Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-12-01
HUNTERS VICTIM
WAS DARE DEVIL
Fitzgerald, Killed B y
u. S. Minister'S Son,
Held 5000 Men
At Bay.

NEW YORK, NOV. ZS.-lnIGEeSIluB Qe~
tails of the events leading up to the shoot
ing in Guatemala City of William A. Fitz-
gerald by Godfrey Hunter. Jr., the son Of
DR.. Godfrey Hunter. of Kentucky. United
States Ministes to Guatamama. were Civ
en- yesterday to the Commercial Advertiser
by man well known in Central America.
but whose name is withheld. as he is about
to return south. He said:
The shooting of William A. Fftzger-
aid by Godfrey Hunter, Jr., brought to
sudden and tragical end a career as pic
turesque as Il was short AS a type of the
soldier of fortune, Billy Fitzgerald would
have made the heart of Dumas jump with
joy. Six feet tall. dark and handsome,
the young Michigan man would have been
a noticeable figure in any company. A
rascal he may have been, but If So he was
a lovable rascal. His recklessness en-
deared him TO the strong men with whom
he came in contact in the Central Amer
lean countries, men of iventuresome tenn
permanent who, for the daring In them,
admired and respected the superlative
daring in him.
In country where revolutions are
periodical events, Fitzgerald was not long
in finding an opportunity of stalking his
life on a possibility of fame and fortune.
The restless General Vasquez was ambi-
tious OF deposing Terencio Sierra, the
president of Honduras, and of seating
himself in the presidential chair in his
stead. He enlisted the services of Fitz-
gera.d, who was then but twenty-one, and
Of a number of more or less we'll known
adventures, among them Jeffries, the new
admiral of the Columbian fleet, Col. Penny
Packer, now general superintendent of the
I Central railroad Of Guatemala, Col. ].
Bascom Jones now major general of ar
tiliery in the Guatemalan army, and Col.
RicharLs recently banished from Guate-
mala for excessive revolutionary propen-
sites.
Fitzgerald, anxious TO distinguish him
SELF and yielding to his daredevil and i'm
pulsive instinct, decided to open HOSTILE
ties independent of the rest.
ION October Z, 1897, with a company of
thirteen Americans, Fitzgerald padded
across the lagoon separating Puerto
Cortez from the mainland, and at dead
Of night entered the town. A rush on the
Quartet. where a garrison of 300 men was
stationed. resulted in complete victory
for the attacking party.
THE fourteen Americans had captured
the town. AS the nature of Central Amer
leans is one of general Indifference and Of
quick changes in the matter of political
convictions, Puerto Cortez, from faithful
Sierra port, became in the short space of
an hour a warm Vasauez town.
THE conquerers were hailed as liberia
dores' and toasted in 'Aguardien' rum
IL was a night OF great revelry and Of
many -.yiyas. for Vasuuex In the morning
twelve of the fourteen Americans were
so intoxicated as to be unable to tell their
own names. 1t was at this Juncture that
word was brought to Fitzgerald, who had
taken up his headquarters in the alcal-
de's house, that 5000 men were on the
way tot recapture Puerto Cortez.
Either because he himself was not en-
tirely sober, or else because he knew the
Hondurian populace to be partisans of the
upper dog, Fitzgerald decided to keep to
himself the knowledge of the impending
attack upon the town by the government
troops. He tried to enlist his thirteen men
in the defense Of the place. but found that
all, with one exception, were stupefed
with liquor and unable to stand. The ex-
ception was Lee Christmas, a locomotive
engineer, now the chief of police Of
Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras
Christmas and Fitzgerald rode to the
freight yards Of the railroad and there
commanded a locomotive and fiat car.
Puerto Cortez, IT must be explained, Is
on a peninsular Fitzgerald and Christ
mas ran the locomotive and a fiat car up
the line to where the strip of land con-
Meeting the peninsular to the mainland
is narrowest and there awaited the arriv-
al of the government troops. On the fiat
cars breastworks OF sugar bags had been
built; within the quadrangle made Of
these bags Fitzgerald took up his posi-
ton with four winchesters and several
hundred rounds of ammunition. At dawn
the 5000 men appeared, marching in close
formation on the railroad track, there
being no other train.
THE fire that greeted them from the
fiat car cleared the track in five seconds,
every man taking cover in the Jungle.
Until 81 o'clock at night Fitzgerald,
alone, held the flower of the Hondurian
army at bay, Christmas loading rifles for
him; then fearing an attack from him
under cover of darkness, the order to
retreat was given, and the locomotive
and fiat car steamed back into Puerto
Cortez. That same night, Fitzgerald
and Christmas left in a canoe and Puer-
to Cortez was retaken. General Drum
mond, who had been the nominal head
Of the expedition against the town, was
captured and taken to San Pedro, but
escaped two weeks later.
Fitzgerald, knowing how much his head
was worth walked 120 miles into Guata-
mala- In his fight on the railroad track
he had killed eighteen of the enemy and
I'D H.,1F