Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-02-01

doubt his claim to having been born and
brought up at Fort Valley by telling me
OF DR. Green, the Hollingsheads the Ma
thew5es, the Everettes and others. He af-
frmed that he had been reared by the
1 Everettes and l do not doubt what he
| said.
| Near the head of the bay, the Amer-
can governor of the Province of Santiago
during the days of the first Intervention
set in the wall which fronts the sea d
tablet to the memory of the men of the
| Inflated "Virginius." AS is known to
most of the older readers of The Journal,
that American schooner, being suspected
/ OF carrying men and arms from New
York to the Cuban insurgents, was cap
tured on October Hst, 1873, by the Span
ish gun-boat, Tornado" on the high
seas near Jamaica. The Spaniards execut-
| ed Captain Fry of the ''Virginius'' with
thirty-f1ve of the crew and four Cuban
passengers. The ''Virginius" was flying
the flag of the United States when she
was captured, and 1t was claimed that
her papers were regular and lawful. The
/ Spanish government denied that the YES
sells papers were regular and questioned
| the lawful character which they gave
her. But General Grant, who was thea
President of our country, set aside that
contention by saying if her papers were
irregular and fraudulent as claimed, the
/ issue was not one for Spain to settle, but
was an offense against the United States
| justiciable only in our tribunals. He de-
manded therefore the restoration of the
vessel. the return of the survivors who
| had not been executed to the protection
of their own country, an apology from
Spain, and the punishment of the of \
/ Tending parties who had infracted the
\ law of nations in the overhauling of the
| "Virginius', and the execution of a part
| of her crew and passengers. To all of
these demands Spain promptly acceded,
and finally paid an indemnity of $4,000.
although 1t was proved at last that the
vessel was not entitled to sail under our
| flag. There were surrendered to the Unit
ed States 102 of the schooner's crew and
passengers who remained after the eXecu-
ton Of Captain Fry, the thirty-ive sail
ors ard the four Cuban passengers. To tho
memory of these men who were executed
the bronze tablet has been set in the wall
at the head of the bay of Santiago. 1t Is
of interest to an American visitor to the
ancient city but Why should such honour
| be paid men who in a lawless adventure
came near involving our country in wal
The only explanation is found in their
connection with the desperate effort which
as far back as 1873 (and before) Cuba was
making to be free from the yoke of
I Spal1-dn 6llOIl WHICH NeN0 GU 'A"SN
cessful by our aid in 1898.
But of all memorials 1 have seen in
Santiago that which has most interested
me is a plain house, unoccupied, but care
| fully protected and preserved, and num-
/ bered in Heredia Street, very near to
my hotel. This is the house in which the
great Cuban poet, Jose de Maria Heredla.
was born, and in which he lived most
| of his life He was born in Santiago De-
cember 31st, 1908, and died in Toluca,
/ Mexico, May IL, 1889. Though living less
/ than thirty-six years, and being a man
of many sorrows, he wrote with unusual
power, and his home is kept by his ma
/ tive city as a memorial of him. His
| memory is Justly honoured by his peo-
| nile and II is not creditable to our peo-
/ ole that they know no more about him.
| LonRfellow thought his poems worthy OF
! translation, and the sweetest singer
among our American poets did not over
estimate the merit of the singer Of San
| tiagO.
| Heredia was very close student of
| Horace, and it is evident that he formed
| his style somewhat after the master of
that Latin ode. But his sentiments are
| sadder and nobler than those of Hor--
ace.
| Americans will be most interested in
his fine descriptive poem on Niagara,
| which he wrote in June, 1924, before he
| had attained his twenty-f1rst birthday. L
| do not know where one would ma IN
| modern literature more beautiful pro-
duction In it's lines one hears the roar
of the great cataract and mingled with
! the noise of its many waters the sigh
| ing of the poets own soul is heard as the
mourning voice of dove calling to its
dead mate beside the tumultuous torrent
! An iS entitled I'm I'm
/ Tempestad," written i'm 1872, describing a
| hurricane in the tropics. In the awful
and sublime things of nature he seemed
| to find some sort of sympathy for his
own woes
He has also beautiful sonnet on I'm
| mortality which is of the highest merit.
| His last poem called "Ultimos Verses
is a touching expression of his abiding
| faith in spite of all mystery and shadows
| and doubts and fears.
| OF many memorials in Santiago the
| common man of the streets can tell you
!, nothing but the most ignorant can in
form you about Heredia's horne. The
! school-boys and school girls recite his
! "Niagra" and his tender lines ''To My
| Wife are oft repeated in Cuban homes.
The poet thus outlives seamen and SOL
diers because he lives in the hearts of
men and women. Homer is more than
the heroes whose achievements he cele-
brated; Horace and Virgil are better re-
membered than the Roman emperors, as
/ Milton and Tennyson are better known
than all the English kings Robert Burns
| outranks Robert the Bruce, and Walter
| Scott is more to men than any and all
who have held. or shah hold a sceptre
| over Scotia.
| Likewise the Captains-General who
| have exercised authority in Cuba are
| doomed to fOrgetfuness, but Heredia
| will not be forgotten while the waters
! of Niagra continue to flow on their turbu-
lent way until the earth and the sea have
given up their dead.
And Heredia, although the greatest, is
not the only poet Cuba has produced.
have in my library a volume entitled
| "Parnaso Cubano" i'm which are found
poems by no less than thirty writer's.
! Some of them deserve to rank with the
finest lyrics of the last century.