Kansas Physician Confirms Howard Report

[Mayerling]

From a Welsh Newspaper

The following was in the South Wales "Echo" of 19 November 1888, on page 3

"THE IDENTITY OF PRADO"
[Reuter's Telegram]

"Paris, Saturday - "The "Soir" announces this evening that it has learned from an absolutely trustworthy source that the real name of the convicted murderer of Marie Aguenant is Prado. He was born in Porto Rico, and is the son of an American officer who led the last insurrection on that island against Spanish rule."

Whether this is the actual story of Prado the murderer's ancestry is hard to tell. Prior to 1898 I never heard of any attempted insurrection on the island of Puerto Rico (as it is now spelled), but then most of the filibustering incidents of the 1870s and 1880s and 1890s have been forgotten by history - as we have recently been reading regarding the 1886 attempt on Honduras.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

The Peruvian Prados

Any Peruvians, Chilians, Ecuadorians, or Bolivians noting this comment - take note that in the United States, knowledge of Peru's military confrontations with it's neighbors are nearly totally unknown. We have a very "United States" "centric" view of the Western Hemisphere here.

The Prado family of Peru is (in it's way) similar to the Kennedy family in the United States. It has produced (as far as "Wikipedia" has shown me) two Presidents of Peru, one Prime Minister, one highly powerful banker, and a dead war hero (a mariner who got killed in a major Peruvian defeat).

In 1826 Mariano Ignacio Prado was born. He was a military man, and in the 1860s was involved in the overthrow of a sitting Peruvian President. This led to his first of three terms as Peru's President (April 1865 to June 1865). However, he was Prime Minister of Peru from November 1865 to June 1867, which was coinciding with his second Presidential term in November 1865. In the middle of this combined honeymoon between the Presidency and Premiership, as a General he won a battle against the Spanish at Callao in May 1866 (making one wonder if he was General-in-Chief of the Army, or Grand Poohbah or a one man band as well!!). Senor Prado remained President after he left the Premiership until June 1868. The diplomatic tone of the article on him said the public was sort of tired of him holding the Presidential office (one wonders why!!!).

He remained an important figure in Peruvian politics, and (incredible as this may seem) was elected President for the third time in 1876. This was a major historic era for Peru, her neighbor Bolivia, and Chile. The latter was building up her military muscles, with German soldiers training her army (even adopting the spiked helmets) and with the acquisition of a powerful navy (indeed, it remained powerful for decades, and in the 1890s was - for a few years - more modern and powerful than that of the United States!). There was a complicated territorial dispute between Peru, Bolivia, and Chile (and - to some extent - the U.S.) over land near the "Guano" Islands. "Guano" (if you are unaware) is bird "sh-t" but it was as valuable in that period as gold or silver or copper mines (which Chile has) or tin mines (like Bolivia). "Guano" is used for it's rich nitrates, important in agriculture but also in manufacturing explosives. These islands were loaded with bird based deposits. All of the countries had claims to them due to sailing records and landings. Fortunately the U.S. did not get pulled into the coming military mess (possibly had President Garfield not been assassinated we would have, as his Secretary of State Blaine was keeping tabs on the war over the islands). The war broke out in 1879 and would last until 1883. Peru and Bolivia found common cause in the war as Chile also had designs on the portion of land to the North of it that was Bolivia's only outlet to the Pacific.

It was hard fought but Chile beat the other two countries. There were naval battles, battles in the deserts to the north of Chile and in the conflicted land of Bolivia. There was also a few battles in Peru.

President Prado had looked over Peruvian and Bolivian military preparedness, and realized that he had to do something to even the chances against the better prepared Chile. Gathering funds from the Peruvian treasury, he headed for France and hoped to purchase more military armor and ammo, and get more foreign loans and assistance. The nation was left in the hands of the Vice President, but the public felt Prado was a crook and had fled with national money out of greed and cowardice. They replaced him and put a price on his head. When Prado heard this, he went to Chile and offered his services. They made him a Chilean general, and he put the Peruvian money into one of the unused copper mines.

His oldest son was Leoncio Prado Gutierrez (1855 - 1883). He had remained behind. A mariner, he joined the army and held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Possibly because his father was now a Chilean general, he had promised not to fight in a major battle on Peruvian soil at Huamuchuco in 1883, but he showed up and was in the battle. This major battle (one of the last of the war) ended with the Chileans pulling a victory out of what had seemed an incredible defeat. The Peruvians had been well placed on a height, and the Chileans had been mowed down in many charges - sort of like Bunker Hill in the American Revolution. But the result was exactly the same - the Peruvians had to win early by inflicting such heavy casualties the Chileans would retreat. It didn't happen, and the Peruvians ran out of ammo. The Chileans charged up, and besides having more ammunition they also had bayonets which the Peruvians lacked. The Peruvians had to use their rifles as clubs. One can imagine how effective that was. The surviving Peruvians retreated. Leoncio was among the dead (and is still regarded as a hero in Peru to this day).

