The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-06-13
ARIZONA TERRORS."
AN AGGREGATION OF MULE PACKERS
EN- ROUTE TO CUBA.


Ths 0overnment Enlists Their Services For
Inland Trsfnc Work In Cube All OF
Thorn Are Born Fighters = The Rough
Riders Are Too 'Dudined" For Tnsn.
"The Real Terrors Of Arizona-
Teddy Amt In It, was the tenor Of
placard ornamenting the side Of one
OF three tourists sleeping coaches which
were attached to the Louisville and
Nashville train which left New Orleans
at 1:16 o'clock the other forenoon,
bound eastward.
The "terrors" were in charge Of Mr..
@. A. johnson, acting agent for the
quarter,naster' 9 department of the Unit
ed States army. They were o. in num-
Der. and II appearances go for anything
they could click double their'weight in
wildcats or Spaniards, for a tougher
]ot of men never met together than
these self styled "terrors. Their ap-
pearance was. however, q great deal
worse than their deeds for with all
their roughness and apparent savagery
there was current Of mischief and fun
underlying their actions. That they
would fight there could not be the least
doubt, for each and every one of them
had record for some daring or brave
act, and they were all typical frontiers
men such as were the pioneers of CIV
iliza.ion in America from the days Of
the landing of the pilgrims ON the shores
Of the old Bay State down to the pres
ent time. These men, who had left
their homes in the mountains of Arizona
to serve their country as expert packers
had most Of them been without the con-
fines Of civilization for 30 many years
that they had forgotten nearly all about
it, and living, as they were, in the
lands Of the rnurderous Apaches, whose
treachery and bloodthirstiness is SO well
known, they practically carried their
lives in their hands almost all the time.
They are Injured to hardship and dan
ger, and all Of them can we'll be classed
as expert with either the rife, the pis-
tol or (almost equally dangerous) the
lasso, for each and every one of them was
master at the cowboys art Of "rop-
ing"
They were Of all shades Of complex
ion, from the blue eyed, fair haired
blond to the dark skinned half breed.
There were white men, most of them
ranging in age from 40 to 60 years of
age but all tall, straight, stalwart, &C
tive men, whose bronsed complexion
and 1.-the. supple steps betrayed life
Of activity in the free, open air. Then
there were young mon, none Of them,
however, under 20 years, and these
were stout, strong and athletic in build,
and. to all appearance, giants in
strength
Nearly all of them wore the Mexican
sombrero, with the gaudy silver trim
mings and leather bands, while car
fridge belts strapped around their waists
was all that went to make up anything
like uniform among these rough men.
Although without discipline. yet there
was one controlling spirit among them,
and his word was as law among these
wild men. Some Of them had been cow
punchers others had been traders among
the savage tribes in Arizona and Mex
leo; some were miners, others ranchers,
prospectors, mountainoers, but all Of |
them thoroughly understood the art of
packing goods upon the "burros," or
mules, used as freight transports entire
ly in the mountainous districts whence |
they came 1t was this very qualifica-
tion (Which all posscssed) that caused |
the government to enlist their services. |
IN Cuba much Of the inland traffic,
In the mountains, is done by
means Of mules, which carry oil the
freight into the interior. In an attack
upon the island of Cuba by tho land
forces Of the United States the services
Of these men will be indispensable, and |
IL was for this purpose that their serv-
Ices were engaged. Then again every /
one of these men Is born fighter, and |
nothing would meet their ideas Of fun |
more than scrimmage with the Span
iards. One Of the men, speaking to q
said recently when the sub
ject Of fighting was preached: "You bet |
tho boys are all scrsppers Those Span
lards arc easy. They amt like Apaches,
and I guess we can get away with about
ton times our number. Why. them
sreasers would be scared to death to
have dosep Attaches jump up ont of
The ground as has happened to us time
and again."
One Of the "Terrors" told the report
sr that the men came from various
places in Arizona, from the vicinity Of
Becbee, Tombstone, Tucson and Ben
'on. They had all rendezvouscd In Ben
'on, and under the Leadership Of Mr..
Johnson had boarded the train and Were