The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 15, 1898, Page 17

SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, .MAY 15, 1898. 2% ESCAPED FROM SPANISH DUNGEONS TO JOIN OUR VOLUNTEERS. Thrilling Story of J. W. Masters, who is now encamped with tnz volunteers at the Presidio, en route to the Philippine Islands. ; | was captured, escaped and joined the filibustering expediticns. After a number of daring adventures he was recaptured and taken to Madrid for trial. With the aid of Lilla Moreita, he escaped from his dungeon and fled to Mexico. When war was declared he promptly volunteered and is now on his way tc the front to fight the Spaniards again. 35 That is what I en- listed for and that is what I am going to have. Once I fought for Cuba in Cuba, but Cuba is free now and hereafter I will fight for the United States and revenge.” The speaker was J. W. Master, pri- vate of Company D, First Infantry Vol- unteers, at present stationed at the Presidio preparatory to being sent to Manila. Master was one of the first to vol- unteer under Maceo at the beginning of the Cuban revolution. He is a man who looks every inch a soldier and a fighter. He stands a full six feet in height, 1s broad in proportion and has muscles on his arms that stand out like knots on a rope. He is thoroughly hardened to the work that is before him and knows more about what he is going to face than any man in his company. He iz the only man in the regiment who has r experienced Spanish cruelty and in the war to free Cuba. Fey s through the or- deals that } ‘n his and fewer still are willing to e the possibility of undergo 1 a second time. But Master is not afraid, even though his body is ered with scars, inflicted while he was imprisoned in Spanish dungeons. He has been fighting against Spain for four y and is willing to fight four years more if necessary for his revenge. “Don’t think I am bloodthirsty,” con- tinued Master, lying back on his pallet of straw in his tent at the Presidio, “for if any man had been through what I have he would feel the same way. No man can realize just the amount of incarnate deviltry there is in a Spaniard until he has liveq among them during war times. “The cause of their fiendighness is more than I can comprehend, for in times of peace the Spaniards are pleas- ant enough to get along with. But when they get angry they seem to lose all control of themselves and become veritable savages. I think the fact is that they are not really civilized. They only think they are. Talk about the villainies of the North American In- dians—they are not a bit worse than the Spaniards. I have seen worse sights in Cuba on the Spanish army’s trafl ny soldier ever saw among the devilish Apaches. “The word ‘butcher’ does not fitly describe the Spanish soldier. On a few occasions we Cubans had the gooa fortune to surprise parties of Spanish soldiers while they were engaged in games of torture, such as cutting out an insurgent’s stomach while the man was alive. And I tell you we made short work of Mr. Spanish soldier right then. “How did I come to fight for Cuba? “That is easy to answer. I saw that the cause was just and felt it my duty to help a down-trodden people gain their liberty. “The trouble broke out in the spring of '94. At that time I was working in Havana at my trade. 1 am an Ameri-~ can engineer and machinist. Of courss there had been talk of rebellion.for a long time, but the fight began all of a sudden. “I am not exactly certaln of the dats, but one evening Maceo made a speech in Havana and recited the wrongs un- der which the people were trying to live. He asked for volunteers to fres Cuba from the yoke of Spain. Of course such bold words roused the authorities and they tried to suppress him. Theres were few soldiers in Havana at the time, or he would have been arrested and shot. “As it was Maceo left town and sent out circulars asking men to join him in an insurrection. He didn’t have to ask very many times. Men came from miles around. “I was one of the first to sign the roll for ‘Cuba Libre.’ My name was about the third from the top. It would have bheen first if I could have got to the book sooner. . “Qur struggles began on the first day. As soon as it was known in Ha- vana what Maceo was doing a troop of soldiers was dispatched to arrest us. But they didn’t find us. We had taken to the country and were engaged in getting recruits in such sections as were friendly to us. “We had not much to offer the poor fellows in the way of worldly goods. But we spoke the magic word, ‘Free- dom,” and that brought thousands un- der our banner even though they knew it meant hardship, hunger and perhaps death. “My first detail work was carrying dispatches. For some months I went SR Masters was among the first in Cuba to rise with General Maceo against Spanish misrule. He \ji ! | KNEW L WAS it hrpayE D across the country between Havana and the insurgent camp unmolested. Then I acted as scout about four months. I went into all of places and kept our army fully posted on the movements. of the Spanish forces. “In all this time I did very little fighting. But, to be sure, there was not very much to do. Real hostilities had not yet commenced. “My career as a scout came to an end through treachery. A boy who had been our friend was bribed by the Spanish