Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1898-09-03
LIFE ON SPANISH PRIZES.
Hev tie Hsn On The Detained Merchant
men Fnioy ThsmseIts..

W." fni"I Nhemaeltal
he great majority Of the Spanish
ueamen detained on the captured YES
sells live like princess OF large inherl-
lance. and entertain their guests With
all the elaborate politeness and gener
Gus hospitality OF their race. They
give course dinners. have the choicest
OF Spanish wines and cigars, and treat
the United States officials who visit
them AZ II they were pe,ted friends In.
stead OF dreaded eaptors.
Through the courtesy OF the United
States District Attorney. J. 81. Strip
ling. the Associated Press correspond.
ent was permitted to visit all the Span
ish prize ships and dlned with the
captain and officers Of the elegant mer-
chant steamer Miguel lover. This
vessel has a cargo Of rice and other
food supplies for the tropics and ID
owned IN Barcelona. Spain. She sailed
from New Orleans on the 2ist inst,
her crew being ignorant OF the fact
that Rear Admiral SIMPSONS feet was
patrollIng the Gulf.
Next 10 the Panama she Is the mos,
valuable prize and Is estimated to be
worth 100000. BY far. she IL the
best equipped vessel In the captive fee,
and the elegance and richness OF her
cabin and officers quarters can scarce
ly be exeelled by any merchant ship
afoat
Her cabin II finished In Italian mar.
Bile with the finest Of mahogany furnl.
ture. beautiful and expensive carpets
and draperIss, elaborate electric light
fixtures. a piano. and In brief. the best
OF everything.
The representative OF the Associated
Press was received by the captain and
his officers with great courtesy and
polite welcome. The crew numbers
ffty-eight men and all OF the officers
Of higher rank are men Of education
and refinement. Captain Juan 1911 Il
apparently about sixty-hve years Of
age. stern, dignlhed and with an ex-
ceptionally strong. determined face.
The hrst officer. vlncente Terol. is a
bright. genial little spaniard. bubbling
over with good nature and pollteness.
and talking necessarily. with gestures
and broken English, Of the beauties OF
old Spain. Joseph IAyares. the chief
engineer, is a shrewd. diplomatic man
Of about thirty-nve. dark. handsome,
and speaks English perfectly. Jose
Gomenz. the ships surgeon. from his
general makeup might be taken for an
artist or a writer OF aesthetic poetry.
lie Ii gentle and dIfident, and an ac-
complished pianist.
The old captain had very little 10
say, except In way OF protesting most
vigorously against being sent ashore.
Leave Us here" be said to District
Attorney Stripping through the chief
engineer as Interpreter. for II we 20
ashore nobody knows what may hap
pen. spaniards and Cubans might not
be friends over there" and he moved
his hand toward the barracks on the
island.
NO one would lnjure you" said Dis
triet Attorney Stripping.
Il do not fear that 20 much" said
the old captain, but nobody knows
what some Of the Spanish sailors might
DO, and then I should be held respon-
sibls for what happened. The Amerl-
cans would hold the captain response.
BILE for all the pailors. Educated
spaniards understand II all. but the
spanlard who Is ignorant 10 hard "a
control"
Al six o'clock the call for dinner val
sounded, and the captain took Mi
place at the head Of the table. A oct
ter dinner would be dificult 10 obtaiT
at any table on the American cont
nent II consisted Of seven courses
with three kinds OF wine. including tn
best champagne. the finest brands o
cigars and Spanish cigarettes. Man.
Of the dishes we're Spanish and dellc
lousy palatable.
After the dinner was finished Df
GomenE went to the plano and playeu
for half an hour. II was a strikinI
picture. Here sat these pr0sd Spanis
prisoners In their own floating palace
Their guests who sat with them wer
their captors and their enehaIea. Wit
the soft lights Of tho tropical sunse
streaming In through the abln win
dows they sang together the Natlona
airs OF Spain. while a hundred yard
away the black guns OF United State
battle ship frOwned down upon then
Peshaps II was their last song, thel
last night In the ship which TO man
OF them was home; they did no
know. The song ceased, and IN
American visitors arose In silence {
70. As they left The cabin, the yenei
able commander OF the ship gave eac
a hearty grasp Of the hand. A N
little party was about 10 leave the doc
the old captain turned to his lnterpett
and said
TELL them I thank them for N
Kindness they have shown us. W
are their prisoners. but they hay
4, treated us as gentlemen and a spanlar
knows how TO appreciate such conslt
Grafton. Say TO them that the Spar
lard In Spain Is one man and III
Standard in Cuba quite another maj