Evening star., 1898-12-12

with the people of Caba in mourning the
loss Of one 10 whom the cause of Cuban
liberty is deeply Indebted. Sharing IA
your grief am, sincerely yours etc
Secretary of State Hay wrote to Sem,
Quesada as follows:
Il am deeply distressed 70 hear the la
mfntdOie news. Cuba has lost n patriot
ana a soldier who can never be replaced.
The admiration / have always had for him
has beer greatly increased ry my too bref
personal acquaintance. No one could know
him without genuine resanl and affection
The name Of Garcia viii be forever reVered
in free Cuba along with those OF Marti and
Macco and many Oth5rs who have given
their lives for their country.
Il beg to offer my SINGER" sympathy to
you and all your associates in this ire
parable lUSS.'
General Miles addressed !. note to Mr..
RubenS, saying:
1T is with the deepest regret that l
learn Of the death of the distinguished sol
der. patriot and statesman, General Gar
Cia who has 50 nobly championed the cause
of liberty for the people of his country Tor
the past thirtyfour years He would have
been an ornament to any country, and ms
loss will be great to the cause for which he
has lahored SO long and SO earnestly
Senator Foraker expressed deepest sym
pathy and writing to Senor Quesada paid
high tribute to General Garcia in the fol-
lowing language:
II have just heard of the death of Gen
eral Garcia. Allow me, through you, to
tender my heartfelt sympathy with his
family, his friends and his country on ac-
count of the great loss they have sus-'
tanned.
LAS Admiral Sampson recently said of
him. he was indeed a grand Old man., and
| shall always account it good fortune to
have personally met him. 1t seems hard
indeed that just as the cause tor winch lie
did so much is trlumphinR he should nave
been called from life. Il was his great am
hilton and desire Cuba tfGe ana indie
pendent, with "A government chosen by the
people of the island and he could have done
more than almost any one else to bring All
this about. For his death TO occur at Such
time must be a hard blow to all OF you.
You can have the consolation, however,
of knowing that his good name ana great
services and character Will 1--we TO inspire
others who will take up his work and car
ry it forwardsto that ultimate and complete
triumph so justly deserved
The Patriots Family.
General Garcia left large family. Only
one Of his sons, Justo, a captain on his
staff, was with him when he died. His
widow and Mercedes, a daughter seventeen
years of age, are at Thomasvllle, Ga,
where the girl is quite i'll. Mario, a son
nine,een years of age, is with the mother
at Th1masvIlle, and Col. Carloas Garcia,
another son, is in cuba. daughter, Leo
nora, who married an American Is now
living IN Paris. Gen. Carcass mother is
sun alive and resides in Havana.
Gen. Garcia, whose name will be ever
linked with those of other patriots who
have fought against unequal odds for the
freedom of his country, has had most
active and varied life, much of which has
haen spent in lighting for the cause of
Cuban liberty, which he had the satisfac-
ton of seeing accomplished so short a
time before his death. he was a man of
culture and refinement, of splendid educa-
ion, and came from distinguished family
OF JlQuanl OF Santiago de Cuba province.
He was born at Holguin. in the province
OF Santiago de Cuba, October IA, 1889, and
was, therefore, in the sixtieth yeaf@nf :his
age. He was educated in Havana and in
Spain. During forty years he worked for
Cuban freedom, struggling against poverty
ard sacrificing health and fortune.
Gen. Garcia studied to be a lawyer. and
when graduated at the fof twenty-three
started in to practice his profession Span
ish tyranny, however, was then being ex-
ercised in its most cruel form, and to-
gether with Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, he
started the first movement of what was to
be the ten years war From the very
beginning he became famous. Town after
town surrendered to the young warrior. His
name alone was sufficient TO throw con-
sternation into the ranks of an attacking
Spanish battalion. He won the stars of
brigadier general at Juguani. when, with
mere handful of poorly clad and armed
men, he captured the town with its garrison
ana twenty thousand population.
His Greatest Victory.
Later, when the provincial government
removed Gen. Gomsz, Garcia succeeded
him. In the wake of his promotion came
Gen. Garcias greatest victory, the battls of
Santa Maria. in 1869. Here, with an army
one-third as strong as that of the Span
iards, he surrounded Gen. Vingues' force
and, after a battle of over eleven hours,
compelled hin 70 surrender. Garcia's treat
ment of his prisoners was never forgotten,
and 1t is due to this fact that his life was
spared when he was captured.
Ihe tide of victory, however, turned soon
afterward. Disease and hunger made strong
inroads into the arnay of the struggling
Cubans. One by one the chief Cuban Off
GERS laid down their arms and abandoned
the field. But not so with Gen. Garcia. Ten
years of an almost savage life in the woods
mad not dimmed his hopes. but on the con-
trary had served to increase his hatred of
the Spanish government. But at last, aban-
doned by all save his famous guard, now
only twenty strong. the brave young gen.