The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-06

whole affair News of what was going on
reached jamaica. and the British gunboat
Niobe. Capt Sir Lambtoa Lorraine. left
for The scene OF massacre, sailing in such
/ q hurry that he left some OF the crew
ashore. The captain landed at Santiago
! before his ship was anchored, and demaad-
ed that the slaughter he stopped Instantly.
He declared that he represented the Unit
ed States as well as England, and that lie
would lombard the city if there was an
other American citizen executed. Ninaty-
three men were under sentence of death,
many Of whom were Americans, but the
sentences were Immediately suspended and
the lives were saved. The Spanish aft
erward asserted that the executions we're
stopped because of orders received from
Madrid. The next time Sir Lambton Lor-
raine was in New York he was offered a
reception, which he declined. He was pre-
scented, however, with O silver brick, on
which were engraved the words: Blood
Is thicker than water" A resolution Of
thanks to him was laid on the table in
the House Of Representatives and never
passed.
When the news Of all this reached the
United States public Indignation rose rap
idly. Mass meetings were held demanding
vengeance on Spain. President Grant sent
special messages to Congress, and the
state department began diplomatic nesoti-
atoms Hamilton Fish, secretary of state,
declared that the Virginius, having been
registered as an American vessel carrying
official documents regular upon their face
and bearing the United States flag, was
entirely beyond the jurisdiction of any
other power on the high seas in the time
OF peace; that if she had secured fraudu-
lent entry or committed any other fraud
against the laws of the United States it
was for her to be turned over to the Unit
ed States courts for punishment, and not
for her to be captured and punished by
some other power. The Spanish minister
OF foreign affairs at that time was Admiral
Polo de Bcrnabo, father of the new Span
ism minister who succeeds Dupuy de Lone.
He wanted TO submit the matter TO arbi-
traton, and Secretary Fish replied TO him
that the United States was ready to re-
fer to arbitration all questions properly
subjects for reference, but that the .lues-
ton Of an indignlty TO the flag of the ma
ton and the capture in time of peace on
the high seas Of a vessel bearing that flag
and having also the register and papers
OF an American ship, is not deemed to lie
one referable TO other powers to deter
mine. nation must be the judge ana
custodian of its own honor
Most of the men were executed after pro-
tests TO Madrid began to be made Madrid
mobs made a demonstration against the
American minister, Gen. Sickles Nov
Secretary Fish cabled Sckles: In case
of refusal of satisfactory reparation with
in twelve days from this date close your
legation and leave Madrid" Ten days
later, when the executions were over he
telegraphed. IF Spain cannot redress
these outrages, the United States will"
Ten days after that he wired: "If no settle
ment is reached by the close Of tomorrow
leave" Next day Spain became tractable
and war was averted. BY his conduct in
Madrid at that time Gen. Sickles made
many friends of those Americans who
wanted to see energetic action and many
enemies among those who wanted peace at
any price. II was alleged afterward that
the latter influence became dominant, and
that his recall from that post was the re-
suit of their work to punish him for his en-
ergy that was not always diplomatic in its
forms.
The terms of settlement of the trouble
were that the Vrginius should be surren-
dered to an American warship, with the
survivors of those who had been captured
with her. and that on Dec % the United
States flag should he saluted by the Tor
nado. The surrender was made in the OBJ
scure harbor of Bahia Honda Dec 16. the
v
to avoid the humiliation of a surrender in
Santiago or Havana, where it should have
been made. Capt. W. d. whiting, the
chief of staff of the North Atlantic squad
ron, was appointed to receive the surren-
der of the Virginus, and the gunboat Dis
patch was sent to Bahia Honda with him
for that purpose. Lieut.. Adolph Mark was
the flag lieutenant of the Dispatch, the
same who is now the judge advocate of
the court of inquiry on the Maine disaster
The Virginius was delivered with the fig
flying, but she was unseaworthy, and,
struck by a storm off Cape Hatteras, was
sunk on her way to New York. The sa-
Lutte to the flag that had been arranged
was waived by the United States because
the Attorney General gave an opinion that
the Virginius had no right to fly the Amer
lean flag when she was captured No in
demnity was paid for the lives of the
American citizens who had been executed
and the incident was declared closed.