The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 3, 1900, Page 1

v must it b pe soon answe t as n- terview with the rse, 1 con- w 1o the cs ated that the ed to escape Porfirio Diaz, e nar er, and not Dr. de la 2 A to de- T ented, but - e couid not piace sen t could station an ©f the boat, where he the room oceu- seemed satis- 3¢ he withdrew. gave me Strict orders not I’ to interfere with the p. I told Diaz the resuit of this interview and he said ‘Well, what are you going to o now? I replied that Scerisy ;;\s =\ % be to us . IHE CLoSEy . strengtn and endurahce to lock him in the wardrobe room and create the impression that d overboard to account for ppearance. He would then have a opportunity to land at Vera Cruz plained to him that the wardrobe was s0 small that he could neither stand erect nor down, but that it was the only reasonably safe place of hiding, as the secret would then be known to us only He agreed to this plan and said his motto was ‘Fortuna audax juvat.’ “During the three days we lay off Tam- pico Diaz was Sick with a high fever, the result of being In the water so long. Za- mora, the American doctor, who was really his aid-de-camp, and I watched his door continually and insisted that the patient was Dr. de la Boza and not the famous general. We did what we could to get him well enough to be moved be- fore we left Tampico. “At the end of the third day, all the soldiers having been taken aboard, no- tice was given that the ship would leaye the following morning. The night was terribly stormy and the Mexican officer dotng sentry duty in the storm invariably ran to the lee side for protection when- ever a gust of wind and rain swept the decks. 1 counted the time it took him to return to his post and decided that it T 10, e I S ,_lbl[fl/ oy Rory I E/R CAYONETS THROLUGH 771 AT zn EXICAN; Py L) 2247 AT n ot i, .- L 51’/%? oa was sumetently long ror Diaz to-Tun from his room. which was away aft, to mine, which was adjoining the pilothouse for- ward. Diaz was strong enough by this time to be up and was dressed in a sult of my clothes, which I had carried to him during the previous day piecemeal. Short- 1y after midnight, having first ascertained that ail the officers were either ‘muy ocu- pado’ or asleep, I thrust my hand into Diaz's door and drew him out while the ry was running to shelter and we suc- ceeded in reaching my room unseen. “I locked him in the closet and went to find the American doctor. He was in the smoking-room watching the officers play- ing monte. I signaled him to follow me outside and told him that Diaz was hid- den In a safe place, for him to throw a life preserver overboard and lle in bed the next morning till some one should discover the gpbsence of the general and find his clothes in a heap on the floor and that a life preserver was missing.. The doctor never asked where Diaz was hid- den, but cheyed to the letter. “That night when I retired I took Diaz from the closet and made him lie on the bed and rest. At 4 o'clock he insisted upon returning to his hiding place. I Scarcely” undressed and went to bed. 1y two hours had elapsed when. the whole ship was roused by the report that the ‘Pt brs hand through door and let the officers in. _greatly surprised at the sto think the man had done : hat I believed he must be biding somewhere D the ship, and if they would walt while I ressed I would help them search the ship haoroughly, word good. There was not a nook or eran- man sup- posed to be General Diaz had fumped overboard with a life preserver, The officers came at once to my room and wanted to apeak to me. I told the cabin voy, who was their epokesman, to the window, unlock the I pretended to be and sald I didn't anything so ras| They waited and [ made my ny in the hol@ which I did not make those officers look into. When we had finished they were completely worn out and satisficd that I had nothing to do with the escapc of the ‘crazy doctor." “It took three days to rench Vera Cruz, and" the greatest difficulty during that time was to get efeugh food for the pris- oner in the wardrobe. I had never been in’the babit of having meals served in my room, and cofisequently did not dare to do 80 now. Al z got to eat these three days was what I could slip into my pock- et unnoticed at table. But starvation was not the only hardship or'danger to be en- dured. The soidiers would run their bay- onets through the lattice blinds of the closet to' see if they‘could steal some of my clothes, and Diaz was in imminent danger of losing an eve by the process, the space being too small to permit dodging freely. But he never complained or ex- pressed the least fear or