The Paducah sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1898-1906, 1903-02-05
CASTRO is PLIGHTY
He lmagines He is Napoleon No p
Has Vivid Imagination.
Personally Conducts a Newspaper
Correspondent Over Battlefield
and Explains.
DEAD SOLDIERS NOT BURIED

how the battle wss fought. The mar
rative is interesting, especially as 1t
gives people better insight into the
nature of the people and the condition
of the country. 1t reads:
After spending two mortal hours in
the telegraph office spelling out mes
sage of q few hundred words, the
quintesseDce of heroics from President
Castro, addressed 10 Washington in
particular and the world in general, |
started to take a walk on the Tomas or
heights above the city, where few
weeks ago battle was fought.
Soon, with some alarm, 1 saw strag-
Cling bands Of skirmishers stealing out
Of the crouoning village that lay be.
low, then two heavy battalions sur
rounded the hillside, and his safety
being thus assured from the lurking
revolutionists, saw in the distance
President Castro and the inevitable
Alcantara riding mp the hill for their
evening promenade.
am not going to tell his story, be-
cause the fact is that Gen. Mendoza,
who commanded. the revolutionary
forces, won the battle for Castro.
whether he was paid for it, as some
say, or not. Ha rdly day passed for
three weeks but that he threw his men
against the heights on which the little
force of Castro lay heavily entrenched,
in q position so strong that IL would
have been hard 60 dig them out with
artillery. With rifles it was impos-
sible.
The revolutionists outnumbered
Castro four to one, and all they had to
do was to hold the bandit president in
his intrenchments and march on to
Caracas, less than thirty miles away,
but Mendoza kept fighting day after
day until 1000 of his men lay dead or
wounded in the barrsnoa at the foot
of the hill. Then his army disinte-
grated and retired five or six leagues
in the direction Of Valencia, from
where 1t is announced they are reor-
ganizing under more competent lead
ers.
We walked for half an hour over the
field. Now and again the ponies
would shrink back and snort at the
sight of a bundle OF rags or pile of
stark, well-picked bones. The burial
Of victor and vanquished alike i'm
mediately after the battle had been
left to the vultures and the wild hogs
Of the swsmps.
Wherever we went flights Of bare
footed band its preceded us, spreading
out their sinuous skirmish line In
every direction. Those who fight
with Castro are the scourings Of the
cities and the plains, and the ignorant
Indians from the Andes. Each man
fights with halter about his neck,
but they are chartered libertines as
long as Castro survives. Well may
they cry "viva Castroi" Nothing is
too good for them at present. No Oh
william dares refuse them anything,
but in many cases the halter will be
drawn highland sha II be--the day
Castro falls or scuttles.
have not the space to retail here
much of the conversation that ensued.
It is apparent, however, that the pres
ident knows a great deal more about
the art of war in its rough-and tumble
phases than he does OF diplomacy. He
dwelt with fondness upon every
bloody detail Of the slaughter, and he
narrated the story as became a strenu-
GUS young Napoleon, without a SCRAP
Of false modesty.
"My men fought bravely, but they
were greatly outnumbered and hope
lessly beaten when decided to take
the field in person" he began.
"Oh, yes" whispered Alcantara in
an aside which was very audible to
the general, Everything was lost
when he came, and he won the bat
tle."
"Things did look dark" went on
the general, with a deprecatory wave
Of the hand until that burro, Men
doza, delivered his army into my
hands, bound hand and foot. His line
was four times as long as mine, but
he kept hurting his battalions by day
and night right at my center, where
v kmpxeeaable position ltl
I. g.. i