Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1902-07-04

Former Body. which Was Traiaed
by Captaia sIocum Of the Uaited
state. Army. Nambers 100 Mea
and the Latter eoo-G@nerai Gomez
TO BE Commander In Chief
The army Of Cuba as a republic Is a
very different one from that o. Cuba as
a Spanish colony. writes Dorothy stan
hope. the Havana correspondent o. the
New YORK Times, under the date u
June In. The neat boxing soldier Ok
the rural guards itLe cavalry AID the
smart boxing member u the cuerpo d.
arrlIleria .arr.IIery corps remind one
but little 81 tie Cuban soldiers that !
saw In the winter Of IsJs-g9- What
motley assemblage il was. Men Of al
AGES. from the gray bearded veteran of
several wars % the young boy scarce
~ out Of knee breaches, ragged. many
Of them. and carrying the most varied
collection Of weapons il has ever been
M fortune 70 see. In contrast 10 these
are the wei dressed. armed and tIsci-
pliued artIIlarymen and equally well
appearing rural guards Of today. who
marched in the procession at the inau-
grIratlou 81 the republic
The rural guards, which constitute
the cavaIry arm. were originally organ
led as suburban police and are still
serving In that capacity Ia the country
and small towns from MIysi 70 san
Antonio. At present they number LOO
meu. but il i expected tAaC the Cuban
congress viii enact a law authorizing
an increase Of a thousand more. They
were trained by Captain SlOcum OF the
United states cavalry. The uniform is
Khaki with yellow pipiuEs, leather leg
giugs and campaign hat The officers
wear yellow shoulder straps. The pri-
Yates ara paid 81 American money a
month. They are expected % feed AMI
cIorhe themselves \ first lieutenant
receives 500. a second So, a captain
Sl2l. captain and adIutant $50 and a
major $500.
Only within the last few months have
=
Of the army. The body that was or
ganized as the Cuban army is the
I artillery arm. known a. the "cuerpo de
artiLer.a. The cuerpo de artilleria
was organized in October, I9pL Cap
/ tain Dwight f. Aultman Of the artil-
+ lery corps was selected by the military
( governor As the commanding officer,
and he in turn chose SIX noucommis-
stoned American officers from the ar
I ulIery companies in the Havana garri-
son 10 aid him in the work.
{ No sooner was the notice published
in the newspapers that a military force
was to be formed than men from all
parts Of the island siguitied their inten-
ton TO enlist Young men from all
walks OF LIE some raised in luxury
and others at the plow, presented them
selves for enlistment. The two COM
panles constituting the $50 men Of the
corps were white. much 10 the dIssatis-
faction Of the black race. who at once
sent 4 delegation to General Wood TO
tell him that the coI0red race wished
to be included In the new army, it hav-
ing always fought in Cuha's cause.
Then General Wood issued another or
der for the enlistment of a company of
fifty COl0red men.
The three companies have been sta
tioued together in Cabana fortress,
where there are quarters for several
thousand soldiers and where there were
4 large number during Spanish times
The eoIored company has now gone to
Columbia barracks, where it is guard
ing property.
General Alexandra Rodriguez is com
mander in chief of the Cuban army
both artillery and rural guards, with
rank Of brigadier general He is i vet
eran Of several wars and was at one
time an American citizen. He has
been very prominent in Havana affairs
having been mayor of the city as late
as 1900. While no fault is TO be fount
with his leadership. General Maxim,
Gomez is to be made chief, with ranL
Of major general, while General Rodri
quez remains with the rural guards
and General Castillo. SO it is rumOred
becomes chief of the artillery. Genera
Gomez wields a very great influence
over the Cuban people through tn,
length and breadth of the island. Jus
now this consideration is u powerful
one, for the strongest leaders ar
needed