The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-07

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propensities we might be prone to in
dulge. During the next two hours that
youthful defender of Uncle Samuel kent
US on
| THE DOUBLE QUICK"
referring the pleasures of the cantina
| OH DUTY, he trotted us hither and yon.
above and below, through dark dungeons
| and among ancient guns with a speed
that made us dizzy, returning an inflex-
| IDle Don't know ma am to every query
therefore, the intricacies of the great
| prison, viewed on the run, recur to mind
| as an endless labyrinth of cells and cor
rldors, tunnels and dungeons, in which
| one might easily lose himself to be
round no more until the resurrection
morning. There are enormous vauIted
chambers cut into the solid rock, some in
total darkness, others pierced by feeble
rays OF light from small holes near the
top; cells without cells, far underground,
ana Subterranean passages, leading-God
knows where. All the large prison rooms
nave rows of iron rings driven into the
walls all around at regular intervals and
double rows of gibbet-Iike framework ex-
tending down the middle-the latter form
ing two long benches of solid wood. with
beams five feet above them; and from
the rings and beams heavy iron chains
are suspended Here, we are told priS-
eners yet unconvicted were confined
those who We're merely suspected of hos
t1l1ty to Spain and held for examination
alternately chained to the benches by day
and to the walls at night-let us us hope
at sufficient length of chain to permit
| the victims to lie on the stone floor. Some
of the inner cells, dark as Erebus. are
hardly wide as grave; and in each
| single short chain, riveted in the clammy
stone, tells 1t own sad story Uppermost
| IN the minds of the beholder is the
| thought. Had these old walls a tonguei
| over the portals of this awful prison
| might we'll have been inscribed: "AlI hope
abandon, we who enter here" 1t is a.
| matter of history that thosands of Cuban
citizens met mysterious deaths within the
| walls of Cabanas. Suspected of SYM
[ pathy with Cuba hhre, they were arrest
| ed on the most trivial charges, often on
| no charges at all, brought here, and never
| heard of again. There is no doubt that
| besides the open executions, secret, but
| AUTHORIZED MURDERS.
were of frequent occurrence. The few
| prisoners who remained to be released by
| Americans when the war was over told
blood-curdling tales of horror and de-
| spair. They said that every night each
man was chained to his place against
| the wall, and often in the mornings some
| comrades were missing. Among them
selves 1t was believed that the guard en-
| tered in the silent watches of the night,
| cfapped his hand over the mouth of the
! doomed man, cut his throat or stabbed
him to the heart and dragged him forth
L have talked with one of these lately
| liberated prisoners, who is now living In
the hotel Roma-an educated man, under
| thirty, whose hair is white as snow. He
says that one evening near the beginning
| or the war he was arrested while sitting
| In the plaza, on what charge he never
| knew. For several weeks he was kept
in one of the larger dungeons, alternately
| chained to the wall and the bench, with
| fifty others, many of whom were his per-
| sonal friends, all respectable citizens of
| Habana, and all, like himself, ignorant
| OF the cause of arrest Having powerful
relatives and a clear conscience, he hour
| Iy expected release. But days dragged by.
and months, and years-till hope deferred
died within him. Finally, having had
neither trial nor examination, he was
placed in the third and farthermost of
a nest of cells-a narrow hollow in thu
rock, not long enough to allow a man to
stretch out on the floor and fastened to
the wall by chain too short to admit
of lying down. Fortunately, the tomb
had not door so that at midday fee
bic
GIIMMER OF LIGHT
was visible from the aperture near the
top of the outer dungeon and his voice
reminded the careless guard to bring him
food. or otherwise he would have starved
Doubtless his people made efforts i'll his
hehalf, but he had no knowledge of it;
and when he was released, four years
later, parents, brothers and sisters were
all dead-every relative sacrificed in the
long struggle. In course Of our eXplora-
tons we entered a subterranean passage
or rather series of them, so low and
narrow that we could Just squeeze
through by STOPPING, and so totally dark
that it was impossible to see an inch be-
fore the eyes. Striking matches fire.
qnently, and holding each others hands
for fear Of pitfalls, we penetrated the
tunnel half mile or more. The path to
unknown perils sloped steep1y, turning
short curves and diverging to other pas
sages, all trendfng downward into the
blaekness of eternal night At intervals
iron gra.tings were felt beneath the feet,
and rusty gates were seen, now open
Wide; and presently the sound of the
sea was heard, dashing upon rocks some
where below. What ,liabolical mystery
Hes beyond was necessarily left to con-
lecture. Our one box of matches was
almost spent and the guide refused to
tarry. Promising ourselves to return with
lanterns at TO distant day we reluctantly
crept back to the world OF men There
Is little doubt that here may be found
proof of terrible tales extant-of doomed
men driven through secret passages at
the point Of the bayonet, until they
plunged through some death trap In the
darkness, or dropped into the ocean at
the end of the tunnel. MORO castle Is
considerably
SMALLER THAN CABANAs,
and apparently had fewer gruesome Sc
crets. It's dungeons are similar. though
far less numerous, the larger cells with
rings In the walls and rows Of benches
with beams above them and chains dang
ling from all. Each prison mas it's chapel.
with altar, now dismantled, and holy
water fount-intended ret for the consoIa-
ton of terrified wretches condemned to
death, but for the spiritual well
fare of their jailers. The MORO
contains one horror not found in Cabanas,
VIZ, a erematory, with two ovens, for re-
ducfng the dead to ashes. 1t Is all COM
plete, and having recently been cleaned
by the American authorities, is now in
excellent condition. How many mortal
frames" have been turned to mother dust,
there is no means Of knowing, because
if any records were kept of the doings
IN these prisons, they were destroyed or
carried away by the Spaniards. Not far
from the ovens is a kind Of chute, cut
into the stone, through which the debris
of bones, ETC., were dumped into the surf,
which at high tide comes raging into an
immense cistern-like space, far below.
Probably the last-named spot answers to
what Is known outside as 'the WE'LL" into
whfch-so says tradition-hundreds of liv-
ing men have been dropped, bound hand
and foot. to drown or he dashed to death
on ha nlxa f1lr,,i fro Fo,. s,I,,,