Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-22
CUBAN GOVERNMENT
TO PENSION WIDOW
OF NOTED FILIBUSTER
Wife of Capt. Sam Hughes.
in Need Now, to Be
Helped by Country Hus-
band Befriended.

cuba Will be asked within n few do,.-
to pay part of the debt she o,yod a.
the late Captain Sam Hughes tho Lin-
OF hhbusters, whose gun-runnlng exnedI.
tions, more than anything else. mod.
possible the freedom of tho is,os,
Philadelphians who were warm non
sonal friends of Captain Hughes dur,,-
his filibustering days and later WHOM =.
was captain of the port here, have "sur-
gested to the Cuban Government that
pension be granted his widow. ,eft
destitute because Captain Hughes wa,
generous and improvitent sailor.
when Captain Hughes died on .1u,,,
ID, last, he left behind him onlv un,o,.
bills. He had made several fortunes d,,r
ing his flibusterng days. His widow ha.
been an invalid for several years. sbs
went to Thornmount, Green Island Re-
fast, Ireland, year ago to visit Cant,,,
Hughes mother. The mother of the fill
buster died two months before him but
MRS Hughes has remained there at RAJ
fast. She does not know that the Cuban
Government probably will grant her a
pension Friends recently learned tbat
the captain left nothing for his widow.
SUGGESTS CUBAN AID
George F. Sproule, secretary of tho
Board of Commissioners of Navigation
an intimate friend of Captain Hughes for
70 years. suggested the idea of n Cuban
pension to j. ]. Luis, Cuban Consul here
who frequently served as agent for the
Cubans in the flibustering.
The suggestion" was sent two weeks
ago to General Emilio Nunez, the most
powerful member of the present Cuban
Cabnt and President Menocars princInaI
advisor. General Nunez was the man
to whom Captain Hughes sold the arms
ana ammunition in 1906, 1907 and 1908.
sometimes directly and sometimes through
Mr.. Luis.
"Mr' Sproule came to me with the adj
dress of Mrs. Hughes" said Mr.. Luis
today The Cuban Government wanted
TO send her letter of condolence Mr..
sproule said that a pension would bs
better, as Captain Hughes had left moth
ing was surprised, but was glad to
INFORM General Nunez of Mr.. Sproule's
suggestion.
General Nunez was commander of the
army Captain Hughes supplied with
arms and ammunition. He is now Sec
retary of Agriculture and president NJ
l.
could do nothing officially, but General
Nunez will probably arrange it."
Mr.. Sproule today explained that
Simon Gratz and Dr. j. Cajetan Flvnn,
OF 1925 North Sixth street, also were
parties to the Suggestion" Dr.. Flynn
was Captain Hughes physician for
many years.
The flibuster whose memory Cubn
VIII honor in substantial manner was
porn In Belfast, and went to sea when
boy on the Samuel Louther ships
ifom Belfast. He came here in 1879 and
shipped with the Merchants and Miners
Line on the old steamer William Crane.
lie commanded at various times the
oceana, Bernard, Bermuda, which was
believed to have been blown up at pier
u In the Delaware River In August,
1900 and the Laurada. the ship in which
he engaged in flibustering. The Lau.
rada was named after his two daugh-
teFs' Laura and Ada, who are now dead.
MADE CAPTAIN OF PORT.
At the outbreak of the Cuban war
Captain Hughes enlisted in the Amerl.
can navy and was given the rank OF
lieutenant. He performed valuable
services, as he was familiar with the
West Indies waters He commanded
the Bermuda after the war, and after
1t sank he accepted the position of chief
officer of the United States transport
Justine, under command of Captain
Scott. He was later appointed com.
mander. When he came back to this
country he was appointed captain of
the port of Philadelphia.
Captain Hughes widow came from the
same seafarng people as the tilihuser.
She has two brothers living, Captain
Thomas A, Parkhill, a retired shipmaster
of Belfast, and James Parkhill, of Phila4
delphia.
She was with her husband ON several
of his ttlibustering expeditions. on one
occasion, when the United States author-
iiies We're suspicious of Captain Hughes.
she accompanied him when he left Phila-
delphia with Il cargo of arms and am-
The port officials, although
they had been ordered to watch him,
let him pass out the Breakwater when
they saw his wife ON deck She was sent
back when the Bahamas were reached
General Nunez is aware of the serv-
Ices which Mrs, Hughes herself rendered
the Cuban Government and the cuban
consul here is daily expecting a favora-
bic reply to the letter he sent his Cow
ernment, In the meantime. the old friends
NofY