Source:Palma-appeal/content
COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY W. R. HEARST.
HAVANA, Aug. 23.—The situation here to-night is desperate. The revolt has extended over the entire island and the forces of the revolutionists are being augmented every hour. Fighting is going on from Pinar del Rio, in the west, to Santiago, on the east—the entire length and breadth of the island.
The government forces, utterly unable to cope with the situation, are being driven back at all points, and President Palma realizes at last his administration is face to face with civil war, in deadly earnest.
Palma Appeals to United States.
To-night, driven to desperation by the rising tide of the revolts, President Palma made an appeal to President Roosevelt for machine guns and soldiers from the United States to put down the revolution. This appeal was made after a long conference in the palace, participated in by the chief officials of the government. It is the first admission from President Palma that the situation has reached the point where the life or the death of the Cuban republic is in the balance.
The first burst of exultation over the death of General Bandera, who was killed fighting within 15 miles of Havana this morning, was of short duration. It was learned within a few hours after the death of the general and two soldiers with him was a mere outpost and that to-night that great body of his followers are closing in on the gates of the city and menacing the railroads and other lines of communication with the interior.
In Santa Clara province the insurgents have a force of more than a thousand well-armed men, to which there is being continually added new recruits. In this force are some of the most influential men of the province, and it is evident that they are acting in concert with the rebels in the neighboring sections of the island.
Insurgents Hold Two Towns.
The prosperous town of San Luis, in Pinar del Rio, and San Juan del Martinez, the terminus of the western railway, are in the hands of the insurgents. The inhabitants of both places welcomed the rebels.
Fully 1,500 men, under the command of General Pino Guerra, dominate the situation at Pinar del Rio. They are moving eastward slowly, and are already threatening the important city of Pinar del Rio itself. Contrary to report, they are well armed with rifles recently brought from the United States and landed by flilibustering [sic] expeditions in various secret places along the southern coast. They outnumber the rural guards three to one.
Practically the same state of affairs exists in every province in the republic. Everywhere armed bands of insurgents are hurrying to common points of concentration and the inadequate forces of the government find it impossible to stem the revolutionary tide.
Palma Lives in Fear.
In Havana, the populace is in a feverish state of excitement. Many of them are in strong sympathy with the rebels and it is feared that when the proper time comes they will rise and join in the rebellion.
President Palma remains in the palace day and night, surrounded by a heavy guard of soldiers and detectives. He lives in constant fear of assassination.
Insurgent's Threat.
General Manager Livesey of the Western railroad this afternoon received a message from Pino Guerra, forwarded from San Juan de Martinez, saying:
"I am in possession of your station. If any more troops are sent over the Western railroad, I will blow up the bridges and destroy your property, irrespective of international complications or any other consideration."
Mr. Livesey did not answer the dispatch, but immediately forwarded it to the palace.
The Western railroad is a British corporation.
It is increasingly evident that the backbone of the insurrection in the western part of the province of Havana has been broken. Even had the death of General Bandera not hastened that consummation, the members of his band were making for their homes, as the pursuit of the mounted rural guards, day and night, had sickened them of an insurrectionary career.
Pino Guerra is a high-class leader, with an intelligent following, and his occupancy of San Juan de Martinez to-day quickly following his capture of San Luis yesterday, enables him to seriously threaten the provincial capital of Pinar del Rio.
The body of the negro general, Quentin Bandera, the most daring insurgent in Havana province, lies in the morgue at Havana to-day flanked by those of two mulatto comrades, all frightfully gashed by the long, heavy machetes of the rural guards who ended their careers.
The arrival of Bandera's body here was the first news of the fight in which he met his death. The conflict occurred at the Silveria farm, near Punta Brava, 15 miles from Havana. A detachment of 38 mounted rural guards, under Captain Ignacio Delgado and Lieutenant Martinez, were searching throughout the night for Bandera's party. At 2 o'clock this morning the guards were breaking through a wire fence at the edge of the Silveria farm, when they were suddenly fired upon by Bandera's followers, 20 in number. The guards rushed upon the insurgents, but with the exception of their chief and his two leading comrades they all succeeded in getting away. Not one of the guards was wounded.
Was Not to Be Captured.
It has been an open secret among the rural guards that Bandera would never live to be tried for treason, his death being the main object of the government forces operating in Havana province.
The man who yesterday evening attempted to assassinate General Emilio Nunez, governor of Havana province, as the latter was entering his home, gives the name of Luis Morales, and says he is a resident of Havana. He does not attempt to justify his act.
The Liberals are intensely antagonistic to Governor Nunez, who was a political protege and a bosom friend of the late General Maximo Gomez, but who withdrew his following from the Liberal convention during the last illness of Maximo Gomez, on failing to secure the nomination to the presidency.
The non-arrival here of General Jose Miguel Gomez, who was arrested August 21 at his home, Sancti Spiritus, is explained by the fact that the prisoner was transferred at Cinefuegos to a steamer bound for Patabano and that he will be brought from Patabano to this city.
O'Farrill Quits.
Secretary of State and Justice O'Farrill, acting minister of the interior, definitely resigned from the cabinet to-day. General Freyre Andrade, speaker of the house and formerly secretary of the interior, is slated for the interior portfolio temporarily. General Andrade is one of the most vigorous supporters of the government.
To-day he was personally superintending the arming and supplying of the recruits for the rural guards. He said:
"The situation is pretty bad in some respects, but I see no reason why we should not control it, and we certainly shall control the situation."
Censorship Advised.
The government has not made public the news of the capture of San Juan de Martinez by insurgents. The editor of the "Post," which paper published an extra containing this news, was summoned before Governor Nunez and censured for exciting the public by publishing sensational news unfavorable to the government. Governor Nunez declared that he would recommend to President Palma the establishment of a censorship. It is not believed Palma will approve.
NEW YORK, Aug. 23.—It is reported that the Steamer Esperanza, which sailed for Cuba to-day, carries in her hold a complete field battery of artillery consigned to the Cuban government. Captain Luis More, of the Cuban artillery, who has been in this country with his wife on leave of absence, was hurriedly recalled to Havana and sailed to-day by the Esperanza. He caught the steamer only after an exciting effort, being obliged to charter a tug, which overhauled the steamer down the bay.
Among the other passengers on the steamer was a son of General Jose Miguel Gomez, former governor of Santa Clara province and leader of the Liberal party, who is under arrest for complicity in the insurrection.
TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 23.—A cable dispatch to-day from one of the largest exporting firms in Havana says the revolution is assuming grave proportions.
