Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-29
A Fascinating Topic to Visitors in
the Island.
BRIGANDAGE As A SYSTEM GONE
Some Stories About Notable Fig
ures on the Road.
AN RICAN LES SON
Special Correspondents Of The Evening Star.

They are talking Of bandits again. For
the northern visitor to Cuba no topic Is
so fascinating as bandits and brigands ex-
cept yellow fever. When there are fever
cases In Havana the tourist hovers over
the subject and returns to it like the moth
to the candle flame. But when the dis
ease drops entirely out of sight and new
subject must be had for wonder and en-
tertainment the brigands always are
brought out.
The only highwaymen In Havana at pres
ent are a camp Of American hoboes, who
scatter along the water front and hold up
their countrymen for drink money and
other incidentals. In the country there Is
better chance for learning something Of
the Cuban highwayman as he once was.
though he may exist no longer. Some zest
may be given a visit to a sugar plantation
when the host, in escorting his guests from
the railway to the plantation few miles
in the interior, asks for couple or the
rural guard or has some of his own armed
men riding along in advance and behind
the volante in which the journey is made.
In official circles in Havana pretty broad
hint is given that these precautions are
for effect and are meant to scare the
American authorities into certain line of
political action l do not care to go into
that phase of the subject at present, and
am willing to take the word of some Amer
leans who have been visiting the sugar es-
tales that if it had not been for armed
guards they might have been held up.
BIackmailing the Planters.
For a month past some standing has beer
given to these stories, because the cane
has reached that stage Of growth where 1t
is burned over easily. and it furnishes the
quickest way for Matchmaking the planters.
AS was shown during The insurrection.a very
fa, deal n
by putting the match to 1t under certain
favoring conditions. 1t Is therefore posi-
bic for marauders who have more courage
than most of their ilk to demand and to re-
ceive money In conside. aflon OF curb1ng
their destructive propensites.
That number of owners Of sugar estates
have been weak enough 10 yield to these
demands instead of reporting the black
matters to the authorities is probable
Their excuse is that 1t is cheaper for them
to submit than to risk the reprisals which
they insist would be visited upon their cane
fields 1t Is also cheaper TO ask for an
increase of the rural guard, which has
been done in some places. In one neigh
borhood in particular where country po-
lice force of fourteen captains, eight lieu
tenants three sergeants and seven prI-
Yates was asked by the, municipal authori-
ties cane had been burned and more burn
ing was possible.
Cane burning in Cuba In reality is as Sc
rious an offense as horse stealing or cat
tie stealing in the west in the days when
it was met with lynching as the only ade-
quate penalty But cane burning itself is
not an evidence Of brigandage, because the
bandits of the past preferred the more da--
Ing forms of crime, such as open robbery
and the kidnapping Of wealthy planters or
ranchmen.
One-Eyed Santana.
The nearest approach to bandits OF old is
"One-eyed' Santana and some fellow free
hooters said to number from five to nine
npa-aya1 Ga Snan-
ish soldier, and was with the column which
surprised itself by the encounter with Ma
Geo that resulted in the mulatto generals
death He is said to have with him several
former Spanish soldiers who were with the
troops that garrisoned Weyler's trochA-
They have been roaming around the west
ern border of Havana province and Pinar
del Rios eastern edge and are alleged to be
circling from Guines up this way.
Two men, who were taken prisoners by
the authorities and now in Jail, were
reported to belong to Santanas followers.
One of them. former Spanish soldier, said
he had been coerced by Santana and his
men into stealing horse. According to his
story there were only five members of the
banu and their depredations not very ex-
tenslVe. Reports of them evadlng the rural
guard and appearing in various villages in
the southern part of Havana province are
heard, and since such a person as One
eyed Santana is at large the stories have
basis of truth.
One-eyed Santana has been following the
tracks of the most famous bandit Cuba
ever produced This was Manuel Garcia.
His deeds are yet so fresh that every one
Quivican, Guines and other places there
are p.enty of people who recall per
sonai experiences with the celebrated
King of the Feds as he was called. 1t
makes the "reminiscences more entertaining
to know one is travelling over the very
ground that King Manuel travelled, and to
have instances related ana verified on the
spot where they occurred.
Planned to kidnap John Sherman.
What also is interesting is that these
events happened within a radius Of fifty
| miles Of Havana, and brgandage in Cuba
or eel bandolerismo,'' as the Spanish call it,
has its history within this radius. Most of
| the kidnapings and the ransoms, and some
times the murders as well as the fights with
| the brigands, all were within few hours Of
| the great city. 1t was also within a few
hours of Havana that the bandits were
alleged to have planned the kidnapping of
Senator John Sherman when he was max
| ing visit to the island.
| The king OF the tlelds" was a hero in
| the eyes OF the popuiace, and hero he re-
mains. while the Spanish authorities also
| paid him the tribute Of their admira ton
and during frequent periods of their tolera-
| ton. That he was the product of a system
no one seems to have reflected. Yet his
| sJI}al qualities. The country people sup
| ported him as a Robin Hood, who was with
the people and against the laws, when the
| laws and the government seemed to exist
| only to Cypress the people. Ii the outlaw
| or bandit king occasionally murdered some
| harmless countryman, because he was sus-
| pected Of giving Information to police au-
| thorities, the murder was quickly forgotten
in the glamour of some fresh deed, in which
| King Manuel Garcia spread the iargress
of successful kidnapping among those who
| shielded him.
| Born in the country Of poor parents some
| shocking outrages by the Spanish soldiers
| against his family are said to nave inspired
has first antipathy to them. Before long, it
| is told Of him. that being thus outlawed he
| became noted for furnishing oxen with
wings. At least they disappeared from the
sugar plantations as though they had flown
| away. After that there were open theits OF
oxen and an encounter with the Spanish
| guardia civil or rural police, in which a
| pair of the latter had the misfortune to he
| killed.
When Captain General Salamanca came
| to Cuba he entered upon vigorous cam
paign against the bandits. and it is said
| his first move was to dismiss some sub
| ordinate officials whose position would en-
| able them to know his plans. The cam
| paign was continued with varying success,
| but for long while King Manuel seemed