The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-05-22


sixth birthday, lives white-headed'
Honhearted Captain John OBrlen'
hetter known to his thousands OF
friends as Dynamite Johnny. Still
vigorous, erect, his eyes as piercing
as in the days when he ran Hell
Cate. CAPTAIN John expects to live to
be a centenarian.
Of all Americans who had a hano
in the Cuban gun-running game be-
fore the Spanish American war; Dy-
Mantle Johnny was easily the brav-
est. the cleverest, the most trusted.
He fooled Weyler, he defed the Span
ish government, he evaded the train
ed sleuths employed by his own gov
ernment; in fact, he landed arms ana
ammunition Just where and when he
pleased. His filibustering trips kept
alive the Cuban revolutionary move
ment for years, kept it alive until the
one-sided naval duel off Santiago told
Spain that her Cuban colony was no
more.
Had it not been for Johnny
O'Brien's expeditions Spain would
have long since starved and whipped
the Cubans into submission. the
Maine would not have been sent to
Havana. In all probability there
would have been no war with SPAIN
and the red and yellow striped stand
ard would still float over MORO
Castle. In other words, Captain Dy-
Mantle Johnny OBrien might we'll be
named "O'Brien, the Liberator.
O'Brien was born in New York, on
the East Side, April 20, 1887, just 10
wears ago today. Near shipyards, the
water front and He'll Gate when it
was a dangerous and intricate pass
age. the young O'Brien quickly fell
in love with the water-learned to
handle a sailboat when he was but
10. At the age of 13 Johnny ran
away to sea; then followed his ap-
premiership on a pilot boat, course
in navigation, until the outbreak OF
the Civil war found him in command
of private yatch.
AS third officer of the Illinois,
young O'Brien had his first taste OF
real adventure for the Illinois was
one of a feet of Federal vessels sent
South to sink the Merrimac. That
the Illinois did not become famous
was no fault of her third officer. A
cautious admiral forebore giving Or
ders for the ramming and later, after
the Confederates themselves blew up
their vessel, the Illinois returned
North, and her naval officers were
retired from the service.
Then followed Johnny's first fill
clustering experience. On board
schooner loaded with arms for the
Confederates, he set sail for 'Mata-
moras. The arms were to be land.
ed at the Mexican port, and then
smuggled across the border at lels-
IRE. 1t was a successful trip, splced
with danger, a trip that O'Brien says
''put the germs of ilibustering fever
into my veins; and there the germs
grew and multiplied
Coasting for a few years after the
close of the Civil war, O'Brien finally
grew weary of the routine and be-
came a member of the He'll Gate
Pilots association. knowing the
dangerous passage so well, Captain
Johnny soon found himself the best
known and most-trusted pilot for
that tricky body of water.
Tiring of such work-all too tame
for an adventurer of John O'Brien' S
caliber-the Colombian revolution of
1855 gave the restless one an op-
portunity to become a dyed-ln-tne-
wool filibuster. Several thrilling
trips, during which O'Brien witness
ed the burning of the city of Colon,
followed, and then came the year OF
1888, when Captain John O'Brlen
earned his title, Dynamite Johnny. y
It seems that wealthy Cuban pur-
chased sixty tons of dynamite in New
York, and wanted it conveyed t.
Panama, where he had coal mine.
In those days, dynamite was rather
uncertain article. Shipmasters were
afraid of it. No owner could BE
found to lend his vessel for such a
hazardous trip. There was but one
way out of his difficulty, so the Gu
ban bought outright the Rambler, a
sizeable yacht. Then came the neces-
sity of finding a commander and
crew.
Grizzled mariners with masters
certificates shrugged their shoulders
and shifted their quids when the