Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-09

ment, spring of the following year
found O'Brien the master Of steamer
carrying arms to Hayti, where two
black generals were having falling
out. Thus, alternately flibustering
and plotting, passed away the eventful
years Of O'Brien's life until the year
of 1896, when he became famous.
Early March Of that memorable year
found the steamship Bermuda at an
chor in New York harbor. Watched by
suspicious eyes, her owner, master and
navigator indicted for violation of the
neutrality laws, her cargo of arms and
munitions Of war having been seized,
the vessel was at the disposal of Gem
eral Garcia, who was anxious to get to
Cuba to take hand in the revolution.
The vessel was empty. 1t looked black
for the cause Of Cuba Libre. Dynamite
Johnny O'Brien was sent for.
I'VE want you to get a cargo Of arms
on board" said the head Of the Cuban
Junta. You take command of the
Bermuda, and see that Garcia and his
staff are landed at some safe spot He's
going to forfeit his bond, provided you
can guarantee him safe landing In
Cuba" .a.-. ss. Hg..
O'Brien said little. He Is q man Of
few words. But he accepted the offer,
and broached his scheme. An agent
secretly In the employ Of the Junta-
chartered the Bermuda for voyage to
Vera Cruz, and within few days the
steamship was loaded with miscella-
neous assortment Of cases and bales
labeled furniture" machinery" dried
Goldfish" and the like.
After some two thousand rifles, a
Hotchkiss fieldpiece, a thousand re-
lvolvers, ton Of dynamite and large
quantity Of ammunition had been
smuggled aboard the Bermuda. Know
ing that government detectives were
watching him closely and that Gen.
eral Garcia and his party were be-
ing shadowed by department Of justice
men, 1t became necessary to exercise a
considerable amount of strategy.
Dodge the sleuths, take the train to
Atlantic City tonight" were O'Brien's
secret instructions to Garcia. I'll sail
before daybreak and pick you up of
the coast. You can get fisherman to
take you or to me-"
At o'clock next morning a launch
took O'Brien or to his new command,
and In q trice the anchor was weighed
and full head Of steam gotten up.
Speeding down the bay in a binding
snowstorm. Johnny managed to lose
three tugboats crowded with Deputy
United States marshals and reporters,
although It, seems one of them got
within hailing distance long enough to
inquire whether Garcia was aboard.
ASK the cook" was O'Brien's reply,
roared through a megaphone.
The next day General Garcia and
nearly hundred Cuban patriots were
picked up well off Atlantic City, but
the news of Dynamite Johnnys ven-
ture had been flashed abroad, and 1t
was well known that the Spaniards
would patrol the Cuban coast with re-
newed vigilance.
Doubling on his tracks, taking a
course which carried the Bermuda we'll
out of the way of routes more usually
travelled, o'Brien finally sighted the
Cuban shore. A treacherous native pi-
lot tried to betray him into Spanish
trap by misnaming lighthouse, but
the Irish American was too shrewd TO
be fooled. Giving five waiting Spanish
gunboats a wide berth, he headed for
the rendezvous, and within few hours
had landed the men. arms and stores.
Tears good in General Garcia's eyes
as he pressed OBrien's hand before
parting. A prisoner in the Spanish
rungeon at Ceuta. Off the coast Of Mo-
rocco, he had never expected to live to
see the land Of his birth again. After
his escape from prison and his journey
to the United States, many men had
promised to convey him safely to the
island. O'Brien alone had made good.
It is way he has.
Dodging the gunboats again and
making Central American port, Cap
tain Johnny took aboard cargo Of
bananas and headed for Philadelphia.
But there he ran afoul of the Federal
authorities, for he was indicted for fill
clustering. Later in New York the jury
disagreeing, Johnny was released but
the indictment was held over his head
for several years, a gentle reminder,
as 1t were, for him to "be good"
AS If such a document could scare
an O'Brien! Hf
Far from being good" and placed on
his mettle by President Cleveland's
second neutrality proclamation, Dyna-
mite Johnny with vengeance went
about slipping aid and arms to Cuba.
Pinkerton detectives employed by the
Spanish government, secret service
operatives and special treasury agents
in the employ Of the United States |
swarmed upon OBrien's trail and
shadowed the vicinage Of his home |
near New York without once ruffling |
his sunny disposition, although once,
It is recorded, Mrs. O'Brien scalded a |
sleuth whom she caught peeping |
through the closed shutters of her win
dow.
But Johnny came and went as he
pleased, lodging the men upon his
trail with the same ease that he was
wont to display in evading Spanish
gunboats in Cuban waters. Thus he
conceived and executed the brilliant
coup of buying the Laurada, thou
sand-ton steamship, and the ocean-go-
Ing tug Dauntless, and within three
months. landing upon Cuban shores
thousands upon thousands Of modern
rifles, tons Of dynamite, field pieces ga
lore, and millions of rounds of cart
ridges-all this right under the very
noses of the watching spies and gun
boats.
Indicted the second time for filibus-
tering, clever counsel secured Captain