The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-03-31
DEFAULT TED TO
SAVE ANOTHER
Startling Story of Brown, the New
port Bank EmbezzIer.
TRIALS OF THE CABLE SYSTEM.
Two Governments Appealed TO Before it
Was Possible to Get Message from
Spanish Honduras TO the States.
Farewell Waved from Shore.

his lot would be pitiable. The telegraph
service. the pet institution of the Hon
duras Government, is the greatest fraud
I ever encountered The greed, arrogance
and ignorance of the minor officials, the
utter lack Of proper facilities and the
pure neglect, all combine to make the
greatest frost Of twentieth, century COM
munication.
Ny experience, because Of the nature OF
my work. may have been exceptionally
narrowing 1 believe it was, but others
who have encountered similar catastrophes
say not After I had landed from the
Goleta at Ceiba 1 had to rescue my camera
from the customs official, who believed it
to be an internal machine. By the aid OF
DR.. Virgil Reynolds, the American Consul
and good angel of Ceiba, l met BroWl
At the time I. first. sa Nv him he was lollng
in the shade of the hotel veranda, rack
ed by the hardship of his trip to -Monsliil,
100 miles.
This hotel is kept by the commandante
of the pert, named Emanuel Hermann
TALKED UNRESEREEDL1.
I believe he was honestly glad to see me
after he had convinced himself or my
IDENTITY. and he talked unreservedly. An
hour later on the day L found brown l
was seeking means to communicate with
The Post and discovered by messages
awaiting me on my return to this coun-
trv last night that it required seven days
for this message to reach it's destination
and that it reached there not oniy DAILY
! maneled from date to finish, but us alii'ai
was ACCOMPLISHED only after the Direc-
tor of Telegraphs and ali ether avaiiap.s
pressure had been put on to shake thiS
peerless system OF HONDURAS
mana cement to the foundation.
CONSUL TOOK A HAND.
1,ar the American onsul-General at
,7eaucigalpi had to take a hand me
frst hiych was when I found the ONCE
closed on Sunday. DR.. Reynolds, through
~ Interpreter. tried bribery to get lt
onen. but it was impossible. The opef-
ator said he WAS going TO leSucisas ~
and he went-to see a coch-hshl' ~
did We, when all efforts 10 oo o'71''so
failed.
Earlv Monday we renewed THE attack.
| The operator could not read or SPEAK
English, and we SPARED for Wlnd. 1ieil
7 got DR.. Reynolds to help. by paSlnS
double toll the operator agreed TO SEM
English letters, but he would not suai,
antee their correctness. Then we stated
over the payment. Mine was the largest
message he had ever tackled. IN an
hour he had figured that the cost Q.
sending it would be S1,100 in Honduras
money. And he demanded the cash az
orce. Such thing as message sent
Z c. O. D. to the States was unheaIu ".
He could not grasp the statement ina
the cable operator at La Libertad would
forward the message on a guarantee OF
| payuent at the end of the line. Ihere-
FORE he addressed a message to the caple
operator explaining the SITUATION.
HEI E. yTHEAISELNIIS TO WIRE.
He was sceptical, but finally awoke
to realities. Then he assured me, AFTER
apparent test, that the line was an right
7 afterwara appreciated the ,slsnlhcance
of the questions propouilees.i ny MI AA0'
|: nolds.
When riding in the interior over the
mountains with Brown, and as we stop
ned for a lunch of foraged bananas ana
cocoanuts, we siung our pony saooles
over the telegraph wires and hung our
are on the ground When native plant
ers need wire for their roaming cattle
they Iop off a few hundred feet OF tele-
graph line, often bisectinS a message
that may mean thousands OF dolalrs for
somebody, and pvt up fence WIFI II.
During the revolutions the leaders tel
superstitious natives that devils are III
the wire, and the system does noe
resume operations for weeks. NOW
there is a death penalty for cutting a
telegraph line, but, as the edict never
penetrated the interior, there are no
results.
On Tuesday the Ceiha operator said
thht Tegucigalpi mad acknowledged the
receipt of my message. l wired the
cable agent for particulars. but still no
answer Thursday DR.. Reynolds Off
ciallv wired the Director of Telegraphs
for: an investigation. / sent a hot one
to the cable agent and another to the
American Consul-General at Tegucigalpi.
saying the Honduras Government was
holding up the message. The Director
replied in haste. saying that no such
message as mine had been received at
tie capital declaring that he had started
an investigation.
MESSAGE UP a TREE.
The message was probably up 81 cocoa
nut tree, DR.. Reynolds suggested. Either
the Director or the operator at Ceiba
was lying, as the operator claimed to
have received the Directors receipt
Then Reynolds suggested that the Gov
eminent, which gets % cents word on
cables, had held up the message because
it was sent unpaid; that the cable COM
panys credit was, perhaps, bad. and
| mine was worse. Then Reynolds
warmed up. and the Consul-General got
in his work.
Friday I got a message saying no
cable had aheen received. but possibly
I referred to a telegram TO the cable
agent, and that it would be investi-
gated.
I answered that I had sent cable
| to The Post and Reynolds got torrid
The next message to the Director went
Saturday. The cable operator asked if
I referred to the telegram and the in
side note to the Cciba operator. and
| said there was. "hell to pay over that
telegram. Sunday morning. one week
from the initial encounter with the sys-
TEN. I scored triumph unparalleled in
Honduras. I wired the cable operator.
and in an hour and 20 minutes received
the answer, which, being translated
read:
"Have sent your telegram to Cincin-
natl Post
BROKE TIE RECORD.
He had broken all records in getting
the message through in that time. and
the system had been held open two
hours overtime Sunday.
filed another for translation Monday,
| but Sunday night the coastboat Scythian
steamed into Ceiba, and started for
Puerto 'Cortez. there to- catch the mall
boat for Porto Barrios and Belize and
thence to New Orleans. where felt that
an Ineligible transmission of events was
possible.
MY parting with Brown would have