davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

is extremely gloomy. the bottom of 1t
being one story lower than the ground
in the prison yard. Across Il between
che open archway and the prison oppo-
site hangs suspended narrow bridge,
and 10 reach the archway. especially
from the court, this bridge would have
TO be crossed. Back OF the archway
runs narrow. high vaulted passage.
The only light i'm the passage was that
from the gloomy court. The only light
in the. dungeons was that which was
reflected from the passage through
heavy, open. grated iron doors.
10 was my desire TO visit these dun
geons alone, as the sensations would
be far different il accompanied by an
other person. For this reason / pro-
cured no guide. and for the matter Of
that told no one Of my intentions.
reached the place by crossing the mar
row bridge over the open court. Then
passed through the ponderous archway
and entered the half lighted passage.
The moment / had done so felt de-
pressed A kind OF lonesomeness took
possession Of me. The atmosphere was
heavy. The awful silence seemed un-
natural. ! remembered afterward that.
when 4 pushed open the unlocked iron
grated door at the extreme left or the
passage, / did so softly, lest it might
squeak upon it's hinges. and tiptoed into
the interior lest something might hear
me. | was not frightened. and tried
TO believe ] was not nervous: but as I
stood there I'm the solitude OF that heavy
darkness and more than dead silence
and thought or the ghastly tales and
grewsome pictures connected with that
black place. certainly could feel my
heart thump.
After the first sensations were over 7
placed my hands In front OF me and
moved cautiously forward. 1 did not
walk, but slid nay feet along 10 avoid
what pitfalls, II any. the floor might
contain. Soon my fingers touched The
opposite wall The distance from the
door TO this wall must have been 20
feet. The wall felt cold and oIammv.
To familiarize myself with the size OF
The place I moved to the right still
USING the wall as my guide. This led
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

find myself In the selfsame outside
archway through which / had entered
the prison. | looked at my watch. II
was 3 o'clock. had wandered in the
dungeons OF La cabanas prison for AZ
hours.
II there Is one person in Havana
whose name can be appropriately assoc
ciated with the dungeons OF this same
La Cabanas prison. IL is that Individual
who passed under the name of "Wey-
ler's butcher" After beholding one hor-
ror | determined TO see the other. and
so set out TO find this interesting exc
cutioner.
Upon inquiry learned that he was n
notorious criminal whose liberty had
been granted him through serving as
an executioner for the Spanish govern
ment. but who for his own personal safe
ty. having incurred the displeasure OF
the Cuban insurgents, was now compel
led 10 live I'm the Viyac. or Prison OF De-
tention. The limit OF his outside life ex-
tended 10 a saloon close up 10 the Vivac
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

walls. This saloon, I'm connection with
the prison. was closely guarded by
Spanish guards and American soldiers
Even behind this Gordon OF guards sew
oral attempts had been made upon his
Bfe. the last being in March. when
some one accidentally Knocked n ladder
from under him while he was white
washing tho prison entrance.
being told might catch a glimpse Of
him If / would loaf around the prison
entrance or opposite the saloon, which
was virtually I'm the same block as the
prison, right at the corner Of cuba
street on the north. / went there and
took up my position. Opposite the sa-
loon was high stone wall which in
closed heavy earthworks. protecting the
water front In front OF this stood a
large army wagon drawn by six mules.
Several American soldiers lounged
around IL, bent upon the same errand
as nyself-to see this human fiend
should he happen to pass from the jail
20 the saloon.
We had barely taken our position
when. as luck would have il. he turned
the corner. a big. strapping fellow. over
six feet i'm height. large I'm proportion,
bareheaded and with face as black as
ink. | thought the prize was mine, but
before / could even lift the camera he
caught sight OF me. clapped his hands
over his face. turned quickly TO the
wall, dartcd forward n few steps and
hurried into the saloon. Every strate-
gem was resortcd TO by the soldiers TO
attract him TO the entrance. but all 10
no purpose. 1T is useless" said Span
ish guard who stood there and who
could speak English. "All OF this has
been tried before"
/ went into the saloon. The human
butcher saw me and shied into dark
corner. walked straight up 10 him.
held out my hand and said. "Shakel"
This seemed 20 stngger him. lie glared
down on me a moment ana then, either
Influenced by my temerity or the COM
icality Of the situation. slowly relaxed
his ugly features into an expansive
grin. awkwardly grssped me BY the
hand, and we-shoOk.
Il took your picture" ! said. pointing
60 the camera.
Took picturev" he repeated. without
seeming TO comprehend and looking
quizzically in tho direction pointed.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