impatience. It was usually 11 o’clock at night before it was safe for him to come out of the closet, and he was thus compelled to stay in a cramped position for at leest fifteen hours without rest. I kept guard -while he slept till daybreak, then undressed and went to bed for an hour before the ship was astir. “For divers and sundry reasons I knew that a lady passenger, a Mexicana, knew that Diaz was hidden in my room. I told him my suspicion, and he agreed that we must find out how much she knew and where she stood. I went to her stateroom nd found her lying in her berth smoking a cigarette. I locked it; but she gave no sign. Then I ZOH’S«&E-D AFTER py, closed the window, lockea 1t, drew the curtain and sat down. After a pause she sald, ‘You took your time in coming.’ Re- cetving no response she sald, with the most intense feeling, ‘Do you suppose for one moment that I would betray the hero of my country? No, I would defend him with every drop of blood in my veins.’ No matter what I aid in reply to this. It was a tremendous relief. She asked me what she could do, and I told her to remain in her room for the rest of the journey, and when she was questioned at Vera Cruz to say that she was too ill to leave her berth, and therefore knew nothing of the whole affair. She swore to this very state- ment in Vera Cruz, not once, but twice, so untiring were the authorities in trylng to secure evidence. ? “The night Lefore Wwe reached Vera Cruz the colonel sent for me to come to his room. Aftér expressing his gratitude for.the many courtesies-which he and his men had received, he said he was sorry that ‘so bright a young man’ should have chosen to aid and abet the traitor, Gen- eral Porfirio Diuz, and that if T did not tell him where the rebel was hiding I would surely be shot. He first tried to rouse my gelf-interest, and failing then made an ap- peal in the interest of humanity, saying that in the civil war which was sure to follow the escape of Diaz thousands of innocent lives would be sacrificed. At the conclusion of this speech he asked wheth- er the man was really General Diaz or the ‘crazy doctor.’ I replied that he knew as well as I did that it was Diaz. and that if he had known how to do his duty he would have arrested the man in spite of the fact that the Havana was an Ameri- can vessel. 1 told him that he could have saluted the American flag afterward, and his own Government would have praised and promoted him. Instead he had al- lowed his man to escape. I aiso pointed out the fact that he had 900 armed men against the steamer's crew of fifty-two, and said I thought he was in greater dan- ger of being shot than I . “He turned pale. ‘What shall I do? ‘Why, I said, report that Diaz never was on the ship; that the rumor arose from _the fact that the Mexican who jumped sem| entered, closed the door.and . thought it was he. Forbid the under- . plac officers and 7 A BosT Was QICRT ce . sr of the mattier, and tell them that it was not General Diaz at all. You will thus escape censure, or ment. “Early the next morning we steaméd into Vera Cruz. The health officer was, of course, the first person to come on board. As he came up the steps I drew Zamora aside and whispered, ‘General Diaz is on board. Take the health officer’s boat and carry the news to General Enriquez and tell him to send some one immediately.’ Zamora up to this time supposed that Diaz bad drowned at Tampico, but he did not stop to ask needless questions or ex- press his joy. he just obeyed. General En- riquez was on the wharf when he landed, and in a few minutes a lighterman came alongside the Havana with a note from him telling me to send the box of arms with the bearer. I showed this note to Diaz and, we decided upon the following plan. He was to disguise himself in a suit of the house boatman's clothes which [ secured, follow me down into the steerage, help the stevedores roll a bale of cotton on the lighter which General Enriquez had sent and jump out with it into the lighter. I would watch and when that had been accomplished cast off the line and let the tide carry the lighter beyond reach. It would then be an easy matter for them to land. ‘“While we were talking a rap came at the door. Diaz leaped into the closet, and 1 opened the door to find the colonel there. He said he was willing to abide by the agreement of the night before, but that he had been authorized to offer me $50,000 in cash if I would show him by a sign where General Diaz was concealed. I told him that he knew the general had jumped overboard at Tampico, but added that I would not tell him even if I did know. ‘When this came to the ears of Lerdo he said that