The St. Mary banner., 1907-01-26
COMEDY OF CUBAN WARFARE.
A battle Which Was Ushered in by .
Meditative Mule,

The battle of Consolation del Sui
was an epitome of the Cuban revolu
ton. Its stratagems, surprises, bush
ments, Outfalls, parleyings, and com
bats, to say nothing of the spectacle
of the hostile armies finally moving
away from each other, may seem
strange to Americans accustomed to
their own blunt way OF fighting to
finish; yet one familiar with the coun'
try will find that the engagement re-
fleets great credit upon both sides.
One must remember that in this wal
the thing that counts is to make a
striking demonstration. Majestically
the wartrain rumbled down the line.
1t was four o'clock Saturday afternoon.
and the sky was serene. On ethel
hand lay gently rolling country, its
skyline broken by the plumy greer
fronds Of royal palms, whose tai!
trunks seemed fashioned Of gray
ivory. Far as the eye could see there
We're green meadows and plantations
Of bananas and pineapples, with here
and there patches Of the rich red to-
bacco land of the Vuelta Abajo, ready
for the planting. There was no sign
Of rebel anywhere.
A mile this side of Consolation the
railroad track runs through a shallow
cut. Standing in solemn meditation
at the farther end Of this cut was an
ancient dark-b1own mule, bony,
weather-beaten and evidently the prey
of melancholy reflection. The loco.
motive whistle footed at him. The
mule did not stir. The war-train rum.
bled closer footing shill protests. Just
as he seemed about to be hit. the
mule gazed repro. .chfully at the en-
croaching engine and very slowly
moved his spawned Old legs.
The whistle shrieked for brakes
Alas! 1t was too late. The mule was
hitched to a rail from which the bolts
and spikes had been removed and az
he dragged the rail off with him the
forward wheels of the locomotive roll.
ed down and grated on the ground.
From every hilltop at the distance
of three-qaarters of mile came in.
stant!y the rattle of rifle fire. Two
thousand fierce voices yelled Viva el.
Constitucicn." The rebels were at
work. From the bottom of cul
vert, four hundred yards back of the
train, there rose the roar Of dyna-
mite explosion and a section of rail- |
road tracks flew higl in the air amid
a cloud of red dust. The armored
train was in a trap, unable to move
in either direction and now all that
the rebels had to do was to pick it |
no vclley firing. OF course. and every |
Azaldo kept loading and shooting as
fast as his nimble fingers could worl; |
Pop! pop! pop! poppety-pop-pop |
pop!" the guns drummei away as it |
a whole townfal of boys were cele. |
brating the Fourth of July. Often the |
sound swelled into a continuous roar. |
and occasionally one caughta glimpse |
Of yellow fame cleaning pale in
the glowing sunlight as clump OF
rifles flashed all at once.
Within the train pale young militia
men, under fire for the first time, be-
gan to load and fire their rifles az
fast as they could. They poked the
slim black barrels cautiously over
he tops of the sand bags on the fiat
cars, tucked them warily olt Of the
oop-holes of the armored cars, an
sept pulling the triggers so briskl5
hat all the air around thrilled an
hrummed with the vibration of th
shooting. Here We're the thunder c!
he captains and the shouting, tn: y:
lame and smoke, the absorbing exhil
,ration of combat-all the element:
If battle except casualties. For BY
some strange chance, which perhars
military experts can explain, not ono
,ullet struck man or horse or mule
lot one bullet in a thousand actually
lit any part of the train.-Will:anl
nglis. Special Correspondent of "Har
)ers Weekly" in Cuba.