The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-07

CT guns from the Nashville, as big a
force as possibly could be spared, were
Iahded ana sent to the freight house
! OF the Panama Railroad. This force
! was in command of Lieut. Commander
| Wltzel. All the entrances to the freight
house were fortified with bales of cot
| ton and other available merchandise.
| one gun was mounted to command the
| approach at the rear of the building
! While the other was set up on a fiat
car at the main entrance in front to
| comamnd that side, and in readiness
TO be run down the railroad track and
| give range up the side streets crossing
| the track. All this was done by Q
| O'Clock, or in a little more than an hour
! from the time Capt. Hubbard first
came ashore. Everything possible had
been done to meet the threat and at
! tack the Colombians and to protect
American lives and property. Women
and children We're sent on board
| steamers in the harbor. But the Co
lombians did not carry out their
| threat They could be seen in small
parties moving about the streets, but
| the majority of them stayed in their
| barracks.
1t was agreed between Capt Hubbard
| and Col. Torres on Wednesday night
! that each should withdraw his troops
| until morning; consequently the Amer
! ISctllo anu their Two guns went Ddck TO
| the Nashville. The Colombians should
| all have retired to a point about a
mile and half outside Colon; some of
! them did so; but the majority remain
| ed in their barracks in Colon all night.
| A few words describing the theater
of the events of Wednesday and Thurs
! day are necessary. The place where
small boats and launches dock at Colon
-, is wooden landing about $50 feet long,
| oil a1 70 he
| Here all troops are disembarked.
| There is an open space shoreward from
| this landing, as big, perhaps, as city
| block. At the eastern end of the land
| ing the pier of the Royal Mail Steam
| ship Company, partly covered wood
| en- affair, runs out into the harbor.
| At the eastern end of the clearing and
| on straight line with the pier of
| the English Steamship Company, is the
| front of the Panama Railroad freight
| house, we'll built stone structure of
| two stories, with a frontage of about
100 feet. Crossing the south or land
| side of the clearing is the main street
of Colon and the railroad tracks run
| ming out of the freight house to the
I west, parallel to the beach line. The
| shore end of the Royal Mail pier joins
| the land thirty feet west of the sea-
ward corner of the freight house and
| the tall picket gates to the pier form
| a right angle with the facade of this
/ building. 1t is only thirty steps from
the center entrance of the freight
| house to the gates of the pier.
Early Thursday the forty men and
| the two guns from the Nashville again
| came ashore and took up their posi-
| tions of the day before. Maj. William
| Black and Lieut.. Brooke of the United
| States Engineer Corps had meanwhile
come in from the Culebra cut and Of
| fered their services in the defense of
| Colon, and a score of Americans, resi-
| dents of Colon, also had joined the de-
! tenders. They were armed with rifles
! from the Nashville.
I Thursday morning was spent by
Senior Melendez in further negotiations
with Colonel Torres. The former en-
J ployed the arguments of reason and
of common sense, and finally the argu-
| ment of gold, and to this the Colombian
Colonel succumbed. For $4,000 gold
Colonel Torres promised to embark his
troops on board the Royal Mail steamer
Orinoco, then in port, and be transport
ed to Savanilla. This sum was to be
paid when the troops were on board
the Orinoco. The soldiers demurred
at this arrangement, but Torres found
a way to make them accept it, and
at 4 o'clock Thursday afternoon they
obeyed his orders, and began to move
from their barracks down the main
street of Colon in small squads of
twenty or thirty men, crossing the
clearing in front of the freight house,
where the handful of Americans were
gathered behind their guns and the
cotton bales, and then on to the Royal
Mail pier, where the Orinoco was
moored. AS they passed they looked
curiously and sullenly at the Ameri-
cans. Some of the older of the Co
lombians seemed to have realization
of the significance of this move, and
to see in it the downfall of Colombia
on the isthmus. Others were apparent
ly Indifferent to what they did or
where they went; but the threatening
and warlike attitude of the Vigilant
Americans showed all that something
was wrong, and the watchful presence
of these silent Americans made them
all uncomfortable.
The payment to Torres of the SIS, 900
was made by Melendez in a house on
the main street, out of sight of the
pier Melendez supposed the soldiers
were on board the Orinoco when he
turned over the money, but he was
mistaken; they had not embarked and
were still on the pier. Torres return
ed to his men with the money. The
soldiers at once empha tically refused
to board the steamer unless their two
generals went with them, and they
clamored for their leaders. This sud-
den development called for decisive
action on the part of the Americans
in the freight house, now num-
boring some seventy men, and
there was no hesitationN The step
taken was dangerous and provok-
ing, but one that the circumstances
demanded. The line of cotton bale &e-
lenses was quickly swung out from
the freight house and reconstructed
facing the pier. The bales were rolled
into line to form a breastwork and the
guns looked out from between them
down the length of the English pier,
where the Colombians were gathered.
This line was not more than forty feet
from the wooden gates at the short end
of the pier and the Colombians were
fairly cornered. The hurried work of
changing the line of defense and NOV
ing out the guns was soon over, even
before the Colombians realized what
had been done, and then the small
body of Americans faced a new stu
alton. The Colombian troops were vet
Grams, having seen much service in the
last revolution, and they were known
to be good shots. They had a plenty
of ammunition, and they were in no
sense afraid. All who know the SOL
diers' of Colombia unite in declaring
them to be fearless fighters. They had
sworn not to board the Orinoco with
out their leaders, and they were ready
enough to fight They realized that
rush on the cotton bales doubtless
would result successfully for them, and
if the cost in lives were great they
were the sort of men who did not
stop TO count this cost As soon as the