Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-18

COHHHHe0 JIOW
was on information furnished by him that
she was detained, an hour before she was
due to sail. Her collection of hostile hard
ware was put ashore under guard, and was
not released until May, 1898; and to pre-
vent any possibility of the expedition get
ting away the ship also was seized and dep
uty 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, twelve FOUNDER
Hotchkiss field gun, fifteen hundred revol-
vers, two hundred short carbines, one thou
sand pounds of dynamite, twelve hundred
machetes, and an abundance of ammunition.
Goldfish" and medicines
General Garcia, who was one of the few
men who have ever escaped from the terrible
Spanish prison at Ceuta, Morocco, had made
several attempts to get to Cuba and take a
hand in the war, and this last disappoint-
ment completely disheartened him, as it did
most of the Cubans. There was still more
trouble in store for him; for on March 13,
nearly two months after the seizure of the
cargo, General Garcia, Benjamin J. Guerra
treasurer of the New York revolutionary
delegation), Bernardo ]. Bueno, John D.
Hart (owner of the Bermuda), Captain John
Brabazon (master 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 to
Cuba. They were arrested at once and
placed under bonds of twenty-five hundred
dollars EACH This discouraging develop
ment so added to their anxieties that it
made them desperate.
THE next day, March IA, which was Sat-
urday, Hart sent for me and asked me
to take command of the expedition. He ex-
planned the situation in detail, and did not
attempt to conceal its dangers, as they ap-
same business before, l knew more about
that part of it than he did. He said the
Cubans were extremely depressed by the
continued disasters that treachery had
brought upon them, and that unless this ex-
petition could be cleared and safely landed
he feared they would be forced to abandon
their fight for liberty. He paid me the COM
pliment of expressing confidence that l
could perform the task. General Garcia, he
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 a
large cargo of arms, would put new life into
IIlc IcVOlullOu IlC OuClSd llSC HullulSd
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
teresting feature of it. Any sort of filibus-
tering expedition would have tempted me
away from prosaic plotting, provided it
offered any reasonable amount of adventure;
but, above and beyond my natural inclina-
ton in that direction, my sympathies were
strongly with the Cubans and 1 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 overtures.
"When will you be ready to start?" he in
quired.
am ready now" told him. "Clear the
ship for Vera Cruz, Mexico, and we will sail