to-betray all he knew. Part of his information was the fact that I was a scout. They promptly offered a reward for my capture. “It hanpened that I was inside the Spanish lines at the time. The Span- ish soldiers were between me and my companions. “Had I not accldentally seen the placard offering a reward for my cap- ture I surely would have been ar- rested. As it was I was on my guard. I tried to find a place in the lines where I could get through, but there was no break and I knew I could not make it. “When things reached this stage I suddenly made up my mind that I would go to Havana and boldly leave the country. The possibility of my do- ing this never entered the heads of the Spaniards, for notice of the discovery of my identity had not then been sent in the direction of Havana. So I reached the city easily and boarded a steamer for the United States without even being suspected. 1 even con- versed with the Spanish officers there and told them some things about the insurgents that pleased them greatly. “At this time they seemed to think that the whole uprising was a sort of farce. They laughed at the idea and said that the insurrection could be put down at any time—just as soon as the Spanish officers had made up their minds to stamp it out in earnest. “Although I got out of Cuba all right, 1 had no idea of giving up Cuba’s cause of freedom. I turned to the work of filibustering. This was not a difficult thing to do, as men were wanted for the work and expeditions were on foot all the time. “The first expedition that I went on was just like taking a pleasure cruise. ‘We loaded a small steam schooner at a whart in one of the Atlantic cities, cleared h:)dprnper order and left with- out anybody saying a word. We had hundreds of ritles and thousands of pounds of ammunition on board, which passed muster as canned meat, tea and household utensils “The cargo was landed as peacefully as if there was no such thing as a revo- lution going on in Cuba. “Our second expedition had trouble in getting away. Our contraband cargo was known to be in town and was be- ing constantly watched by the authori- ties, so that we could not get it aboard. ‘We had a-good load of provisions, but we needed guns and pistols and pow- der and bullets. “Finally we had to resort to strategy. We cleared the vessel for a place in the West Indies, sailed to sea a few days and turned about at night and sneaked back to within a few miles of the har- bor and sent a boat ashore. “Everything was found to be just as we wished. The authorities believing we had gone for good had left no watchman around the building where the ammunition was stored, and the night was as dark as pitch. We hired a tug, and in less than one hour we had our stuff aboard. The rest was easy. The munitions of war were put on board our vessel at sea and the tug sneaked back to her moorings without even waking up the policeman. We then went to the port for which we had cleared, dumped a few sacks of rice on the dock, authenticated our papers and cleared for the place from which we had started. “But we didn’'t go straight back there. We went around by Cuba and a quiet little cove that we knew of and where we were sure a group of insur- gents would be waiting to receive the supplies we had on board. “We had almost reached the cove when a Spanish gunboat saw us; and we had to put back to sea. It was a lively chase, but we managed to keep ahead of her. At dark we turned about and made a circle of about a hundred miles, so that we reached the cove ear- 1y the next morning. “We landed our stuff all right. While wé were at work We peeped through the trees and saw the Spanish gunboat that had chased us the day before go steaming slowly back, most likely won- dering where we were. > “On this expedition it was necessary for me to join the land party to convey the goods to the insurgent camp. The trip was one long series of skirmishes. There was fighting nearly every day, and one day I missed my companions and was captured by the Spaniards “Some of the soldiers wanted to shoot me at once, but others said it would be necessary to go through the proper form and “try” me first. This was to be done in the morning. “That night I managed to get one hand and arm loose, grab a sword from the guard as he passed me and lay him out before he knew what struck him. I then cut my feet loose and made my way to my companions. ‘“We finally got our goods safely to the insurgent camp. On the way back to the steamer, which was waiting for us in the cove, I saw some of the most awful sights that ever any man beheld. The Spanish soldiers had just been over the trail and their way was marked by horror. The sights were positively too horrible to describe. Whenever I re- member them I have an overpowering feeling for revenge. “We got back to our boat all right and soon reached the United States, and tled up at our old wharf as inno- cently as could be. “On the next filibustering expedition there was moretroublein getting away. ‘We could have got our cargo easily enough, but a close watch was kept on our boat, as the authorities were now positive of the business we were en- gaged in. But there was not a particle of proof against us. ““This time our captain thought it ne- cessary to go into drydock, and when we got there our contraband cargo was