New-York tribune., 1912-02-18
A CAPTAIN UNAFRAID
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Continued from page s
reports of everything that happened, and It
was on information furnished by him that
she was detained, an hour before She was
due 10 sail. Her collection Of hostile hard
ware was put ashore under guard, and was
not released until May, 1893 and 20 pre-
vent any possibility Of the expedition get
ting away the ship also was seized and dep
utv United States Marshals were placed in
charge of her. She was subsequently re-
leased and before she finally sailed another
cargo was spirited on board. 1t included
twenty-five hundred rifles a twClvc-pOuntcr
Hotchkiss field gun, fifteen hundred rcvoI-
vers two hundred short carbineS, one thou
sand pounds Of dynamite, twelve hundred
machctcS and an abundance Of ammunition.
All of the stuff was packed in boxes marked
Goldfish" and medicines.
General Garcia, who was one OF the few
men who have ever escaped from the terrible
Spanish prison at Ccuta, Morocco, had made
several attempts to get to Cuba and take
hand in the war. and this last diSappOlnt-
mcnt completely diSheartened him, as It did
most of the CubanS. There was still more
trouble in store for him; for on March Is,
nearly two months after the seizure Of the
cargo General Garcia, Benjamin J. Guerra
Treasurer of the New York revolutionary
dclrgation), Bernardo ]. BuenO, John j.
Hart (owncr Of the Bcrmuda), Captain John
Brabazon (mastcr Of the ship, and Samuel
Hughes "a navigator employed by the Gu
bans were indicted in the federal court for
engaging to sail on filibuStering trip o.
Cuba. They were arrested at once an.
placed under bonds Of twenty-five hundred
dollars each. This diScouraging develop
mcnt so added TO their anXictics that !.
made them desperate.
THE next dav. March II. which was Sat
L urdav. Hart sent for me and asked wa
To take command Of the expedition. He cy-
planned the situation in detail. and did no,
attempt to conceal its dangers. as they aD-
pearcd to him; though, having been in the
same business before | knew more about
that part Of it than he did. He said the
Cubans were extremely depressed by the
continued disasters that trcachery had
brought upon them. and that unless this cX-
petition could be cleared and safely landed
he feared they would be forced TO abandon
their fight for liberty He paid me the COM
plimcnt of expressing confidence that !
CtNlil perform AlC lttNh NINlNl ga NItiN tN
said. intended TO Jump his bail and 60 with
the ship. and he pointed out that the arrival
of the famous old fighter in Cuba. with
large cargo of arms, would put new life into
the revolution. He offered me five hundred
dollars for the trip; the depleted treasury
preventing him from paying more.
Financially, the proposition did not ap-
peal to me at all; but that was the least IN
tercsting feature OF it. Any sort Of flibuS-
tcring expedition would have tempted me
away from prosaic plotting. provided it
offered any reasonable amount Of adventure;
but. above and beyond my natural incina-
tion in that direction. my SympathicS were
strongly with the Cubans, and had more
than once thought Of offering them my
services Here was a chance TO be Of real
service to them. at the time when they were
most in need of an honest man who knew
his business: so Hart did not have TO wait
long for my acceptance Of his overturcS.
"Whcn will YOU be ready to Start? he IN
Quircd.
I'm ready now, told him. Clear 'hc
shin for Vera Cruz, Mexico, and We will sail