The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-12-20
Let Out to Kill.

CRIMINALS OF the lowest type nave Just
| been released from various Spanish penal
colonies and turned loose In the Sums
| of Havana Their terms of sentence had
not expired Why. then, have they been
set free and brought to Havana? One
| of the first duties of the police depart
rnent OF the American administration in
| Cuba will be to carral these naningoes.
Already a petition signed by all the
Americans in Havana has been addressed
10 the United States evacuation commits
sion, asking them 10 demand that the
| Spanish authorities re-arrest the nanin-
goes and return them 10 the Isle Of Pines
and the African penal settlements whence
they came. Al this has taken place since
signing the protocol.
The only reason assigned for the re-
lease OF the naningoes is that the Span
| iards still wish 10 make Cuba as uncom-
| Portable as possible for Americans after
| the evacuation. Meanwhile, the 700 nanin-
! goes will be q constant menace to order
| and safety.
| Naningo is a name familiar only TO stu
dents of West Indian laws and customs.
| Naningism is simply another nome for or
gsnized crime. Naningism is the Malta Of
the West Indies. In italy a member OF
the Malta is not more dreaded than is the
Naningo in Cuba.
The applicant for membership in one of
the secret naningo societies must be a
villain of the most ferocious rot-not the
| word o. mouth villain of the stage, but
ferocious, blood-lusting, cowardly. skulk-
| ing, murderous villain. His record must
| be shown that he has been in prison, at
| least once, for crime. The crime may
be anything varying from petit larceny
to homicide. In other words, no amateurs,
| but only professionals, are admitted-men
who have already adopted thieving and
numbering as career. They must be dis
reputable characters, desperate, reckless.
foes Of order, destroyers of property. born
vandals, violators of all that is good and
virtuous. If they have these qualifications
they are eligible to membership in the
! brotherhood of naningoeS-a brotherhood
that for years has been the terror of in
dividuals on the highways Of Cuba, and of
Havana in particular.
The original naningoes and the found
ers Of the present societies were Afri-
can slaves OF these, not much was
known OF the purpose of the original soci-
cites or of the proceedings of their meet
ings. AS soon as their existence was dis
covered the white slaves forbade these
black lodge meetings; SO that fear alone
became a sufficient motive for secrecy.
| 1t is supposed that when the slaves gath
/ cred in some obscure canebrake or forest
nook, it was to revive memories of their
African homes, to practice the rights of
| THEN savage religion. and 20 sympathize
! with one another in their grievances
/ against their masters. AS time went on,
| these meetings became orgies at which
| quantities of fiery rum were consumed,
and whole nights were spent III wild
dances and the most revolving debauch-
/ cry. Out of such a condition there was
| ga ell add fao p
plotting crime, especially against the
whites, for revenge or for mere savage
| lust of blood.
Up to the first year of the recent war.
| the naningo societies were recruited
chiefly from the ranks of Cuba's Spanish
| negro population. Now, however, the nan
ingoes are not all blacks. Since the out
break of the rebellion in 1895, the color
line has been less strictly drawn and
low whites have been admitted TO mem
/ bership
white trash" who join these societies
are put through the most horrid initia-
tons. They are required TO produce the
most indisputable proofs of having COM
mitted murder, arson, assault or other
| capital crime. Sometimes, as a part of
| his initiation, the candidate watched by
! his superiors, is compelled to go forth
! from the secret lodge room in the night
| and waylay the first citizen he meets in
! the street. He has to display his inge-
nuity in inventing DISCUSSES for his own
use and for the benefit of his bloody
brethren. The dagger, the moose for
strangling, the club, the slung- shot-in the
quick, sure and silent use of all these cow
ardly weapons ne must be adept. By the
most dreadful oaths he must renounce re-
| ligion, all morality, all ties of kin or af-
Ia 70
obey implicitly every order of the officers
OF his lodge. He must prove not his
courage, but his cowardice; he must es-
tablish his ability to win, not in fair
| fight, but in foul.
One custom of this secret criminal So
ciety, given by a student of social ele-
ments in Spanish-American countries. will
illustrate its wanton ferocity. This is
TO place on the sidewalk of a street an
old shoe. 1t would be the natural i'm
pulse fanny passing pedestrian to kick
the shoe out of his path into the road
| The first man who does that is marked
by naningo sentinel, who is slouching
in wait. The man who kicks that shoe
IS followed. His descriptions. his habits.
his daily walks are made known 70
every naningo. He is doomed TO death
| because he has kicked the WORKOUT shoe
of naningo. After that incident he
must be murdered within a week.
In the days before gas was introduced
into Havana, when the narrow streets
were shrouded in Garkness-that was the
time when the naningoes maintained Il
reign of terror IN the city. The darkness
was really an invitation to the highway
man and the assassin. Robbery on the
/ highway was an event as much to be
expected as an attack by Indians in the
early Puritan days in New England. No
one ventured far from his house unarmed
When / was younger and more festive
and gay said q staid Cuban business
man, "a friend and had been out al a
public ball one night. IL was late when
I started 10 go 10 my home in suburb
of the city. We took a carriage and in
J structed the driver 10 keep sharp out
! look for robbers. We each carried two
revolvers. one in each hand The late
hour. and. perhaps. that wee drop too
much. made rs both sleepy, and when
the coachman reached the house his pas
sengers were both sound asleep. lie call
{ ed the house servant, and they held a
! consultation. There we were with our
/ cooked reviewers, and 10 arouse us might
provoke a 1usiiade. Finally the coach
/ man took q strap. went TO the rear. and
} gave me a sounding rap over the head.
I Al the same time he dropped 10 the
( ground underneath the carriage. Fortu-
naJely the incident ended IN a laugh
/ II the early days Of nsninslsm even the
/ police took part IN the crimes and shared
/ IN their profits. II any q The police re-
NAMED yirtuous they were kept IN a state
/ OF terror. The violators q law became
( open in their defiance OF the authorities
I At last the condition Of AFFAIRS became
I 80 fragrant and respectable residents OF
( Havana Rsre so terrified e. this carnival
/ OF crime mat ;he Madrid government de-
! termined 10 restore order TIE streets