The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-11-12
FORMER NEWBERRIAN IN
'|REPUBLIC OF UNREST
MIR. VI. II. DAY WRITES INTEREST.
INGLY FROM NICARAGUA.
Witnesses a Battle and Hears Bullets
Hum-See Great POtentialities for
Little Republic.

J Mauagua, Nicaragua, Oct. "a
Thinking you might be interested in
news from this section of the globe, I
will try to tell you few of my ex-
periences in this beautiful little repub-
lie of unrest
On arriving here from New York in
August, landed on the west coast at
a place called Corinto, one of the larg-
est shipping points in this section.
The entrance into the harbor was like
the unfolding of beautiful picture,
and it was hard to realize that the
scene was real. We landed at p. m,
and got train into .Le interior at
p. m. About 8 the next morning we
arrived at the city of Leon, one of the
strongholds of the Insurrectcs, who
had full charge of the railway lines
for hundred miles, and who halted
our train until we had proved to their
entire satisfaction that we carried no
arms for the Federal army. This con-
dition prevailed all along the route we
were travelling, the Insurrectos having
full charge of the situation They are
iputting up a good fight, and have
| plenty of ammunition and guns, of the
most modern manufacture. These In
surrectos have somewhere between 81
900 and 10000, while the eFderals
have $1,000 or more. AS a rule the
InsWrectos are poor shots, and know
very little about artillery. They have
French and German guns, and gener-
ally purchase artillery and machine
guns from an outside power and get
natives of the country from which they
are purchased to work them, so that it
is not uncommon to find soldiers of
fortune on both sides. 1t is good to
see English faces and hear the English
tongue in the jungIes of Central Amer
lea.
About two weeks ago I was out in
one of the rubber districts. sight
seeing, and had started back to the
Railroad We had become somewhat
! confused as to the road to take, and
with the assistance of several '~lounted
patrole we came to a forked trail
which proved to be just in the rear OF
one of the federal outposts. Our
guides were entirely at sea as to where
We were, and were unfamiliar with the
! lingo of the natives. We we're just
wondering where We could get infor-
nation which would help is to find
our way out Of the jungle, when a
| voice from one of the trenches close
at hand said, What you want dar,
white folks, l knows all about desc
yere roads," and there came into view
big, good-natured American negro,
the real old South Carolina kind. He
wore the uniform of captain and was
hardly grown Later on | met boy
/ from Mississippi who was command
! ing a platoon of machine guns
| On October and 4 l was witness to
one cf the strongest battles fought so
far. I was about 1000 yards from the
! line of fire. l heard the screech of
the inch gun and the buzz of the
! Mauser, which sounded wicked, can
! tell you. This was at the battle of
| Masaya, and the Federals were the
victors. There were about 1000 Insur-
rectos defending the city and between
| $500 and 1000 Federals. From cur
position we commanded fine view
of the city and surroundings and saw
the fighting The city put up strong
fight. but was forced to yield. Later
in the day | went through the town
and it found everything in a sad plight
! The United States has quite large
force here and they have full charge
of the railroad and all foreign prop
erty.
There are great possibilities of de-
velopment in this country. The cl-
mate and seasons are suitable for
most anything in the grain line, and
cotton also grows, abundantly Any
crop that requires much labor is ia
booed here, as the natives, as in all
tropical climates, are opposed to work.
The land is fertile and there is any
| quantity of fine fruit. There are ex-
tensive cattle ranches, and also mines
of gold. Most of these are owned by