Evening star., 1898-11-18

tnefe 1Hen ne smoked MS cigarette and
received reports from his subordinates
A Placid Evening.
In the midst of this martial activity Ha-
vana passed placid evening. The theaters;
suffered a trifie in their attendance, vet /.
was hardly noticeable. In walking about
| the town 1 found fewer people in the side
streets, because these were filled with SOL
diers. There was no riofing and no mob
anywhere Except for the presence of the
troops, no comparison could be made with
the events OF last JANUARY, when for four
Gays and nights Havana was in a state of
| siege AT that time there was rioting of a
Ifonouneei hind against autonomy, and the
cavalry ana Infantry were kept busy charg-
ing the moo At th:, period no mob cor!d
be found l had some curiosity to know
Whether The ld!ace and the public parks had
| their appreciates fortified by artillery as
ilad peer done in January. On making in
| qulfy oniE eIllgmatic answers were given
| me- Finally l learned that some batteria;
| had oeen placed in position, but that the
| work hdi not been completed. The pro
lr1etor o. !, cafe which is largely patroniZed
| by the artillery officers gave me the ex-
planat1on. The artillery also went on q
s.rike !his evening" he said. However, the
authorit e'i succeeded i'll getting some pieces
planted " me Camp of Mars the parI, a;
the head of the PraGo, which commands
me mario" streets leading to some of .hc
lhlckly populated sections of TIE city
AS the hours passed the uuietness he
came perp!eXing. The people did not know
OF something that had happened in Cam
Posteia street IN the neighborhood of the
quarter or barracks of the orden publico
More curious persons had gone in that
way than in other directions but the reg
ulars Kept telling them not to block the
sreets' and scattered them so that there
was no mob. Late in the evening regi-
ment TOOK possession of all the streets in
tnat vicinity, and by military formation
Whch gave them entire control Such ex-
Citenent as existed was among the SOL
giving command in person. He was Storm
ing as usual and pushed and struck sew
efal obstructive persons. The report has
since been circulated that he ordered the
troops TO nre on the orden publicO who
We're calling from the roof and windows of
thelr barracks that all soldiers were BROTH
ers and should stand together till thew re-
celVe their pay An eye witness who from
MS own house saw everything that ham
pened says this was not true. According
to him, two orden publicoes were trying to
enter the barracks where General AroIas
ordered them away. They demurred and
then ne drew his short sword or ma
chete and cut one of them. The soldiers
are so used to seeing Arolas lay about him
WIN SWORD and bludgeon that this did not
cause much commotion. The wounded man.
VINO VINO was not supposed to be dangerously
nurt, was removed and there was no fur
ther disorder. Nothing was known of this
IN the other parts of the city. The rumor
was circulated that the authorities were
al angling 10 pay the orden publicoeS and
tnat an arrangement had been reached
winch would prevent further trouble Com
hrmatlon was given this report when the
march was sounded and the troops which
were stationed in the Prado and the park
Where they had prepared to camp for the
night. were withdrawn and sent to their
quarters. Only enough for ordinary police
duty, Havana went to bed and slept tran
quilly.
More Regiments and a Battery.
Friday morning l heard the bugler's call
early. Stepping to the window, | saw two
fresh regiments marching down the Prado.
escorting battery of artillery So the
trouble was not over or the authorities
would not have been at such pains to open
the day with military demonstration of
this kind. These troops ware in excellent
condition. l have not seen two better
Spanish regiments anywhere in Cuba The
artillerymen, with their white belts and
clean uniforms also presented striking
appearance. They We're taller and more
muscular than most of the Spanish soldiers
The battery was not formidable-a howitzer
and two ordinary field pieces drawn by
mules. The caisson or ammunition wagon
was drawn by a great, rawbOned mule One
battalion escorted the battery through Co.
Ion street and out to the Vedado. The other
one was broken up into companies and
quartered in convenient places.
The day passed very quietly. Some of
the troops were quartered in the railroad
frelSht yard, which is off the Prado in the
heart of the city. A battalion was station
ed in the Trioja Theater, two blocks away
II is more a summer garden than a theater.
Ihe camphres were lighted at these places
and the soldiers enioyed their mess small
guard was kept in the vicinity of the
Parque Central. and during the afternoon
many of the officers were gathered there
Except that they were booted and spurred
the concourse would not have seemed un-
usual. The soldiers from the country who
got short leaves and had chance to wan
der around enjoyed their experience. They
all seemed to have a little money to spend
in the cafes. On Compostela street at the
barracks, there was the most animation.
Ihe officers and men on duty all showed
evidences of unrest. The beggars who sit
at the entrance of the old Jesuit church of
Belen, next to the cuartel, caught the con-
tagion. Walking along there toward even
ing | observed that they were forgetting
to show their rags and sores in their inter
est in the activity of the soldiers.
A Pittance of Pay.
By night it came to be understood that
some money. said to be s2OO,O0O was GO
fifteen battalions, that each soldier
might perhaps receive $40 in silver So the
mutiny of the orden publicoes was benefting
all the troops in the Havana district No
official recognition could be given that this
body had caused the payment of this pit
tance. The fiction was gone through with
of disSolVing the battalion of orden pub
licoes such and having them revert to
the condition of regular soldiers without
aims. The only effect is to take away
the regular police force and to police the
town military garrison This is bad
for Havana. especially in a sanitary sense.
Friday night there was disturbance,
but the uneasiness among the military au-
thorit'cs was great. | heard the bugle call
many times during the night and saw
small squads of troops shifted hurriedly
from one point to another. The popuace
entirely quiet. No symptoms of riot
Ing on its part could be discerned and
disorder was attempted. The people of
Havana look upon the whole business as
the affair of the army. While they Won
der what the outcome will be, they do
not act as though it was their concern.
We all wonder with them and wait.
CHARLES NJ. PEPPER.
Thousands of situations have been OBJ
tained through the want columns of The
Star