Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-21

| lions Of dollars from it, He is credited
| with having represented the rubber trust
! in the purchase Of the small independent
interests and is the recognized agent or
that corporation.
San Antonio is very animated just now.
and every other man you meet on the
street wears a khaki suit and a military
cap.
Half of the regular army is in camp at
Fort Sam Houston, in the SuburgS OF the
are crowded with the wives and families
of the officers. This is an admirable place
for a rendezvous. The climate in the
spring is perfect, similar accommodations
the railway connections are such that
twice as many troops could be handled
without confusion. People in the north
know just as much about the motives
for the concentration of the army here
as any one in San Antonio. and. while
1t is undoubtedly true that the idea of
the President, the Secretary Of War
and the chief Of staff was to gain valuable
experience. 1t is difficult to avoid the i'm
preston that the revolutionary troubles
on the other side of the Rio Grande
caused the selection Of San Antonio in
preference to other places.
San Antonio is the oldest place OF i'm
portance in Texas. and, fortunately, the
people have preserved with religious care
the most interesting antiquities. The
Alamo, that old church which was the
scene of one of the bravest defenSes ever
made and one of the most brutal mas
sacres ever committed by human fends.
is kept in perfect condition. 1t Is a
holy place. It's pavementS are saturated
with the blood Of heroes.
Massacre in 1886.
The massacre. you will remember oc-
CURED in the revolution by which the
people Of Texas won their independence
from Mexico. on the 9th of March, 1886.
A little company OF III patriots. all of
American birth except four MeXicans,
was besieged for two weeks by an army
as it's ammunition lasted Then the
mission was carried by assault and every
living being was butchered in cold blood
except three women, one little girl and a
negro servant who managed to escape.
The last survivor of the massacre died
about three years ago. Her name was
Sonora Candelaria- She lived in little
adobe house on the bank Of the San
Pedro river in the Mexican quarter of
San Antonio, and was an object of pc
culiar interest because Of her quaint in
dividuality, her association with the mas
sacre, the fact that she nursed Col.
Bowie after he was wounded during the
siege. and also because Of her great age.
! She was born Andrea Castanon. of full
pure Spanish blood, in the town of
Laredo. on the Rio Grande, in Novem-
| Der, 1855 Her parents were humble. but
well-to-do; her father was a shOpkeeper,
| her mother the daughter of haciendadO,
| or farmer, of some means. She was edu-
Gated in the parish school and afterward
| in a convent. and when nineteen years
old married Silverio Flores AbrigO,
prosperous farmer, with whom she moved
| to San Antonio about 1920. Her husband
died a few years later. and after brief
widowhood she took for number two
Senior Candelaria villaneuva. an adven-
turesome person Of more courage than
| Judgment, who owned a large tract Of
land near San Antonio
Joined the Texans.
When the revolutionary movement
broke out in 1884 her husband joined the
Texans. and was among the little garri-
son which took refuge in the old church
| of the Alamo mission. when pursued by
Santa Ana and his army. There is a
story that Sonora Candelaria, as she was
known, left him. and was living with an
| American lover in the Texan army, but
that scandal has not been justified. How
ever il may be, when the little group of
Texan sympathizers took refuge in the
Alamo Sonora Candelaria went with
them and shared their peril their suf-
ferings and their anguish. When Col
Bowie was shot she nursed him, and
was By his bedside when the Mexicans
broke into his chamber and murdered
him She tried to shield him and was
struck down by saber, which left a
scar that she carried to the grave and
which she was very proud Of exhibiting
to her admirers.
From February Is to March the siege
continued. During those twelve awful
days the little garrison grew smaller and
their provisions and ammunition grew
less, until the ,Mexicans broke through
the mission walls and cut down the sur
vivors The names Of those who died are
inscribed upon a tablet within the Alamo
walls, under the legend:
''Thermopylae had her messenger OF de-
feat: the Alamo had none.
Sonora Candelaria always insisted that
the names of four Mexicans. including
| that of her husband. who had joined and
| fought with the Americans, should be
added to the list.
This remarkable woman lived to be 1O9
years OF age, and to the day of her death
| retained all her faculties. including an in
| fiamnable temper. She was an inveterate
smoker of cigarettes, and consumed vast
quantities of strong coffee, but neither
seemed to affect her nerves.