Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-05-14
In Exciting Scenes Of
Chilean Revolution.
Describes LoQting Bank and Es-
cape to British Ship.



letter written home April l, but just
received here, from a Randolph boy
who has been during the, past few
months amid the, exciting events of the
chilean revolution, describes condi-
tions in that country. which. are almost
beyond belief The story of the loot
ing of the bank by the. business men OF
the town of .Mejillones, his escape and
subsequent flight to a. British ship in
the harbor make a narrative as thrill
Ing as any ever imagined by the author
of dime novel. ~, y.
Harry Duffy, the writer of the letter,
at the time it was written was ready
to sail on the next day in the British
ship Inverness shire" of Glasgow for
Port Townsend, Washington and con-
sidered himself mighty fortunate to
have escaped from Mejillones with his
life. The letter was written to his
mother, Mrs. J. b. Duffy Of 63 Windsor
street, Randolph. and was sent under
cover of apother envelope directed to
F. H. Dunning, the, Randolph stationcr
to avert suspicion The letter reads as
follows
81, Mejillones, Chile April.d, 1903.
Dear People: : .u, unth { az
Owing to the presents state jof affairs
here in &Mejiliones, with oseveral other
foreigners am obliged to flee from here
secretly, for there is big revolution
on. created by one Alfredo Zarzuela de
Fuentes, ana the lives Of 'fofeighers are
in danger: ''t l.
The place is now full Of hooters
thieves) and "cut throats' There have
hotp han 1tIrip bp aSt
four days. 1t is something terrible I as
sure yot,. / have been carrying two re-
volvers in my pockets for more than two
months and the wonder is that I was not
killed long ago. I am at present on board
a large British ship, called the 'Iverness-
shire" Of Glasgow Therefore you see 1
am safe, for we lay anchored two miles
from the shore and we sail tomorrow
morning round to Port Townsend in the
state of Washington, U. S. A. have Just
arrived on board after having been pur-
sued by the revolutionists. l am here as
first class passenger and paid 40 pounds
English money for the passage. That is
500 in English currency.
This place is certainly in a most con-
temptible state of corruption. Every house
is being robbed Even the priest steals
and disgraces his cloth. Stealing here at
present is no crime, FOR if you don't steal
from others they will steal from you.
The. local bank MAS broken, into last night
and lost it's contents,of SO,O0O pesos, $3Od.
coo United States currency. The leaders of
this gang We're mostly Americans and
English business men of this town
Amongst them was myself, but I could
only manage to get 4.6oo pesos or about
$l2tW United States currency. I have al
ready changed this sum into English
gold except $780, two-thirds of which as
above mentioned / paid for the trip to the
United States. Therefore you sec 1 will
be in my own country in about two
months more. Tile captain of a Spanish
corvette will mail this letter for me and /
purposely direct 1t to another address to
avert suspicion.
There are three of us on this ship rs
passengers. the other two being English
men of we'll to do families in England
One of them is the heir to an earldom
His name is Walter Fitzgerald Botha
Trevanion. The other is the son of rich
copper king with interests i'm Bolivia.
Trevanion made a haul of 900 pesos last
night and Shaw made haul of 400 pesos
while got 1850 pesos
| am SORRY, to say that Shaw's cousin
Billy got mortally wounded last night.
The poor chap had a big haul from the
bank and some Italians killed him and
took the money. 1t Is 81 game of bite and
scratch. hit and thrust; shoot and stab
from morn till morn Fand has been for
four days. From where / an, sitting
can hear the boom of big rifles. 1t is
like war Bnd 1t Is war; what else could
we cT,l jtb '': tN.W 'aTi "-''
have not sustained the slightest
scratch in this ARRAY In a revolution in
South America the man who loots the
largest amount of money is the man of
the day. 1t is surely a dishonorabe ac-
tor to rob your own money back. 1 had
2,3.o pesos in the bank and in trying to
get my own I got twice that amount.
The boinbardment of the bank l shall
never. forget as 1ong as live. I had not
dreamed that could be so reckless and
bold. It was not a two sided fight, for
there was nobody to defend the bank,
those having been killed by Italians and
Chilians in the first of the fray. Every
one was fighting the other to get there
first and obtain the largest amounts. !
broke a mans arm with a club and OBJ
tanned my shafe. Me was'a Chilean and
came at me with .,;ra ksife. D. shot him
through the les and he, limped. away in
the crowd, II INTENDED TO-, go back for
more money but Treynnion advised me
not to do so because they We're firing
the bank, that is TO lsay, setting it on