New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-06-12
HOW THE TILLIE WAS LOST.
SPANISH SPY CHOKED THE FTLIBCS-
TIERS PUMPS WITH FATAL
EFFECT.

EFFECT.
,,na ouash,ng OF the indictments against the
r.,har h1Jbusters has caused the men VINO
.oop nar4 In these expeditions 10 talk more
<..a,v about their experiences while attempt
ing N land arms in Cuba. One or the eApe
s,,,on, which until now remained a mystery
although there was a general feeling 'ha' II
Was one OF the most valuable which the Cuoahs
had gent out that on the Title.
This was the last expedition which WAS h''eu
out BIZ the Cubans and carried cai 80 h'oi'
valuable to the Cuban army IMAM any VI ."o
other expeditions sent 10 CUBA ino I'M
49,, ~, hoard in addition 10 large quantities
., arms ammunition and supplies, two large
dvnan,ite guns. Unfortunately for the Cuoahs'
mis- vessel never got further than moh'auN
point where the vessel foundered ana -FOUR
men were drowned
THO r,uie WAS owned by James McAllister.
of jacksonville. Fla. who had purchaseu INC
s,so,oer intending to fit her out to carry cattle
from Florida TO Cuba. The vessei was pu'-
chased in this port and just before she was
about 10 start the Cubans arranged WIN
,ba owner TO send cargo Of supplies INTO
Cuha The Cubans were TO place these supplies
-, hoard the steamer off Montauk Point
The suspicion that she filibuster was
,araraI a, the Spanish Consulate here. ana
Cops,l-General Baidasano ordered his secret
.oe,ts N watch her They did so. and then ne
vooao a formal complaint TO the United states
authorities demanding that she be not allowed
% leave port Accordingly the United states
pevenue cutter Chandler was ordered 10 De
ready to stop the Title # she attempted 10
.rn ont at night For several nights inc
chandler kept up steam ready TO start a1'er 'ne
euhuster and then suddenly the order came
that she need not be followed. This oroer was
Given AZ the request Of Senior baldasaho' wiz
said that ne did not desire the vessei s'oppeu
WHY he gave this order Is best SHOWN oS ',.o
storv Of one Of the men on the poa'' "i'
shovs that a SPY was on board, VINO 'dlHpeis'
,,a,b tho machinery Of the vessel just AFTER she
rad taken on her cargo. The story as 'oio "
a Tribune reporter is as follows
oThe Tillie left NewYork at ii O'CLOCK OH
The night Of January 10 last she had cieade c"
for Tampa Fla. Instead OF going dlrec'iy vi
h.r course she skirted Long Island and went
70 Montauk Point. where she met ish'e' VIZ"
.hs arms on board. on the lighter were
- 10 Cubans who had arranged to go
with the expedition Captain O'Brien or as
30 &c hotter known Dynamite Johnnie. also
.aroa on hoard off the Point He was 10 ASSIST
In nuo,ing the vessel into the Cuban haroor
.,bere the cargo was to he landed The Thine
.os in command of Captain George W. Berry.
THE regular crew Of the boat had oeen lur
c,shed by Mr. McAllister, who had hao hei
,horoughlv inspected before she left New-1orK'
rhe limited States inspectors had pronounced
her sound in every way including her machinery
and pumps
after we had taken on board all the suPp"es
and the Cubans who were to go on the TRIP
with us we put to sea on the list we hau
So, cross sea AT the time and were standing
we'll out from land. Up TO this time the vessei
was all right and the pumps which hao peen
tested. we're found To he in good order' IN
the night of the 23d. at 10 o'clock, the engineer
reported that the vessel was taking water ias~
An investigation was ordered, and the pumps
were set going. Then IT was discovered 'ha'
the pumps would not work ana the VesS*'' oo"-
tinued to fill with water
Drank Pagliuchi. e. Cuban engineer. who was
on board. went into the engine-room 10 assist
tho regular engineer. Nothing could be done
with the pumps. so Pagliuchl ana TWO o'He'
men went down into the hold TO investigate.
They stood in water up to their armpts' ana
were compelled to hold their lanterns over their
heads They found that the pumps had been
hammered with and had been filled with all
eorts of material They tried TO repair them
but the water was running into the hold so
randy that they had TO give 1t up. when
they returned TO the deck and reported the
eituation a line was formed and an attempt
made to bail the vessel. The weather was IN
tensely cold and the men could not remain at
this work long, so they decided to take to the
boats
"The dynamite guns which had been dashed
on deck suddenly broke loose and began pitch
ing backward and forward. threatening not
only to crush the men, but also to destroy the
small boats Finally the guns broke through
the rail and pitched overheard.
THE men then entered the small boats and
remained near the Title. The sea was running
high and life in the boats was terrible espe-
cially for the Cubans who were almost frozen
Then some Of the men decided to return TO
the deck OF the Tillie. which had settled low
IN the water but did not seem to be going down
further Two vessels had passed US without
noticing our signals Dynamite Johnnie re-
fused TO go back on hoard the Title. and he
with his boat. remained al some distance from
the vessel Finally the schooner Governor Ames
hove In sight and saw our signals. After tack
ing 6y1 Zines she managed 10 get up to the
boat in which O'Brien was. The schooner threw
a line TO the boat but the men were
hausted that they could not take II. This was
repeated twice more. and then the big schooner
was gradually swinging away from the open
boat and would soon have TO repeat her tack
ing in order 10 get back once more the line
was thrown and OBrien made an effort to
catch H. He succeeded, and fastened II around
a seat The line then carried TO the
sinking Tie. and the men in the small boat
were then taken on board the schooner They
had to be lifted to the deck in sings. as they
were TOO weak 10 60 up the side volunteer
crew from the Governor Ames took off all but
four men from the Title before she sank"
The story OF how the men finally got back 10
VI. -. how ,o1d baf,ra they