The record-union., 1898-07-10

ton in order that the SpaniaIxis could
/ derive no advantage from their pos
session. AT one. time he was taken
prisoner and sent to Spain, but es-
capped and came to New York, where
he was warmly welcomed by the
friends of Cuba.
Washington Ryan was an American
about 23 years of age. At the out
break of the revolution he organized
cavalry corps and rendered consid-
cradle service. After being in the field
year and a half bad health COM
pelledfhim to leave the island, and he
landan in New York with credentials
from the Cuban Government He COM
manded several. expeditions to Cuba to
furnish stores to the insurgents with
some of which he was successful and
pn one or two occasions he lost his
ship and goods and barely escaped with
his life. AT one time he'was arrested
for violation of the neutrality laws. but
after tedious proceedings the prosecu-
ton was practically abandoned. He
took an active part in Cuban meetings
in New York and Washington, and his
Spanish attire made him a conspicuous
figure. He was the chief of the expedi-
ton that sailed from Kingston In the
Virginius, and the sevening before the
departure he gave a grand banquet
on board of the vessel.
These four menJwere shot at q o'clock
in the morning in the presence Of the
entire corps Of volunteers a force of
the regular infantry and soldiers from
the fleet. Their execution took place
at a spot that had been made famous
by previous acts of like character They
We're made to kneel close to the slaugh-
ter-house wall. They walked to the
spot with firmness. Varona and Ryan
exhibited marked courage, although the
former was slightly affected towards
the last. The two others quite broke
down before they We're bandaged.
Among the number shot on the second
day was a prominent Cuban named
Franchi Alfaro. who offered a ransom
of S1,O0O,O00 for his life, but without
avail. 1t is said that he had been Sc
lected as the future President Of the
Cuban republic.
Captain Fry, a noble looking old man,
and fully head taller than the rest of
the crew, was shot with thirtySiX Of
his men and officers at 4:45 p. m. on the
18th. The marines We're several minutes
in killing the wretched men, and it
seemed as if they would never finish
AT the last the sailors marched off and
the troops filed past the long row of
corpses. Then the dead wagons were
hurried UP and loaded indiscriminately
with the mangled remains.
The Virginius had once been named
the Virgin. She had side wheels and
had been built on the Clyde in 1864.
When launched she was reported to be
one of the Speediestrve of that day,
with lines well fashioned and powerful
engines She established a reputation
as Confederate blockade runner, and
was captured at Mobile laden with cot
ton at the time that city was taken by
the Union forces She was employed
in the revenue service for some time,
but was found to be untitled for that
business and was sold at auction at
New Orleans. Subsequently she was
used as a privateer and blockade run
ner in the inSurgent cause of Cuba, and
proved herself useful in that line. She
had landed two cargoes on the Cuban
coast, the first one on July 20, 1871.
Both cargoes We're obtained in Vene-
Zuela.
On September &C. 1870 the vessel was
registered in the New York custom
house as the property of a citizen of the
United States, and she cleared in the
regular way in October for the port Of
Curacao, but never returned within the
territorial limits Of this country. She,
however, preserved her American pa
pers and character and carried the flag
OF this nation, though it was afterward
charged by the Spaniards that at times
she flew the flags of Venezuela and of
Cuba.
The news of these massacres created
intense excitement in the United States.
| At New York the Cuban Junta pre-
| pared for an expedition to the island to
| revenge the acts of the Spanish au-
thorities, and about 1000 names were
enrolled. many of them soldiers Pres
ident Grant immediately sent instruc-
tions. to General Daniel E. Sickles, our
Minister at Madrid, and to Consul Gen
eral Hall at Havana to telegraph all
the facts in regard to the capture of
the vessel and the executions of the
parties. Sickles replied that the Madrid
Government had had no information of
the executions until after they had oc-
CURED. and that orders had been i'm
mediately sent to Cuba to stay all fur
ther proceedings pending Investigation.
uary >. 1874 the President said:
When the Virginius left the port of
Kingston under the flag of the United
States she would appear to have had
against all powers except the United
States the right to fly that flag and to
claim its protection as enjoyed by all
regularly documental vessels, as part
of our commercial marine. No state of
war existed comforting upon a mari
time power the right to molest and de-
tain on the high seas documental yes
sci, and it cannot be pretended that the
Virginius had placed herself without
the pale of all law by acts of piracy
against the human race. If her papers
were irregular or fraudulent the offense
was orre against the laws of the United
States, justifiable only in their tribu-
nails. When, therefore, it became known
that the Virginius had been captured
on the high seas by a Spanish man-of-
war, that the American flag had oeen
hauled. down by it's captors, that the
vessel had been carried to a Spanish
port, and that Spanish tribunals were
taking Jurisdiction over the persons of
those found on her and exercising that
Jurisdiction upon American citizens, not
only in violation of international law,
but in contravention Of the provisions
of the treaty of 1895, / directed a de-
mand to be made upon Spain for the
restoration of the vessel and for the
return of the survivors to the protec-
ton Of the United States, and for, a
salute to the flag and the punishment