that one has to stoop while standing,
SO narrow that the raised elbows touch
the sides of the walls so short that the
arms cannot he extended at full length.
so dead TO sound that one shudders at
the strangeness OF his own voice Yet
within those dungeons, three centuries
old, men have starved. shrieked, raved
and died.
The place Is without prisoners at
present. Certain portions of II. In fact,
have been torn down. and most OF the
upper rooms have been renovated, the
walls whitewashed and the ironwork
covered with asphaltum. Beyond these
Few changes the ancient and gloomy
prison remains the same. There are two
main entrances one through "A gate
opening into the prison yard. the other
into the most imposing part OF the
prison, close to "Weyler's palace" The
stone stairways in all OF the middle
prisons are worn half way through by
the feet OF the miserable wretches who
have tramped over them. ] saw walls,
with little grated windows set back
ilto them. that were nine feet i'm thick
ncss Round watch towers occupied
tho summits ot the corners OF the diff
ferent prisons. Each contained three
Thc paths where the guards marched
bnck and forth are so worn into the
stone that the furrows will remain
there as long as the prisons stand. A
tall tower called the "garroting tower
rises out OF one Of the east wings. IL is
reached by an omen, zigzag stairway
built on the outside. The opening TO
the stairway is out of "a narrow pas
sage on the upper floor. The room st
self. situated high above all OF the pris-
ons and overlooking the whole city. IL
not over six feet square and Is built OF
thick, heavy plank. The door is oon-
structed OF the same material. With
this door closed the place il simply a
great square box with one or two little
square windows. too high up TO look
out Of The garrotlng instruments
have all been removed.
That portion OF the prison made Ia
nous by Weylcrs atrocities is situated
close to mis- palace on the north. 1t
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11
STORIES OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

Probably there has never been a
sovereign concerning whom so MANY
pleasant stories have been told as
Queen Victoria. one cause of this has
been the length of her reign. during
which many thousands OF people have
come into personal relations with her
and brought away from their inter-
views various interesting incidents.
Another cause may be found in the
fact that the queen has lived I'm the
full glare Of publicity all her days.
The queens sense of humor has help
ed her through many a difficult hour
One story that has recently come tf
light shows how wittiy the queen car
sum up the situation. certain very
pompous lady was on a visit 10 the cas-
tie. and her manner became well Nigh
unbearable. The queen remarked with
a smile to one of her daughters, Eli
ther Mrs. So-and-so or / Will have to
leave the castlev'
on another occasion the queen was
recalling a fact that she had known
a prominent politician. whose course
had been strangely erratic, when he
was a boy. I'm fact" she added, IT
recollect that l stroked his hair when
he was quite a lad. / am afraid
must have stroked il the wrong way."
Here is a pleasing example of the
queens recollection OF faces. Near Os-
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

