The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-08-25
Of FRIENDS N NEED
Romantic Story of the Span
ish War, and Before.
EULATE OF THE VIzCAYA
And How He Once Turned
Yankee for an Hour.

New York, Aug. 2.-The Herald says:
| A letter which has just been received by
Phillip C. Hanna, the American consul to
San Juan de Porto Rico. who Is now in
New York on a vacation. from Antonio
Ferry Eulate, a Spanish naval officer.
brings to light romantic story, In which
war and friendship play conspicuous
parts. The cary incidents In this drama
OF real life were made the subject of a
three years ago by Amos J Cummings.
but the incidents made possible by the
Spanish-Amsrican war have never been
told. The letter, which contains the, In
formation that Captain Eulate is now a
commadore and in command Of the
navy yard at Cadiz, reads as follows:
"Cadiz, Spain. July 20. 1899
my dear distinguished and highly ap-
preciated friend:-
at gives me great pleasure, now that
our governments have seei fit to resume
their old time diplomatic relations, to fe-
licItate you upon the same and convey to
you the sentiments of my heart. You can
never know how much of the balm of
consolation was contained In your mes
sage and letters during the late troubles,
and thereafter, when my mental agony
produced greater pains than any wounds.
In spite of the excitement Of war and the
load of responsibility upon you, you con-
soled me by showing that your friendship
was of a character that stood the test.
I'VE have both been loyal to our coun-
tries; we haveserved them the best we
could; we have no apologies to make to
the public for our behavior. neither have
we apologies to make to each other as
friends. The ladies join me in wishing
you the highest prosperity ana happiness.
1 am now commandante here, with the
rank Of commodore. 1 remain, my door
friend, your faithful
ANTONIO y F. EULATE."
It was on a September morning in 1892
that the story really begins. Venezue'a
was In a revolutionary tumult. "A dicta-
tortor, Mendoza. had seized the govern
nlent few months before and installed
himself in power at Caracas, the inland
capital. He had gathered about him an
opera bouffe army anada had captured
the place without much bloodshed. but
the deposed president had afterwards
made q determined stand. The war had
Mendoza had suffered one or two re-
verses. His troops clamoured for pay.
That was circumstance the dictator
had not looked too. The treasury had
been depleted long before, so there waas
no money to be had In that quarer.
General Escheverra was MendoZa's
principal supporter. 1t occurred to him
that the quickest way to get money was
to take It by force from whomsoever had
1t. So he arrested elghty-f1ve Of the
wealthiest people in La Guayra. the sea-
port and commercial metropolis of Vene-
zuela. The prisoners were mostly mer-
chants of foreign birth, but the really
serious part of the affair was the fact
that seventeen foreign counsuls were in
cluded in the arrests-the consuls of Rus
STA, Frnace, Belgium, Hawaii, and nearly
every Latin country.
They had money as well asa atahe mer-
chants, and in the desperate straits Of his
chief, General Escheverra did not hesi-
tate to lock them up. A Venezuelan troop
inside the gates the prisoners had the
greatest freedom compatible with their
surroundings. The officers quarters,
carpeted luxuriantly, were given up to
the more distinguished, that Is, the rich
est ones. A list was kept of the names
of the prisoners and of the amount OF
money expected from each before he
could be liberated. In all the ransoms de-
manded footed I'D more than a quarter
of a million dollars.
There were two men In La Guayra.
however. upon whom Escheverra had not,
reckoned. One was tall, slender young
American. with an aquiline nose, a
smooth face and a pair of gray blue eyes
that dialated in mild surprise or flashed
in anger as occasion rose. He was "Phil''
Hanna, an Iowa man, the American con-
sui of the port. Escheverra had either
ignored his existence or forgotten him.
Anyway. whether from prudence or dis
dain. he had not imprisoned the young
man.
The other man who was destined to in
terfere waas a lieutenant of the Spanish
navy, dark visaged, taciturn man., who
whose vessel was lying in the harbor
This vessel, the Jorge Joan, was about
the size of the little Concord, of the
American navy.
The two men had been acquainted about
six months. Lieutenant Eulate-for such
was the Spaniards name-visiting the
bachelor quarters at the consulate for a
smoke or a chat, and Consul Hanna going
aboard the tiny warship whenever Il
came in from coast survey duty. There
was no war anywhere, except in veneZu-
ella. Spain wasa friendly to the United
States and indifferent to the revolution
AIRY Quarrels OF Crespo and Mendoza.
On the morning in September referred
TO, the day of the wholesale arrests, Con-
sui Hanna received a note from the pris-
on. telling him there was az American
locked up, man VINO had been natural
lied and who had acted formerly as q
sort OF consular agent. The consul was
alone. He tried to telegraph to Minister
Scruggs. at Caracas. for instructions, but
the local authorities shut OF his dispatch.
Then he tried to get word to Washington
by the Central and South American cable
and telegraph route. but the La Guyara
censor refused to send Il.
BY this time Phil Hanna was arous-
ed. He was fighting mad. He would
have given q years salary for a squad OF
United States soldiers. OF even a dozen
Dubuque policemen But he hadn't
man OF that sort within a radius Of two
thousand miles. Escheverrz's troops
were suuhgfng IN front OF the fortress
when the consul sfrode m ana 5eranda,3