The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-07-01


before daybreak on the morning of
Friday, May &c; his special train was
composed of three sections. Ahead
were an engine, a day coach, flleI
with soldiers, and Frederick Adams
private car. This section acted as
pilot, and the men who rode in it
were brave, indeed, for as an official
said:
They took their lives in their
hands. They were constantly ex-
posed to the danger of being dyna-
, mited or dashed into ravine because
of damaged bridge, so that no mean
honor belongs to the soldiers and
civilians who piloted Diaz down the
mountains to Vera Cruz"
! Then came the engine, to which
was attached the cars of G. N Brown
and John Body, s. Pearson G. Sons
representatives in Mexico. These
two cars held the ex-President and
his family. Following these were an
other engine, Pullman and day
coach. In the former were the ex-
Presidents servants and few
friends, not more than half a dozen;
in the latter more soldiers.
From Saturday until Wednesday
the General waited in Vera Cruz for
his steamship.
1t was certainly a triste setting for
the last days in Mexico of the man
who had been the absolute ruler Of
the republic since 1880, and the sad
dest thing of all was the manner in
which the Grand Old Man" had been
forced to leave the capital and seek
refuge in city which had always
been most bitter against him. Tho
great city in the tableland for which
he had done so much repudiated him,
and the Gulf city, which had nour-
ished feelings of hatred for him, at
the end was the only one which gave
him an ovation
An Englishman who took a promi-
nent part in the Presidents depart
ure, returned to Mexico City this
morning, and his narrative of the
trip down the mountain is the first
personal account of that historic
journey.
in the end, the manner of Gen,
eral Diaz's departure from the city
was unexpected" he said 1--WE had
been in a measure prepared to take
him down the mountain for some
days, the arrangement being for 4
journey on May 20 or 30, Sunday ~
Monday night. When his resigna-
ton had become an accomplished
fact on Thursday afternoon, a hurried
order was sent to the San Lazaro
station to have the train in readi
ness to start any time after midnight
The soldiers were quietly mustered
in and retired about nine o'clock to
the cars provided for them.
"The engines, the three private
cars, Pullman and day coaches at
tached to the three sections were in
position early in the evening Every
thing was managed secretly and only
picked men employed in the making
up of the train. OF course, none oil
us could sleep. The demonstrations
of Wednesday and Thursday had
warned us of a hostile feeling among
the mob toward the ex-President, and
we were all on the qui vive for what
might happen.
"The night wore on. Two o'clock
three, had passed, and the General
had not come. We dared not use
the phone, and could only wait. The
hours ana minutes dragged along
The stars were hidden by the thick
mist which usually envelopes the city
before dawn, and the tension was
accentuated by the dreariness Of our
surroundings. Just as the suspense
became almost unbearable a feeling 81
motion was in the air around us, and
we knew that the long waiting was
at an end The muffled whirr of an
automobile was heard Then the
lamps shone out through the mis-
and the dark blue limousine with the
Mexican coat of arms on the panels
drew up before the station, then an
other, third, and still a fourth came
out Of the gray mist.
silently the General and his party
alighted, and with little delay wendell
their way to the waiting room. About
a dozen men who had been lounging
in the room since midnight ap
preached and embraced the ex-Presi
dent. No well known Cientifico face
was among them-just a few init
mates who had come thus quietly 1,
say goodbye to the man who haC
stood by them through thick and THU
for so many wears There was none