The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-15
LAND PROLIFIC OF NEWS
EXCITING EVENTS CONSTANTLY HAP
PENING IN'GUATEMALA.
but They DO Not Get in Print Because
of the Censor-Trying Situation
for a Born Journalist.
New orleans Times-pemocrat.

ness in Central America and who came TO
| New Orleans the other day TO buy stock
| Yes; l suppose nothing ever happens, re-
| piled a sympathetic friend on the opposite
! side of the cafe table The dickens IL
doesn'tr' exclaimed the exile warmly. ''The
| trouble is Just the other way, All kinds of
extraordinary things are happening all the
time but there's no paper to print 'em in.
/ The few nearby native sheets are all gov
| eminent organs, and it's against the law to
publish anything bearing the slightest re-
semblance to news. An editor of my &C
quaintance clipped column of House
hold Hints one day and ran them in to I'll
up. He neglected to submit an advance
| proof to the censor, and they gave him six
| months in the cooler. That's the way they
conduct their papers, and, meanwhile, hun
dreds upon hundreds of the finest stories
| you ever saw are poisoning all around
and wasting their sweetness on the desert
air! Why. man, alive! news in the little
| one-horse department where l live Is so
| thick you can cut it UP in chunks with an
ak, ] know towns of a thousand or less
/ inhabitants that can turn out more sensa-
| tons to the square foot than first-class
| American city with an anti-vice committee
| and a full-hedged board of Doodle alder
| men, Interior Guatemala is the news para
disc of the world, and 1t all goes to waste
every bit of it. Things happen there that
would make yellow journalist delrious
with joy, and you never hear word about
them; not a words OF course, I'm out of
| the harness at present, but 1 can't get rid
| of the old professional instinct, and when
ffaa OF al Wi
| the wayside IL makes me sick at heart It's
the principal objection 1 have TO living in
| the COMPOUNDED country" why. you sur
| prise me-" said the exiles friend; Il sup
| posed life in one of those small inland
| towns was as fiat as dishwater What has
| happened recently, for instance. that would
make a good story2
AN ILLUSTRATION.
"Well, I'll give you an illustration" re-
| piled the ex-newspaper man, lighting a
| fresh cigarette. I'm tell you about little
| incident that occurred in the town of Qua
Ian on the 1st of last October. This is an
| absolutely true story, by the way, but don't
| let that prejudice you against 1t. Before
| coming to the main event, however, he
| continued, 81 must go back little for
| word two of explanation. A few years
ago man named Juan Sanchez, who was
| a captain in the regular army, got into a
trifling difficulty at Guatemala City He
| was strolling along the street, and, MOTTO
ing that his cigarette had gone out called
| TO ten-year-old boy who happened TO be
| passing and told him TO bring light. The
boy was on an errand and replied that he
| could not stop to hunt fire for the senior.
| Thereupon Captain Sanchez took him by
| the collar and drew his revolver: VIII you
| get me a light, you young dog? he asked
| pleasantly. cannot, senior, said the boy.
| and the word had hardly passed his lips
| when the gallant captain pulled tire trigger
| ana scattered his brains over the pavement
| / can vouch for the entire accuracy of this
| account because was In Guatemala City
at the time. and the facts as | have stated
them, were never questioned. You would
naturally suppose, OF course, that Sanchez
| was either drunk or crazy but you would
| be in error. He was simply a murderous
ruffian, ignorant as a mule and unconscious,
| L care say, or the atrocity OF his act He
| happened to feel like killing somebody and
| yielded to the caprice. incidentally he had
| the reputation of being a good soldier and
the authorities We're inclined to be indul-
| gent. Poor mani said the alcalde in my
| hearing, he means no wrong; he is really
| as tender as woman, but he is little
| hasty when crossed He would certainly
have gone scot free but for the protests of
| the foreign consuls, and, very reluctantly
| military court finally sentenced him TO
| one year under arrest, meaning one year of
luxurious idleness and patrol When
| he had served this cruel sentence he was
| promoted and sent to the town of Gualan
as acting cOmmandante, position which
| placed him in supreme control of affairs
| for that department-0ne of the most i'm
portant departments of the whole interior
| / mention this little episode because 1t will
| give you general idea of his fitness for
| the post and what might be expected of
such an individual when vested with unlim-
| tied authority.
A BRUTE's CAREER.
"Gualan is good sized town." continued
| the story teller, land Is situated on the
| line of the Guatemala Northern Railroad,
| about forty miles from Port Barrios. 1t is
| the capital of an extensive agricultural
district in which numerous villages are
located. maintains large barracks. has
huge cathedral, excellent shops. two hotels
| lin fact is quite a place. Sanchez took
charge iii August and did nothing to dis
| tinguish himself particularly until the lat
| ter part OF September when he issued a
| call for a grand military drill and festival
| on Oct. I. The official proclamation or
dered every resident of the department
liable to military duty to report at the
| plaza. That took in practically the whole
| male population from sixteen to sixty, and
were very few absentees. Meanwhile the
| town was deliberately decorated from end
! TO end for Central Americans dearly love
a military display, and the commandante
| arranged to wind up the festivities with a
| grand ball in the evening, to which all
| prominent citizens were invited. Early in
/ the morning the plaza was packed with
rural militia, who were told off in squads
| of sixty for the maneuvers. Most of them
carried nothing but the wooden guns that
are used in Guatemala for training the ma
| tives. and the only troops that had modern
/ rifles were the regulars from the barracks
| The drill began at 3 o'clock and lasted
| until g. AT its conclusion Sanchez rode
| down the line and ordered a young man
| named Usario Hernandez, who was captain
| Of one of the militia companies and ex-
/ tremely popular all through the depart
ment, TO proceed to the barracks at the
| other end of the square He obeyed. and
| found freshly-dug grave near the wall
| with coffin by its side. A company of
| regulars was drawn up I'm line few Yards
| away. and firing squad of six was al
ready in position. Before Hernandez could
| protest he was bound. blindfolded and
forced down on the coffin Sanchez imme-
| diately gave the word and five bullets were
! sent through his chest. He kneeled over.
! and the sixth man walked up and blew
| off the top of his head. The whole pro-
ceeding occupied less than three minutes.
| Sanchez then walked back and dismissed
| the militia with fiowery speech. Later
on he said he had a suspicion that Her.
nandez was plotting against the govern
ment.
COURAGEOUS ALCALDE.
| Nobody dared refer to this horrible trag-
edy. and the fiesta proceeded as IL MOTH
| ing had happened In the evening the
ball opened. according to programme and
the commandante. in full uniform. was
the central figure of really brilliant gath.
ering While things were In full swing.
a young military cadet. whose name I