! agcIy. I never saw such face. II was
full of heavy, deep set wrinkles, and
every wrinkle at this moment seemed
converted into an ugly, villainous look.
His coal black eyes fairly blazed as
they glared at me from under the
heavy projecting brows. / never wine
ed, but looked him straight in the face.
Indeed. although IL was extremely hard
work. tried to smile.
We'll" / said after we had stared at
each other for several moments, what
about -? Can take picture?"
No pcture-mel" he shouted fierce
ly. shaking one burly fist in my face. /
did not move. Seeing did not finch.
look of surprise passed over his ugly
cOuntenance, ludicrous TO behold. There
was pause, and then to my bewilder-
ment he touched me on the arm with his
left hand and in low. gruff voice said,
"Come!"
else 20 say i remarked: Come? Pic
ture you?"
"No-o-o-o' No-picture--me,~ And
when he said this he shook from head
TO foot in apparent rage. At the same
time he touched me on the arm again
and in the same low, gruff voice said
the door. l followed him mechanically.
The crowd parted. and we passed out of
the saloon. A few steps brought us TO
the Nivac entrance. He turned TO go in.
| hesitatec. Noticing this. he turned.
motioned inward with his thumb and re-
peated. Comet" moved forward slow
ly. Reaching the iron gates back OF the
stone archway, he addressed the guard.
The Key turned in the big lock, the
bolts flew back, the gate opened. we
passed through. and the gate closed be-
hind us with bang. / was nervous.
But IL was an adventure. and that was
what l was after. The place was a
large square room.or covered court. on
my lett, up one story. was "A long iron
grated room containing several prison
ors. other cagclike rooms were around
me, some containing men and some wo-
men. Straight across the room toward
which the butcher was now beadine
was another iron gate. and bach of n
was passage. with heavy stone sides I
followed him until I reached the confer
of the space, but when no started 10
open that second gate | stopned Al
that time did not know what The vi
vac prison was. I noticed that the
guards wefe spaniards and that some
OF the prisoners looked exceedingly
rough. Among them were two Ameri-
can soldiers ! began To be governed
by a little streak OF caution.
PcrcelVing I hesitated. he turned
again. once more beckoned inward with
his thumb and said. Gomez
What fOr2" | asked
"Picture-mei" he answered. poipsing
down the stone passage
"Weyier's butcher" unlocked this sec.
ond gate with key OF his own. and we
passed through. This gate was LEFT
open. Intcrlocking his left arm through
MY right. VIC disappeared down The
store passage. thought Of dungeons.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

shows a fine frontage and contains
many nice rooms, fitted up for prison
officials. while i'm the second story are
several cells with frescoed walls and
iesselated floors. These cells were re-
served for prisoners OF state. one pc
culiarity about this building consists OF
balconies on the rear looking down into
an open court. High prisons surround
this court, and in the northwest corner
Is another garroting tower similar TO
the one described. III is said that Span
ish officials used To sit upon these bal
comics and amuse themselves by watch
ing prisoners tortured in the open space
below All OF the instruments OF tor
ture have been removed. Nothing now
remains but bare walls. and that side
OF the prison which hides the court from
the prison yard is now torn down.
The worst part of this La Cabanas
is the black and grewsome dungeons
under the middle prisons. These dun
geons can be reached by "A winding
stone stairway leading down from the
prison above. and also through a low
but Donderous stone archway opening
out OF a narrow inner court. This court
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

| had had one experience in this line.
and that was enough. J could not be-
leVe he meant nee harms everything
considered. neither could ] understand
now Was 10 take his picture. II such
was the purpose Of this Journey. Per-
haps ~ his isgoranco he considered
ihat the ca knCsf was the best place
suddenly we came to light. IL was
light was after. Then We came TO
more light. Then we emerged into one
OF those little open inner courts which
every prison and dwelling i'm the city
OF Havana rs never out Of / could see
the warm sunshine flooding the eastern
wall My hopes began To revive. lie
led me 10 the center OF the court, re-
leased my arm, struck a most stage
like position. pointed his thumb at him
SELF ana Tor the second time letting that
expansive smile distort his features.
said, "Picturc-mei"
Placing him where the rays OF the sun
raiected against the eastern wall. TO-
cused him with my camera and touch
ed the button. To avoid even the pos
slbllity OF failure / repeated the oper-
alton. Then after making him UNDER
stand that | had finished he approach
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

