New-York tribune., 1912-03-03
SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOR MARCH 3. 1912
A CAPTAIN UNAFRAID
Continued from page 9

special officer at the station arrest him on
charge of VagranCy-or on general pnncl-
pies, il made no difference which. The prlS-
oncr was carefully searched at the police sta
ton, and his room was also ranSacked. II
ANYTHING was found TO indicate that he
might be a detective, he was convicted OF
vagrancv without ceremony or delay, and
sent TO the rockpilc or the turpentlne farm
for thirty 70 ninety days, without the option
of a fine. In aggravated cases conspiracy
charges were framed up against the de-
tectiveS, the proof was promptly produced
in abundance. and they were sent away Tor
rs long As six months, at very hard labor.
II there be any who profess TO feel shocked
bv a frank statement OF these methods, let
them remember that the CubanS were hght-
ing an enemy that was still living in the
Dark Ages in its principles OF governing It's
colonies. an enemy that resorted unheSl-
tatinglv 20 bribery and murder by wholesale
and one from whose brutality all CubanS had
suffered. directly or indirectly. They were
fighting. too, with the fury Of desperation IN
what they believed 10 be a final effort TO
achieve their freedom: for they realized that
if thl, revolution was suppressed It would be
followed by policy of determination so
complete that a new generation must come
up before the fires OF liberty could again be
lighted
Though it may seem that Fritot's way OF
dealing with the men who were sent TO spy
on him was high handed and unlawful, he
was in reality generous with them; Tor he
had but To raise his hand, and any of the de-
tcctivcS, or all OF them, would have been
lvnchcd i'm FIVE minutes. No fear OF punish
ment deferred him from going to this eX-
trcmc: for public sentiment would have
unanimously approved the lynchingS. 1t IS
supposed that all is fair in love and war !;
and if the CubanS sometimes went beyond
the letter of the written law, II can never be
tuthfully claimed that they were nearly so
lawlcSS, so trcachcrouS, or so murdcrouS as
the SpaniardS.
IAMES FLOYD. a Jacksonville pilot who
y had masters license, was placed IN COM
mand of the DauntlcsS, and in day or two
she left Brunswick and proceeded leiSurcly
down the coast to the mouth of the Satilla
River, sixty miles north Of Jacksonville, oS-
tcnSbly in search of wreck. Under her
coaStwiSe license she could 60 anywhere
without regard to the custom house rcgula-
tions governing ships bound for foreign
parts. Flovd was a negro; but IN every
thing except his skin he was white, as well as
clever and shrcwd.
As soon as Rubens tclegraphed us that the
DauntlcSs had been purchased, things began
to move rapidly. Two-thrds of the arms
were ordered to New York at once; the
other third, which filled two cars, was
shipped to Jacksonville by express. The
Laurada, which was reported to be going to
Jamaica for fruit, left Philadelphia with in
StructionS to proceed to Barnegat Light.
forty miles south Of New York, and await
orders. The arms she was to carry were
brought down on the Bridgeport boat and
allowed to remain in the vessel when the rest
of her cargo was unloaded.
Late in the afternoon, followed as usual by
two detectives, | went to New York and
drifted aimleSsly about for two or three
hours. Soon after dark | was lounglng
around City Hall Park, when a carriage,
which had ordered TO meet me at that par
ticular spot at that precise moment, IN
which were DR.. Castillo and General Carlos
Roloff. Secretary of War in the revolutionary
Government, drove up. | jumped IN, and
we were driven away before the SleuthS had
time to think. There was no other disen-
gagged carriage in sight and before they
could find one We were out OF sight.
We were driven, at a lively gait and by
roundabout route, to the Bridgeport Line
wharf, and the big swinging doors were
i, I,,t-,J oc coon qS we were inside