The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1900-12-28
4 rALsrArv,An rnAosDy.
Incident, Of the rsr.dsas. rs~ h c.h<k
tss M~u-sss,a

tss M-u~tssra
A correspondent OF Forest and
Stream, writing from Cuba. tells this
incident OF the famous Paradones Pas.
In the Cubitas Mountains: We dlscov-
cred the pass without much dInicuity.
and spent the remainder OF the after
noon in riding through II and gazing
upon It's beauty and grandeur. II Is a
rift ~(doubtless voicsnic) IN the sofld
marble OF which the mountains ap-
pear TO be composed. II 10 a mile or
more In length and OF a width just suf-
hcient for a wagon rosd. With a mar
gin Of a fov yards on ssch side. Be
you'd this margin rise the sheer walls
OF marble to a height which I will not
attempt to state. - We bs< no means
OF measuring but II was q long way 70
the top. The margin on each side OF
tbs trail grow thick with tropicsl vege-
tatios. and even in man places along
the vertical rocks trees had stoceedrd
In attaching themselves TO crevices.
and while putting stem and branches
upward like ordinary trees. had also
put vertical branches downward to-
ward the ground. | suppose these we're
OF the nature OF roots. but they looked
Just like ropes. and taking II all round
the walls were In great part obscured
from vegetation. This greatly IN
HANGED the beauty OF the scene and
we all gazed with delight upon a sight
the like OF which We have never seen
before. Twenty-Five years sgo or there
abouts. In the Ten Years War, a Span
ish column Of troops was surprised In
this pass by Cuban infurgents. who
lined the edges of'the cliffs and hurled
down stones upon them after the prac-
tice OF the Moors and spsnish In for
mer days, as related by Irwin There
appears to be no authentic sccou- n
the number killed. but 1t may have
been considerable. We INTERCEPTED
our guide about II on the following
day. He was Al aged Cuban Of unusual
spirit and intelligence. a master OF the
sachete and . thorough woodsman.
He told us that the tradition OF the
massacre OF the Spanish was indeei
true: that he himself wal ons Of the
Cubans who had thrown the stones.
and that many Spanish were killed. All
this was extremely interesting to US;
We had always heard Of this massacre.
and here wo we're ct last on the -eSy
ground and talking with n OF the
men who did It. We pressed him for
facts, particularly - TO numbers killed
He replied In the Spanish way. "Oh.
many, many" Asked him II DO
Thought . hunarsA. We rssd pscnshsy
more. and we let the matter dros for
the time being The guide bore the
usual appearance Of poverty and dee
titution. but on the strength OF his
employment a. guide. which was
doubtless unusual. he had iadulged in
. bottle Of Jamaica rum. which he
pressed on US with great liberality.
and Of which he partook himself copI-
ously. After one or two tumblers OF
the scorchlns beverage had been
turned down his aged throat he be-
came more communicative. and l asked
him again about the number OF Span
iards killed: he now replied that 1t
thu rum was entirely consumed. he
was again asked. and he said more
than 300" Finally. on our return to
camp. when we settled with him for his
services, we were no pisased with him
for he had really given us a most
interesting dsy-thst We save him a
dollar more than his price aAd invited
him to dinner with us. This seemed
to have completely warmed the cookies
OF his heart. and he showed his apprs-
citation Of our attention In the only
way possible to him. viz. by Increasing
the number OF Spanish killed in the
Paradones Pass. for one OF the pack
era asking him about this time - to
the number. he replied with great
gusto, More than q thousand"