ed me, ran the forefinger OF his right
hand over the palm of his left and said
"Name!"
Not quite understanding his mean
ing. repeated. Name? My name?
mo. no! Name, name" And he re.
peated the movement.
| began to comprehend. Tearing q
leaf from my diary, | handed ii 10 him
and he wrote upon 1t his name-"Val'
entine RIM"
What did that man want OF your
asked the Spanish guard. who was still
standing in the corridor as we passed
out.
Wanted me TO take his picture re-
piled.
Did YOU suceeed?"
81 did"
"Have you his history?"
NO but / want it."
Come into the office. The man who
can take a picture Of Valentine Rinz
should have his history"
I went into the Office, was introduced
TO Gus Dutal, a detective on the Ha-
vana police force. and ne told me this:
valentine RIM Is a Spanish resident
of Havana. but was born i'm Spain. He
is SS years old. stands 6 feet 4 inches
in his stocking feet and weighs 2IO
pounds. The muscles upon his body
stand ont i'm great knots. like the wrin-
kles upon his face. His color is coal
black He never wears hat and sell
dom a coat. HIS usual dress Is a pair
OF pants and an open necked shirt. Today
he is dressed up and wears collar.
Several murders were charged against
him years ago, which could not be prov
ed. I'm 1873 he was convicted for KILL
ing two men i'm a barroom fight but as
both men lived beyond the limit that
would make the crime murder he es-
caped the death penalty and was sem
tenced To rs years imprisonment in Nor
ro Castle for manslaughter. He served
nine wears of this sentence. after which.
bv Offering his services. he was chosen
privatc exccutioncr for the government
of spain The agreement was that he
should serve nine years, the balance
Of his sentence, without pay. his liberty
being allowed him during that time. At
the expiration OF nine years he was TO
receive so much a head. How many
men he butchered during this time RIM
does not know. but under Weyler's ad-
minlstration he garroted AZ I'm Morro
Castle alone. He delighted I'm the work.
No one ever Witnessed him when the
killing was performed. a room in Nor
ro was furnished. the victim was taken
into ID. and when RIM came out u was
ample proof that the victim was dead.
lie took his own time. How much he
tortured his victim. how slow ne was
Ina tightening the gofrote. how much
Measure DC Afforded him. no one VIII
ever know ON these questions his
tongue b. silent A great many cuban
insurgents suffered at his hands The
Cubans claim De has killed several of
their numbers without official orders.
This is why their hatred for him T. so
intense. They have sworn TO Nil him.
and his death at their hands "a only a
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

r A CADANAS prison might be call
cd the Chillon Of cuba. Now that
- the American flag floats over this
historic old jail description of its dun
gcons IL OF especial interest To the peo-
pie of the United States.
The first prison visited i'm the city OF
Havana was this same, grim La Ca
banas, designated during the late un-
pleasantness as "Weyler's butcher
shop" This prison is situated in the
heart OF the city and is just across the
street from what Is now known as
"Weyler's palace" IL is "A complication
or buildings. Of inner courts. OF blind
passages and OF foul dungeons. The
buildings constituting the prisons are
of different heights and run at different
angles. Some OF them are square top
ped. and some have pitched roofs. COW
cred with tile. The Jail. as whole,
covers n large surface of ground. For
merly IL was one OF the inquisitional
prisons and dates back TO an early pc
riod I'm the citys history The dun
geons within IL are so deep underground
that the atmosphere Is damp, close
and chilly. Some Of them are so low
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

pe GONG wOulu w oe 10 IV Queen Anne, and
"O'e NY he suggested
| that the latter should be removed in
order to accommodate a new statue OF
Queen Victoria. The queen replied in
stantly with an emphasis which had
note of absolute decision in IL: Ger
tainly not. Why, the next thing you
would be doing would be TO remove my
statue."
The queen from her childhood has
been always most particular as to ac-
curaoy, not only OF department, but OF
statement There are many stories
which illustrate the early development
of this trait. The soul of accuracy her
SELF she expects the same quality in
others. and has enforced the need of IL
on all her encourage. Any error. how
ever sight. in The Court Circular. or
In the arrangements for the queens life,
gives her a good deal Of annoyance.
The queen has always insisted on the
exact title OF every royal parsonage
being given i'm The Court Circular, and
any bunder i'm this respect is very rare.
She decided long ago to continue the
title of empress to the ex-empress OF
the French. who has been for so many
years an intimate friend of the queen.
This was despite the fact that in the
Almanach de Gotha Empress Eugenie's
imperial title is withheld, and the
empress herself refrains from using her
full title save when she is visiting
Queen Victoria.
All cabinet ministers who have sub
mitted important documents TO the
queen have been struck with her re-
gard for what might seem trihes In
correct phrasing. on her journeys the
queen Is furnished with fun state
ment giving the times at which almost
every important station Is passed, and
n large number of other facts which add
10 her interest in travelling. She has
wonderfully clear recollection OF tho
fun names OF her descendants, numer-
Gus as they are. Hardly any one living
knows so correctly the confusing linka
between the various royal families.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

