Evening journal., 1910-11-26
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
Two SideliGhtS on ArGOnaut
Days
BY "HOlIand."

I'm the spring of 1853" said Nj.
Dudley Jones. now of Little Rock. Ar
Kansas the California argonaut whose
| experiences / have been recounting
for several days, Il again started out
from New York for the gold fields via
the Vanderbilt route across Nicaragua.
In due time we arrived at the Atlantic
! port of Greytown late one afternoon,
and on disembarking found that a
large body of passengers, eastbound
across Nicaragua, had preceded as
into the town by few hours and
were even then holding trial over
three of their fellow passengers who
had been caught rObbing others of
J gold dust A fourth man was to have
been tried, but he had escaped into
the jungle back of the town.
"The trial took place In an old
adobe warehouse II was held by the
people and in the name of the people
without regard to the Mosquito gov
ernment. II was formal trial, rs
regular as any trial, except that there
had been no election of court officers.
And it ended in the three culp-its be-
ing condemned to death.
"The next morning our boat sent a
large delegation to swell the crowd Of
homeward passengers that gathered 70
carry out and witness. the execution
Of the sentence. A scaffold had been
erected a few rods from the ware
house, where the prisoners had been
guarded all night Suspended from a
cross beam were three nooses, and on
the ground below were three cofius.
AT the appointed hour. the three
condemned men, dressed in white, but
no whittier than their faces, were
marched out under a strong guard
between crowds OF spectators. They
were led directly beneath the gallows,
when there, was some talk between
prisoners and guard which I could not
hear. This over with. one mau was
promptly swung Off. followed immedi-
ately by the middle man. Then for
some reason that 7 never learned. the
third prisoner Was marched back
through the silent crowd and after
being stripped, was tied over an old
cannon that happened to be there and
given fifty lashes. The natives took
no part in the proceedings except to
bury the dead.
That evening, we entered the small
boats that were to take us up the FIRST
stage OF the San Juan river, when we
would be transferred to the steamer
that would take us the rest of the way
up the stream and across Lake Ma
nagua 20 the point where the twelve
mile cross-country road to the Pa
cific Ocean began.
Eventually, we reached the mort
OF San Juan del Su- and took pas
sage for the last log of the trip on
the little steamer Pacific. That ff-
teen days passage up the coast stands
IN my memory as the worst iifteNi
days of my life. II was too sickening
to attempt TO describe We startes
from New York with about 500 able
bodied passengers. We lost none on
the Atlantic. nor on the San Juan
river, but the exposure TO soaking
tropical rains at night and the burn
ing sun by day that was our portion
on the journey from the Atlantic TO
the Pacific left scarcely an able-bodied
man among us by the time We reached
the Pacific.
Arrived at San Juan del Sur. unite
a number of tho 500 We're too ili 10 go
on board the little steamer and So
stayed in the miserable little town.
where there was uothiug but the
barest shelter. Many passengers had
to be carried on board the boat. BE-