The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-04-30

failed to kill the ever-ready machete or
bayonet made shambles of the place.
Presently permission to proceed came
from the commander, together with young
soldier who had been detailed as guard
not OF ourselves, where no danger threat
ened, but to check any curio-acquiring
propensties we might be prone to indulge
During the next two hours that youthful
defender OF Uncle Samuel kept us on the
double quick" Preferring the pleasures
of cantina off duty he trotted US hither
and yon, above and below, through dark
some dungeons and among ancient guns,
with a speed that made us dizzy, re-
turning an infexible Don't know,
ma am" to every query. Therefore the in
tricacies of the great prison. viewed on the
run, recur to mind as an endless labyrinth
OF cells and corridors. tunnels, and dun
geons. in which one might easily lose him
self, to be found no more till the resurrec-
ton morning. There are enormous vaulted
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.
and subterranean passages leading-God
knows where All the large prison rooms
have rows OF iron rings driven into the
walls all around at regular intervals, and
double rows of gihbet-like framework ex-
tending down the middle-the latter form
Ing Two lOnS DencneS OF Solo WOOD, with
beams five feet above them; and from rings
ard beams heavy iron rings are suspended
Here, We are told, prisoners yet uncon-
demned were confined-those who were
| merely suspected Of hostility to Spain and
held for xamination-alternately chained
to the benches by day and to the walls by
night-let us hope with sufficient length of
chain to permit the victims to lie on the
stone floor. Some OF the inner cells dark
I nl.rrc ha w do
and in each a single short chain. riveted
in the clammy stone, tells its own sad
story.
Uppermost in the minds of the beholders
is the thought, Had these old walls
| tongue! Over the portals Of this awful
prison might well have been Inscribed:
"All hope abandon, We who enter here"
1t is matter of history that thousands
OF Cuban citizens met mysterious deaths
within the walls of Cabanas. Suspected
of sympathy with Cuba libre, they were
arrested 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 re-
manned to be released by Americans when
the war was over told blood curdliag tales
OF torror and despair. They said that ey-
cry night each man was chained TO his
place against the wall, and oftaa in the
morning some comrades were missing.
Among themselves it was believed that the
guard entered in the silent watches OF the
night clapped 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 Roman educated man, TN
| der thirty, whose hair is white as snow.
| He says that one evening near the begin
| ming of 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 alter
nately chainel to the wall ana the bench,
! with afty others, many OF whom were his
personal friends, all respe table citizens OF
| Havana, and all, like himself, Ignorant Of
| the cause of arrest. Having powerful rel
| atives and n clear conscience. he hourly
| expected release But days dragged by,
and months, and years-till hope deferred
died within him. Finally, having lad
| neither trial nor examination, he was
placed in the third and .arthermost OF a
| nest OF cells-a narrow hollow in the
| rock not long enough to allow a man 20
stretch out on the floor, and fastened to
the wall by chain too short to admit Of
lying down. Fortunately the tomb bad no
door. SO at midday feeble glimmer of
light was visible from the aperture near
| the top OF the outer dungeon, and his voice
reminded the careless guard to tring him
food, or otherwise he would have starved.
Doubtless his people made efforts in his
behalf, but he had no knowledge Of IT.;
and when he was released, .our years later,
parents, brother, and sisters were ali dead
every relative sacrificed in the long
struggle.
Passages Under the Sea.
In the course of our explorations we en-
tered a subterranean passage, or, rather, a
series of them so low and narrow that we
could just squeeze through by STOPPING,
and SO totally dark that il was impossible
to see an inch before the eyes. Striking
matches frequently, and holding each 9TH
er's hands for fear of pitfalls, we penetra-
ted the tunnel half mile or more. The
path to unknown perils sloped steeply,
turning short curves, and diverging to
other passages, all trending downward into
the blackness of eternal night. At inter-
walls iron gratings 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 somewhere
below. What diabolical mystery lies be-
yond was necessarily left to conjecture.
Our one box of matches was almost spent
and the guide refused to tarry. Promising
ourselves to return with lanterns at no
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 Sc
cret 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
grewsome secrets. Its dungeons are SINH
lar. though far less numerous the large
cells with rings in the walls and rows OF
benches with beams above them and
chains dangling from ALL Each prison has
its chapel, with altar, now dismantled, and
holy water fount-intepded not for the
consolation of terrified wretches con-
demned to death, but for the spiritual well
fare of their iailors. The Moro contains
one horror not found in Cabanas, viz, a
! crematory. with two ovens, for reducing
the dead TO ashes. II is all complete, and
having recently been cleaned by the
American authorities, is now in excel
lent condition. How many mortal
frames" have here been turned to mother
dust, there is now no means of knowing
because IL any records were kept of the
doings in these prisons they were de-
stroyed 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, was dumped into the
surf which at high tide comes raging into
an immense, cistern-like space, far below
Probably the last-named spot answers tc
what is known outside as 1.-The well,' into
which-so says tradition-hundreds OF
living men have been dropped, bound hant
} and foot, to drown or be dashed to death
on the rocks, or furnish food for sharks
asi Dios quire-as God Wills
hat hnfn tha