matter 90 time. His every movement
ls watched by Cuban spies. To save his
life at the end OF this war he was sent
70 Spain with the Spanish troops but
Spain would not accept him, and he
was shipped back. The Cubans got
after him. and he was compelled TO seek
saft,y I'm the Vivac prison. He is still
here and works at odd jobs around the
place. What To do with him is puzzle.
but II Is the intention, I believe--and
please do not mention IL In Havana--to
ship him incognito TO some portion OF
the United States"
SO much for Valentine RIM. II sone
good American wants 10 adopt him. now
Is his time. DAVID HILL.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11
now HE RESTS.

President Harper Of the University ct
chicago when, "a frequently. his
nbvsIcian orders n rest. accepts an in
vitat,.n &c ,peak In Colorado or dis
covers some business which reQuires
his attention INA New YORK city, hr
Jumps on the train. travels night sno
day reaches his destination. trsnssess
his business or delivers his adurrrA
and boards the next train home. rms
sort OF work. which would tire most
men out. gives him a "eclishtfui rest.
lie SAYS that he never sleeps so wen
as he docs on the train. and he comes
back quite refreshed" !. -.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

yes" / answered but It's a poor
one. Can take another"
lie does not understand you" said
the guard who. with others, had fol-
lowed me into the saloon.
Wei. tell him" said /, that want
his picture. Ask him il can take it,
The guard addressed him i'm Spanish.
What he said / don't know, but the
human butcher" turned upon me saw
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

borne was a cot
tage with a spe-
cially fine now-
er garden. The
daughters OF the
family delighted
10 throw a bou-
quet into the
queens carriage
when she pass
ed. Some time
afterward, when
her majesty was
patronizing a To-
cal bazaar with
her presence, she
espied these two
III -I -1f.-
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

BiiS' anu Soihs sne eepied these Two girls.
up to them, said
that she recognized in them the
kind donors Of many pretty bou-
quets. She presented them both with
little gifts which she had purchased
from one of the stalls i'm the bazaar.
Another instance of the queens ex-
cellent memory came under notice just
recently. A gentleman who had dis
covered a rare water color painting Of
the queen as a child sent 1t for her
majesty's inspection. In the letter of
thanks which he received full details
were given Of the occasion and various
other facts relating TO this sketch
which the queen had never before seen.
She remembered the name Of the
position, and also the name Of the pony
which was drawing the vehicle in which
she was seated.
An amusing story was told of an
interview an official had with the queen
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-11

Wnen tne QueS-
ton of erecting
a statue TO her
majesty i'm front
OF st. Paul's ca
thedral was be-
ing considered.
The officia |
pointed out TO
the queen that
the most avail
able site for
such a statue
would be that
occupied by the
paanttpaapf N
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-11-29

a disquieting feature Of the whole
campaign is the fact that ali the ad-
vancing generals report meeting the
Beers in force In view of the
brilliant success of Gen Joubert in
partially paralyzing the relieving
columns, the question is being asked,
what would have happened had be
at the outset of the war. instead OF
sitting down before Ladysmith push
ed on to Pietermaritzburg
Gen Gatacres reports that the
Dutch are rising, increases pubic
anxiety as it tends to confirm run'ors
that have long been current.
Late last evening it was asserted
at Alderehot that the sixth division,
now in process of mobilization, will
actually be required for active ser
vice Some of the yeomanry agents
have been warned for mobilization,
owing to the scarcity of cavalry in
Africa 1t is also reported that an.
other brigade of horse artillery will
be mobi|ized