The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-11-15
RlOT0US SPANlARDS.
a Fiery General Arouses the Ire Of
Unpaid Soldiers.
THE GENERALS ORDERS IGNORED
Ordered His Regulars to Fire on the
Mutinous Orden.PublIco, But They
Refused to Obey the Com inand, and
tho General Left in Dis gust.

tho General Left In Dis gust.
Havana, Nov. 15.-Private reports
from Puerto Principe and Neuvitas,
Cuba. say that 1000 regular soldiers
mutinied, demanding their pay before
embarking for Spain. About 1900 arm
ed soldiers. the reports add. presented
themselves in front of the palace. call
Ing upon the military governor, Emilio
March, for their overdue pay. There
upon General March drew his sword
and ordered them to disband. The SOL
diers however, refused to obey, and
some of them, armed with loaded rifles.
threatened the life of General March,
who returned his sword to It's scab-
bard, crying out:
DO you wish to kill me? Well, kill
me-"
The soldiers In reply shouted:
'No, no: we only want our pay before
emharking for SPAIN"
General March promised them that
they would be paid and the soldiers
returned to their quarters peaceably.
The mntiny of the orden publico
forces, which for two days threatened
the peace of this city, resulted yester-
day in the dissolution Of that body.
when, after the payment Of some ar
roars and the promise of full liquida-
tion, the revolving troops laid down
their arms. Captain General Blanco
then ordered all the foot and mounted
regiments of the orden publico to be
dshanded, that organization ceasing to
exist from this date.
The Havana mutiny was preciptatel
by General Arolas. the military gov
ernor Of the city, whose fiery temper
and brutal treatment of officers Is the
source of daily spreading discomfort.
At midnight on Wednesday General
Arolas. at the head of battal on of
regular infantry. having been apprised
of The intention of the troops to join
in the mutiny and demand their pay,
surprised the artillery outposts station
ed along the Vedado road, dlsarmed
them and placed them under surveil-
lance.
The next morning the third company
of the orden publico, numbering about
150 men, drew up before the captain
generals palace, on the Plaza de Ar
mas. and demanded their overdue pay.
The men were ordered to retire, but re-
fused. General Arolas, who arrived on
the scene almost simultaneously, In an
excess of rage lifted his baton of office
and savagely attacked some of the on
lockers. seriously hurting government
employe who had rushed out Of the
palace from curiosity.
The orden publco, with fixed bay
onets, assumed an attitude of deep hos
tility towards General ArOlas whom
the men considered responsible for the
disgraceful way in which they had been
treated. That moment General Solano,
Captain General Blanco's chief of staff,
appeared at the palace door and COM
manded the attention Of the men, He
addressed them in conciliatory tone,
upbraided them for their insubordina-
tion, and condemned the i'll advised
course they We're pursuing. Then plac-
ing himself at their head Solano him
self marched the men back to their
quarters, where he again addressed
them. promising them they would be
paid.
The mutinous orden publico subse-
quently learned that General Arolas
had called over 1000 regulars from the
suburbs. Believing that General Arolas
meant to disarm them they left their
quarters, each man with 1b0 rounds OF
ammunition in his belt and lined up
in tne street opposite to the armory
rep,ly TO offer resistance. if necessary.
sh,ltly after nightfall General Arolas,
at .ir head of the regulars, arrived be.
fore the Orden PublicO's quarters.
where before him stood the mutinous
Third company General Arolas re-
minded them they were regulars and
veterans, not mere policemen, as they
had been tauntingly referred to. The
oIden publco then gave three cheers
for Spain and the army, which were
Justify answered. To the disgust of
General Arolas, however. right on the
heels of these "vivas' the regulars
cheered their comrades, and the orden
publco answered In turn.
General Arolas, mad with rage. Or
dered his men to charge, but they re-
fused to obey. lie then ordered them
to fire, which they also refused to do.
General Arolas then left for the pal
ace, accompanied by his staff and seven
officers.
About two blocks from the scene OF
the mutiny General Arolas' party came
upon an innocent and unsuspecting
member Of the orden publico. who was
unarmed. Arolas drew his sword and
savagely attacked the man, inhicting
on him severe wounds, from which the
victim of the assault died.