surely there had been a mistake, An American would do anything for $50,- 000; he would sell his own father for that t the lighter was in the right went 0 my room and took the future President from the wardrobe for After renearsing the part he was to play, he asked for a plece of paper and began to write. When I asked him what he was doing he said, ‘T can do as much for you as that colonel’ I took the paper and tore it into bits gnd told him that the colonel was only doing his duty, t he, Diaz, had no right to insult t I would not risk my iife for money. His eyes filled with tears and throwing his arms about my neck he said that we were brothers. “We were now ready. and began fhe last time. I opened the door n Spanish. He followed, u: ing gaft of the boatman. d the foot of the stairs the lighterman asked, “Where Is the box of arms? I pointed to the gen- The man sprang forward, raised the recognized him by the on his forehead. The overwhelmed with fear de his friend In the ed to come for him in three hours a cordon of sold 1 guard the boat and that no one could leave unnaticed and insisted upon his following out the origi- ral plan. T was the embodiment of nerve and c ed out the stratagem ex- actly as plar “Meanwhile embarked and command the ru was on board spr and all the offt the ship thorc lighterman was and bej soldiers were deing dls- spite of the colonel’s or that General Dias 1. The chief of polics s of the port searched aly. I turned over allthe general's effects to t chain whi 2s a proof that true. By t is chain I wear is that Diaz gave it tq me as & tude because it was the rloom in the family.”™ tely, made his way an army and » at Tecoac. He etter from this battle- im to come to Mexico. the reception he very chain. token of her grat most. cherts Diaz got a to Oaxaca on f defeated the forces wrote Mr. Coney A WIFE’'S YEAR OF SILENCE. cans as very singular tranig Azhderian, a oung Armenian whose book, ‘“The Turk and the Land of Halg.” has recently been published. “‘She utters never a word except when alone with her husband, untfl after the birth of ner first child. Then she is allowed to talk to her child. A little later she is per- mitted to converse with her mother-in- law; still later her own mother may again hear her voice, and before a great while she will speak in whispers to the young girls .of her household. She must not weave the house during the first year of her married life, except to attend chureh. Her discipline as a bride terminates after six years, but she will never again open her lips to a man unless he be her kins- man. Young girls are allowed to have a iberty of conduet that is in striking con- trast. They chatter freely and cheerfully with whom they please. “The Armenian woman differs radically from her Turkish sisters. Neither seclu- sion, nor polygamy, nor divorce darkens ner present or threatens Rer future. She Is not educated with her brothers, how- ever, as Am n girls. I remember how puzzled I was w I entered an Ameri- can collegs and saw girls seated among the boys in the classroom. “‘John,' 1 said to my neighbor, ‘what are the girls here for; to make the room look pretty? “It seemed ineredible that any think” a girl capable of lear along with her brother. It is. considered a dis- grace likewise for a man to walk publicly with a woman, even though she be his sister. She may entertain men callers, and of course, her face is never covered, like a Turkish woman's, but her mother or some older female relative is always present. They attend the same euter- tainments and church, but may not sit to- gether. The woman's seats in church ue‘gar(lllnned off and are in the rear. ;i hile among many old Arment: ilies parents contract for the their children while they are fanc#, in the majority of cases the young people are permitted to make their own selections, though always with the con- sent of their parents. Elopements, there- fore, are unknown. The marriage tie is sacred in Armenia, and death only can break it. If a person has an uncongenial companifon he must endure it with the same kind of patience he would endure a sore head, which, though he may try to cure, he will hardly cut off. ““With Turkish women their oniy end in this world is marriage. Accordingly girls are from their infancy rocked to sleep by their mothers with lullables of future husbands, handsome, courageous and wealthy. The regular age for marriage is from 12 to 15 years, but unusual wealth or physical attraction call for earlier con- tracts. Generally speaking, parents are pleased If they get a chance of betrothing their daughter at § or 6§, or al any rate before they reach 13 years. ' .o one could