The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-17
UPRISING IN CUBA
SMALL BUT GENERAL
 CONSPIRACY FEARED.
Ffrsf Attack That of Eight Men President Come. Send. Major General With Troops to
 Subdue Them.

Havana, March 16.-The first armed uprising against the new Cuban Re- public occurred last night within little more than six weeks after the inauguration of General Gomez as Pres ident
 How serious the movement Is 1t is impossible to determine at present. All that Is known being that a sergeant or the rural guard stationed at the town of Vueltas. in Santa Clara prov ince. with a party of seven men. some other members of the rural guards and number of peasants took to the woods and that the troops are in act i've pursuit.
 While the movement apparently is unfmportant numerically, all indica- tions point to the fact that 1t is mart or a widespread conspiracy. the nature of which Is indicated by dispatch received here today. which stated that | special train carrying a detachment or the rural guard under command of Major General Monteagudo, was hur- rying to Vueltas.
 News of the rising reached the pal. ace at late hour last night but was suppressed until this afternoon. Later an official statement was given out to
 the effect that Sergeant Cortes and SOfCH Hicn tdu 6LaTlcQ An lnSuTrecI0n- ary movement. the motive for which 1t
 was officially declared was the refusal of the Government to give Cortes a commission as captain in the regular army.
 President Gomez declared his inten- tion of instantly suppressing the ris- ing and making an example of all con- cerned He ordered the rapid concen- tration of troops in the vicinity oflVu- al n he 4% .af- the fugitives. Orders were issued to the troops not to cease pursuit until all had been killed or captured Later it was learned that a conspir- acy had been unearthed in which the
 rural guard was implicated. At Pla- cetas, former captain of the rural
 guard. Lavasteida by name. and at vu-
 eltas. Corporal Richardo and two civ ilians were arrested on the charge of | complicity in the insurrectionary move
 ment. The district where the trouble | had occurred Is strongly liberal, Santa Clara being the home province of Pres
 ident Gomez. of which he formerly was Governor. All the participants in the rising are reported to be Liberals of l the Miguelista faction. who were. dis | satisfied over the distribution of of-
 Aces. Senor Castellanos. the Presi-
 dents secetary. said this evening that l this doubtless was the cause of the | disturbance. to which the Government | attached little importance, being sat- 1 isfied that the movement was weakly | and sporadic.
 However the despatch of troops from l Havana under command of a ma jor l general to a point twelve hours dist
 ant from the capital. is taken as an
 indication that the situation possibly l Is more serious than the Government l Is willing to admit. There is no direct
 news from the district, as the Govern
 ment controls the wires. Secretary of l Government Alberdi and Presidential | Secretary Castellanos promised to make | a statement outlining the situation to- night, but at a late hour they declined
 to do so, stating that they had no more l news. | They protested. however, that all was | quiet and that there was no danger of
 further trouble. It has been known | for some time that the discipline in
 the rural guard has been greatly i'm
 paired. This has been particularly
 marked since the withdrawal of the American officers
 Rumors are current that Colonel Val To, who was recently dismissed from
 the rural guard. has risen in Oriente
 at the head of 200 men. but the rumor
 Is not credited Stocks on the Havana
 Exchange fell several points this af-
 ternoon on receipt of the news of the trouble at Vueltas.