Omaha daily bee., 1898-02-14
DUPUY De LONE Is CARELESS
Leaves His Unfortunate Letter Upon His
Office Desk.
IT IS READ BY A LEGATION ATTACHt
He Sent word to the Juntn and n
Postomce Clerk at Havana
steals the Com
municntion.

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 13.--The Press will
print tomorrow what 1t asserts to be the
true version OF the acquisition and publica-
ton Of the letter from Mr. de Lone to Senor
Canaleias. The authority cited for its au-
thenticity is "a Cuban of the highest stand
ing in the councils of his party" who re-
ceives his information from headquarters
in New York" The story proceeds to say:
The letter was not stolen from the United
States mails but secured by an agent Of
the Cuban junta in the postoliice at Havana.
Don Jose Canalejas, to whom the letter was
addressed, never saw the original. He did
not know until eight days after the letter
reached Havana that such a letter from
Spain's representative at Washington had
been written him.
"De Lone wrote the letter in his private
residence at Washington, instead of at the
Spanish legation. The paper, however, was
marked with the official type and read in the
corner Legation de Espana.' The same in
scription was upon the left hand upper cor
ner of the envelope.
"Senor de LONE did not mail the letter
from his house. In fact he had not quite
completed 1t upon the morning 1t was writ
ten, and carried 1t to the legation, where 1t
was first seen and noticed by a person who
is In the employ of the embassy, acting in
a b-offca capacity. The letter lay on
the desk of the minister in his inner Office,
the outer office being his place of reception
to visitors. During an absence of half an
hour from the inner Office of De LONE the
clerk in question saw the open letter and
read some Of it.
NOTIFIES THE JUNTA
1.-THE next day this same person sent word
to his Cuban associates in Washington to
the ba haj letter from
De Lone to Canaejas in which President
Mckinley was vlified and autonomy called
a scheme. Several of the Cuban leaders got
together and asked the employe of the en-
bassy to secure the letter. They did not
believe his story, although he urged them
to come into the public print and make
charges against De LONE. Because they did
not have the letter in their possession the
leaders refused to say anything about it.
The employe of the legation was urged to
letter, although it was considered probable
that the letter was already in the mails
when the Cubans at the Hotel Raleigh were
informed Of it's existence.
The clerk in the employ of Minister de
LONE no more CT the letter. His mem
ory-wTitten abstracts were sent to New York,
and it was agreed that could possession OF
the letter be obtained and his statements
proven to be true the letter would be of
ncaculable value to the Cubans as sub
stantiating what Cuban leaders had main
tained regarding autonomy and the general
Spanish policy in official circles toward this
country and its officers. Immediately words
of warning and urgings to be on the alert
were sent to every Cuban who might be in
a position to obtain track of or intercept the
much sought for missive.
MAKES A COPY OF 1T.
1.-The letter reached Havana FIVE days after
its pcstmark in Washington. An agent of
the Cuban party who is an employe of the
Spanish postoifice knew that the letter was
on the way and when it came into his hands
1t carried from the postofiice and copy
was made of 1t.
Word to this effect was sent to the Cuban
leader in Jacksonville Fla, who at once
asked the secret Cuban junta in Havana to
secure the original letter-that a copy was
not what was desired
The Havana postofice clerk was not will
ing to do this, but afterward consented, as
he obliged to account for a certain
number of letters. The original was then
taken, several blank sheets substituted in
place Of the paper on which De Lone had
written and the letter finally postmarked
in the Havana pcstoffice and sent on its
routine way.
Eight days after its arrival in the Ha-
vana office the sealed envelope. properly ad
dressed to Senor Canalejas, was delivered
at the Hotel Inglaterra Senior Canalejas
did not regard the matter seriously at the
time, although the hotel boy who brought
him the letter and the postoffice employe
who had charge of it were arrested So also
was the hotel employe who went several
times daily to the postofice for the mails.
The three were discharged after an exam
ination.
'Senor Canalejas communicated almost
Immediately with Minister de LONE, and
for several weeks letters and cablegrams
passed between the two, but no trace of the
letter could be obtained. Canalejas shortly
thereafter left Havana, going to Madrid.
1T is not explained why the letter was
kept by the Cubans for several weeks be-
fore it was given out for publication.
IAN informant other than the person who
gave the foregoing, but who is on the in
side in Cuban official circles, claims that
the delay was caused on the part OF the
junta, which wished to be assured that the |
writing was that of the Spanish minister, SO |
that he might have no chance to deny its
authorship and cause reaction, which |
would undoubtedly have been the result of |
IL. IT,. Sal.