The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-10-13


Presidents guard, much TO their terror
and regret. for they had no liking for
the JOB. One of these officers received a
letter from Heureaux, written while at
Sanches, reminding him that the order
must be obeyed before the return of Heu-
reaux from the interior. Some OF the
memoranda indicate the manner Of death
of the victims. poison and drowning be-
ing favorite methods where it was de-
sired to avoid too much publicity. A
majority would probably have been shot
after a farcial trial, on a charge Of con-
spiracy against the government Under
Heureaux' rule the courts became at his
will mere instruments for political muir
der.
Stories of how Heureaux had a whole
family poisoned by its cook, in order to
| relieve himself of a formidable rival on
the eve of a Presidential election; of how
he sent his brother in law, who was his
guest, away from the dinner table TO be
shot; how he rid himself of two poll
/ ticians by having each condemn the other
to death in grewsome travesty upon
justice, have chilled Dominican blood for
years and have occasionally filtered
! though to the outer world, where they
gained scant credence. Yet they became
paltry in the light of recent develop
ments.
One of the last acts of the Heureaux
Ministry, upon demand of an angry mob.
was to release. the political prisoners
Out of the dungeons issued one bright
morning few days ago eighteen mis-
cradle, half naked wretches. They had
been provided with ragged cotton army
| uniforms and afew dollars Many of the
stries they tell will not bear repeating
One gray bearded old man showed ne
his feet and hands. hideously deformed by
torture. He said that in the early days
of kir. Imprisonment, which began soon
af-e' Heureaux secured the Presidency,
it was the custom to torture minor pris-
! oners to make them give evidence to con-
Wet more prominent ones In later years.
! Heureaux did not trouble about legal
forms when he coveted-a mans planta-
ton, wife or daughter, or feared a ri
val. He simply issued his orders and the
executioner did the rest
Thousands of men have been known to
enter these dungeons. Hundreds are ac-
counted for by the prison death records
yet on the showing of the records more
than five hundred should have come out
when the doors We're opened. Only eigh-
teen appeared. Every day men and wo-
men are arriving in the capital from
various, parts of the island, expecting TO
welcome some father husband or son as
a loved one returned from the grave.
They are disappointed. The prison rec
ords contain the names Of such men, but
the dungeons no longer hold them. Their
bones rest at the bottom of the sea, I'M
der the cliffs, loaded with the chains that
weighted them in life. In this way has it
become known that hundreds of these
wretches were loaded upon small boats.
taken to the sea during dark nights and
there, loaded with chains, cast overheard
to drown like rats. Sometimes the boats
were scuttled, to give an appearance of
shipwreck to the wholesale murder. On
other occasions the food Of a whole cell
would be poisoned and the prison doctor
would report so many deaths from an ep-
! idemic.
One of the men who lived through many
awful years IN one of those dungeons.
tells of how FER de lance" was thrown
into acen containing twelve prisoners. and
seven fell victims to the deadly little rep
tile. In this way was overcoming in the
"Cuartel de Heureaux," as the prisoners
called the political prison, prevented, and
old boarders made way for new ones
| Naturally, HeUreaux must have shared
the knowledge OF his crimes with many
I people. He required Instruments to do
! his CHASTITY work OF these he found as
! many as he needed, but he trusted them
not. Many times the remorseless dictator
having issued an order TO dispose OF a
batch Of prisoners. was apparently seized
with distrust OF his agents, and would in
sist upon watching the executions.
These were httingly deeds OF darkness,
and night was invariably chosen 10 con-
( sumate them The prisoners would be
/ carried down the stone stair leading from
the cliff to the river. This stair was built
| by Heureaux and appropriately bears his
! name. The soldiers in the fort call Il the
/ stair OF Death" Down this stair. then,
on dark nights. his chains clanking a
! gainst the damp. massive stones. was
slightest 7retense q legal action, end
| with not even hlthy prison record IT.
( dicating the tirne or manner or his death.
/ Sailors watching OF the boats in the riv-
( er below and sentinels. as they Famed
their necks over the gray battiements OF
I the castle. used 20 hear these sounds and
! mutter to each other. The Red Presl-
{ dent ia having another party" Having
I with MS own eyes seen that his orders
were executed. Heuresux would return
70 the palace. perhaps. as it's said he ,
ually did on one occasion. % scene q
/ gays.y.
/ No man attempted 70 probe the secrets
I ot the Quartet. during the lifetime q
T Heureaux. on the eautrary. they we're
/ avoided ike the que To be even s1s-
I pected of knowledge q thsu meat Mia
I ffegreaux's Instruments. however thor
! ouE1ly they might falgu he dread mar
dates. never could CAL their Mvss ther
own. They cosf5 Dol fo.xes the dag when
+ they would ~ q guest al ore y ne BED
I Presidents parties ard pransuase IRE
stair - death prisoner. Their guilty
I knowledge oftsa worked their dam IL
+ stead q 5-fnEsnE securisy. EEeursaux rev
Z elied n crime. Dat be SENS 10 hsre les
, sised ass toois- One governor = ths prs
/ Oh he caDssd n be trses ard earEeanss
/ fnr orir7s ~airA she zzar performed a.
( rs order 50 Il VII Be sesn ;Aas 70 r.
/ GIVE such ccsn1zlssi8a f-crn tie Pres
( Sea; vas rst alEzTs AZ aonsr % -