secretly waiting for us. It did not take us long to get it aboard and get back to the wharf. The officers were at the wharf watching us closely and exam- ined every package we took on board. They did not know that the contraband stuff was already stored in the hold. “The rest of our trip was much like our preceding ones. We landed our cargo, took it inland, did the usual amount of fighting and got away safely. “On our fourth expedition I was cap- tured again. This time we loaded our vessel and got away without any trouble. We even reached our landing place all right and had part of our cargo. ashore. Then suddenly we saw a Spanish gunboat heading for us and knew that our only hope lay in putting out to sea and making a run for it. This was on June 17, 1896. “Leaving all but fourteen of our crew of forty-one to guard the cargo we steered for the open sea and suc- ceeded in keeping out of range for about seven miles. Then we had to CAPTURED mTHE_SPAMARDJ} TORTURED IN A SPANISH DINGEON, g <o o 50 surrender or be sunk. So we surren- dered and were taken to Matanzas and thrown into horrible dungeons. “‘After being ironed in Matanzas for about two weeks we were taken to Morro Castle, where we found things even worse. Kach man was kept alone constantly in the dark, damp cells, un- Ventilated and without any plumbing. We were given no bedding whatever and cleanliness was absolutely impos- flil‘:ix& ‘We were forced to simply live in ““While imprisoned here our only food was tortillas and foul water. day the guards came in to tie us so the head guard could venture in and inspect us. This individual had a habit of prodding me with his sword and I carry several wounds to-day, the result of his cruelty. “Just let me ever lay hands on him while I am able to defend myself. I will have revenge to the utmost. “Through some diplomatic arrange- ment all we prisoners were sent to Madrid, the intention being to try us over there and do the executing in the presence of the people so as to make a general impression that the adminis- tration was really doing something in the Cuban war. “But for some reason the trial never came off. Nor were we allowed com- munication with the ‘We asked to see the American Minis- ter, but were only laughed at for mak- ing the request. “We lay in this Madrid prison for months, each day our hopes growing less and less. But we were not with- out friends and they were working strenuously for us all the while. Cuban friends were doing all in their power to free us. They did not resort to any diplomacy efther. “In this case our good angel was a young Cuban girl named Lella Moreita. At the time she was only 19 years old and filled with enthusiasm for the free- dom of her country. No work was too hazardous for her and be it said she has never failed yet. “In order to release us her first work was to go to Madrid, where she was & perfect stranger, and find out our whereabouts. She passed herself off as a young girl from the country and nobody suspected that she was not Spanish. “After locating our prison she pro- ceeded to get acquainted with our guards. With the night watch she be- Every . outside world. * Sl LUNTEER AT P came very friendly and often came to the prison at night to have a chat with him. “He pointed out our cells. When she had all the information she desired she laid her plans. “One night she visited him and aften a short time bid him good-by. He thought she had left the prison, but she only went down the corridor and con- cealed herself in a corner. There she waited until the guard, as Spanish guards will, bobbed his head and fell into a doze. “Then Lella stole up gently and held a bottle of chloroform under his nose. In a few moments he was stupefied. “Hastily taking the keys from the senseless guard our brave delivere: soon unlocked the prison doors and I us out to liberty. She had everything prepared for us, and soon had us safely and comfortably housed. “Of course, our escape was discov- ered the next day. The guard was sent to prison for a number of years. No particular search was made for us because a steamer for America had left the very night we escaped from the prison, and it was thought we were surely on board. “So we were forced to make quite a visit in Madrid. We left the city un- der assumed names and in the most public manner. “It was thought best that I should not go back to Cuba, so I was sent to Central America, where I remained for some time. I afterward went to the City of Mexico, where I worked several months and earned enoush money to come to the United States. My face became so well known to the Spanish authorities that it was considered im- possible for me to do any more work for Cuba on the island, and it was decided that I should wait awhile. I worked in Los Angeles and also in San Diego. I was in San Diego when war was declared some weeks ago. About this time I heard that my de-~ liverer, Lella Moreita, was in Patos Negas, Mexico, where she is to remain until Cuba becomes a republic, so that she can get the reward she deserves. “When America called for volunteers to free Cuba you may be sure I lost no time in enlisting. I came to San Francisco the first thing. I hope that we will soon be fighting, for when that time comes I will get revenge for what I have suffered at the hands of the Spaniards.” %