Our War with Spain for Cuba's FreedomWhite, Trumbull
History
Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom
White, Trumbull
Cuba -- History; Spain -- Foreign relations -- United States; Spanish-American War, 1898; United States -- Foreign relations -- Spain
Spanish officials in Cuba have always denied the charge that they
made war on women, and have insisted that the tales of persecution
of the weaker sex that have reached this country were inventions
of the insurgents, published to gain sympathy for their cause. In
direct contradiction to this claim is the story of Evangelina
Cisneros, the niece of the president of the Cuban republic. Her
father, a Cuban patriot of prominence, was banished to the Isle of
Pines, and she showed her filial devotion by leaving a luxurious
home to share his exile. While there, her beauty attracted the
attention of a Spanish General, who tried by every means in his
power to gain her favor. It was natural that she should despise
anyone who wore the hated uniform of Spain, and, because she
rejected his advances, she was charged with conspiring against the
government, and sent to a jail in Havana.
Her unhappy fate attracted the attention of Mr. W. R. Hearst, the
proprietor of the New York Journal, and he, actuated no doubt by
philanthropic motives, as well as the desire to advance the
interests of his paper, determined to make an effort for her
release.
How this was accomplished is best told by Mr. Karl Decker, who was
Mr. Hearst's representative in carrying out the plot.
"I have broken the bars of prison and have set free the beautiful
captive of Monster Weyler, restoring her to her friends and
relatives, and doing by strength, skill and strategy what could
not be accomplished by petition and urgent request of the Pope.
Weyler could blind the Queen to the real character of Evangelina,
but he could not build a jail that would hold against enterprise
when properly set to work.
"To-night all Havana rings with the story. It is the one topic of
conversation. Everything else pales into insignificance. No one
remembers that there has been a change in the Ministry. What
matters it if Weyler is to go? Evangelina Cisneros has escaped
from the jail, thought by everyone to be impregnable. A plot has
been hatched right in the heart of Havana--a desperate plot--as
shown by the revolver found on the roof of the house through which
the escape was effected, and as the result of this plot, put into
effect under the very nose of Spanish guards, Evangelina is free.
How was it done? How could it have been done?
DETAILS OF THE ESCAPE.
"These are the questions asked to-night by the frequenters of the
cafes throughout the city, where the people of Havana congregate.
It is conceded by all, by the officials of the palace included, to
be the most daring coup in the history of the war, and the
audacity of the deed is paralyzing. No one knows where Evangelina
is now, nor can know.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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