New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1911-06-21
MODERN SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE
FARE BADLY IN REVOLUTIONS

he had established headquarters and
. base Of supplies, and made bis way
with troops In launches to Log island,
fourteen miles from Ceiba, where the
government troops were in force un.
der General Diaz. From Log island
Christmas and his men went In their
launches to Truxillo, east Of Ceiba.
Christmas and Bonilla Taken.
General Diaz, In response to Christ
mas invitation to "come out and
fight" sailed forth, and a battle en-
sued In which the Calling guns,
manned by Americana, did great exc
cution. However, the engagement was
not decisive. Christmas failed to take
Ceiba. and this caused a hiatus in the
plans to combine with Manuel b.
nilla's men in an attack on Puerto
Cortez.
Advices from tie scene of revolu-
ton have been sporadic and unsatis-
factory. All that Is authoritatively
known Is that on Aug. 8 Christmas
and Bonilla, together with seventy
men, were under arrest in Guatemala
city. The failure Of this revolution
has been ascribed to the British Hon
duras authorities, who brought the
cruiser Scylla into action when Christ
mas schooners landed on British terri
tory.
The failure Of "Brigadier General"
Victor Gordon to set out with a relief
expedition to aid Estrada in Nicaragua
last spring is likewise to be recorded.
Gordon, who is Texan, fought gal
lantly with the Beers in South Africa
and has been through three revolu,
lions in Nicaragua. He purchased
with funds supplied by merchants Of
Blue6elds the steamship Venus, lying
at New Orleans. He organized band
Of picked fighters, whipped them into
shape at the Spanish fort near New
Orleans and filled his steamship with
arms and munitions Of war
The state department took hand,
and the filibustering expedition was
called off. Gordon made his way to
Central America without the Venus
and alone.
Escaped Death Sentence.
Last May there arrived from Brazil
on the steamship Vasari another fail
ure in the person Of George Vice, one
Of nine young soldiers of fortune who
went forth to overcome the govern
ment of Brazil.
Vice is a Jerseyman, a resident of
Hackensack. When he and his party
reached Bahia in the spring Of 1909
they Joined a party Of British and
American Adventures in a plan to
capture the small Brazilian town of
Athens and gradually to overcome the
entire republic. They charged one
night upon the police headquarters,
but their fire was returned, and so ef-
fectively that one Of the party, an
Englishman, was killed and Vice,
George Gordon Of New Jersey, who
was one Of the nine, and an ex-Brit-
ish army officer were wounded and
captured.
Gordon died of his wounds, and Vice
and the Englishman were tried and
sentenced to death. The Englishman
was executed, but Vice, who had forty
wounds, was no candidate for a first
class execution, and so he was kept
in the hospital for many months.
Eventually the representations Of the
state department and the boys mother
prevailed, and he was set free.
Two others Of the party were Sam
uel J. Parker Of New York and Hunert
J. Kincaid of Moose Jaw, Canada.
They returned to this country from
Brazil about four months before Vice
arrived. They were sorry looking rev.
olutionists and quito eager to pursue
some other vocation.
Police Were Prepared.
According to their story, the nine
young men landed in Bahia, purchased
horses and then proceeded by boat to
Athens, where they saddled their
horses in the suburbs and galloped
into the town square.
The plan was to sweep the square
with volley or two Of Mauser bull
lets, stand the police on their heads
and take possession of the town. They
were to join several hundred revolu-
under command Of General
Magell.
The police had been warned Of their
approach, however, and dispersed
them after hot skirmish. The six
who had not been wounded or cap
tured retreated up railroad track,
cutting telegraph wires as they went.
But finally some 300 Brazilian police
men hunted them down and placed
them in Jail. After many trials they
were released.