Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1910-01-06


tack Of a policeman. but as the an
thorities turned deaf ear to his ex.
postulation he made formal protest
No more attention was paid to the pro-
test than to the expostulation.
: That night was a distressing one for
all our crew. and, as for Jack, 1t only
remained for him to prepare for death
! Our captain could do nothing. II the
| Chilean authorities would not respect
a representative OF the United States
they would not pay any attention to
the captain Of the crew to which the
offender belonged. The harbOr was
not only bare of a United States fight
| ing ship. but did not contain one of
any other nation.
and when 1t was light enough for me
to see / was securing the harbOr In the
hope that some sort OF fighting ma
chine had come in during the night.
But l was disappointed. The waters
were entirely bare OF guns.
The condition of our crew was har-
rowing. We wanted TO fight and had
nothing to fight with. To permit one
of our number to be shot to death by
a lot Of Spanish American understood,
bloodthirsty rascals well nigh threw
every man Of us into spaSms. We got
together in knots, and many were the
foolhardy plans that were proposed to
save our comrades life. But as time
wore on and the hour appointed for
the execution approached an awful
sense of our powerless position settled
down upon us and stunned us.
Early in the morning / was made
the bearer of note from our captain
TO the consul The captain dared not
leave the ship for fear of some move
on the part of the men which would
not only he hopeless, but get us into
more trouble | was the only man OF
the crew to go ashore. While | was
at the consulate a crowd was gather
ing in Il field in rear of the house to
witness the execution. What the note
it the consul shook his head
At that moment l saw the British
consul. whose house was opposite.
come out to raise tbc British flag lie
stood looking at the crowd i'm the field,
and | saw the British bulldog indig-
nation rising in him at the murder
about to be committed. With the flag
still IN his hand he came across the
street ana approaching the American
consul, said TO him:
You're not going 10 let them shoot
that man, are YOU"
What can dOt" replied the consul
despairingly. Il have protested against
the act. am p0werleSS TO do more
Meanwhile Jack had been marched
out. and firing squad was taking posi-
ton before him.
Give me your flag shouted the
English consul. And in another mo-
ment the stars ana stripes were clutch
I'd in his hand with the union jack.
Then hurrying across the field, ! and
our own consul following him. we saw
him elbow his way through the crowd
and run up to the prisoner. The next
instant the United States flag was
folded around Jacks broad shoulders,
banner of Great Britain was placed
over IT, Then the consul who had
done this, standing a few PAGES back,
faced the firing squad and cried de-
family:
Now shoot if you dare through the
heart of England and America
This was TOO much for the dagos. II
the moral power of the United States
did not scare them that Of the two
most powerful nations on the earth
and, what was more to them. on the
sea was more than they dared defy.
Then. too, this combined moral power
was displayed in way TO give 1t full
force. To deliberately shoot man
through the two flags representing the
two wings OF the great Anglo Saxon
race required nerve that even the
valiant Chileans did not possess.
After hurried consultation the
Chilean authorities. suddenly stricken
with terror at what they had done and
realizing what they had intended do
ing, FASTENED TO release the prisoner.
He was delivered 10 the American con-
sui. With tears streaming down his
cheeks he gratefully pressed the hand
Of the man who had saved him. Then
he grasped that o. the American rep
resentative. Lastly he permitted me
to take his hand In mine.
Who gave the news of Jacks release
to those OH board our ship / don't
know, but shortly after 1t occurred,
when Jack and I went down to the
ships boat that hat brought me ashore
and which was waiting for me, we
saw the crew dancing about, running
up the ratlines ard hosting all the
signal bunting there was to be had.
When we left the shore there was q
cheer. while we pulled for the vessel
there were cheers. and when Jack
climbed the ladder aud stepped over
the gunwale he fovnd himself on the
shoulders of the st longest and tallest
men on the ship and was carried
around aid a Sceu2 OF Wild rejoicing.
1t is long while since that narrow