one
has not presented himself to collect
the rest of the money, and it could be
probably secretly done, that by paying
him the rest that the others will not
now pay him, he would declare the
truth of all this. The one whom l
called the third is the diver, Pepe
Taco, who is unwounded, who is no
doubt afraid to present himself to
collect the rest. In Muralla street,
they tell me, was the place where the
business was arranged with Messrs.
Garcia Corujedo, Villasuso, Maribona,
and whom else I do not remember.
The man who is arrested is being ad-
ministered morphine constantly to see
if he will die and not give evidence, so
as not, as they express it, to spoil the
affair after it has come off so much to
their taste.
1 certify that the above is a true
copy. (Signed) A. MARK,
Lieutenant Commander U. S. Navy,
and Judge Advocate.
Drain, the consular clerk, stated in
his evidence that an effort was made
to ascertain the authenticity of this
letter, although the consulate was
handicapped, having no secret fund.
Witness discovered, however, that the
name Pepe Taco must have been a
mistake, as the man mentioned had
died few days before the explosion
took place. Witness thought the name
should have been Pepe Barquin, who
had died a couple of days after the
explosion.