Peru lost it's claims to the Guano Islands, which Chile now owned. Chile also boxed in poor Bolivia which now was one of the two landlocked Latin American nations (the other being Paraguay). Bolivians still resent the Chileans conquest of their territory - it remains a sore point between the two countries. I find it odd that whenever the U.S. gets condemned (justifiably) for snatching so much of Mexico in the Texas War for Independence, and in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, little is said (at least to our ears) of this kind of land grabbing between Latin American states. There is a degree of a double standard here.

Leoncio's father did not return to Lima. He probably would have been taking his life into his hands if he had due to his switching sides. All the money (which technically was Peruvian government property) was taken out of the Chilean mine it was buried or hidden in, and it went with ex-President Mariano Prado to Paris, where he lived until his death in 1901. But he had a new wife, and they had a son in 1889. This was Manuel Prado Ugartele.

Manuel Prado became a highly successful banker (one wonders how he got the money to start his bank with!!!). He actually did return to Lima, and set up his bank there. Also he entered politics, and in 1939 was elected President of Peru. He would hold this office until 1945. The new President Prado was known for winning the first of three wars (in this century) between Peru and Ecuador over some disputed land in 1941. He was the first Latin American President to break off diplomatic relations with Germany and the Axis in 1942. He always was proud that he was the first to do that. Staying in politics, he resumed the Presidency for a second time in 1956 to 1962. Apparently he was quite popular (the Wikipedia article on him says he was allied to a left of center party so the people saw him as a friend, despite being very rich. He died in 1967.

If the French murderer Prado was related to the Peruvian President I could not find any proof, but the close ties of the 19th Century Peruvian President to Paris suggests that maybe there was a connection.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

Info about the forfeiture hearing regarding the City of Mexico.


New York Sun, April 3, 1886, Page 6, Column 2

OUR FILIBUSTER SHIP

Beginning the Inquiry About the Mission of the City of Mexico

United States Commissioner Shields yesterday
began the interrogatories sent by the
United States Court in Florida in reference to
the mission of the steamship City of Mexico,
seized by the war vessel Galena and held at
Key West as a filibuster. Col. G. E. P. Howard
appeared for the Government. Lawyer W. W.
Macfarland was counsel for the owners of the
vessel, and Lawyer Abram H. Wakeman represented
the Honduras Government, to overthrow
which the steamship expedition is said
to have been fitted out. Detective Jamas Mecham,
who discovered the warlike nature of the
vessel's voyage, was also present. No one else
was allowed to attend the reference except the
witnesses.

The only witnesses examined were Frank J.
Lord, one of the owners of the vessel, and
Samuel H. Marks of 15 Broadway. They were
questioned as to the chartering of the vessel,
and the sort of cargo she carried. She was
laden with corn. A. D. Strauss and Edward J.
Austin are to be examined to-day.

Gen. Delgardo, the leader of the expedition,
and his Lieutenant, Col. Manuel Morel, are the
only persons captured on the City of Mexico
who were held to bail in Key West. Delgardo
is a native of Honduras. Morel is a
West India negro, more than six feet in height.
He was employed by Gen. Aguillera [sic] in
1876 in a filibustering expedition against
Cuba. He and others sailed in tbe steamer
Montezuma from a Central American port, and
took possession of the ship after she got outside
of port. Morel threw the Captain, a
Spaniard, overboard, and he was drowned.
The Spaniard frigate Isabella Cattolica chased
the Montezuma, and she was scuttled, those on
board escaping in open boats. Morel and
Prado, a son of Gen. Prado of Peru, went in
the same boat and found repose on an island
in the South Atlantic.
----end

Again, there is very little for me to add to the information on this forgotten minor plot of history, but the portion that I emphasized here is curious. If Lieutenant Col. Morel was working with one "Prado, a son of General Prado of Peru" (at least that is the story or rumor reported in the newspaper here) in 1886, that same year was the one when Paris was to have a murder case that rivalled the Pranzini Affair of 1887 in interest - in which the killer was one Prado, whom Major Arthur Griffiths said (in "Mysteries of the Police and Crime" was the son of the President of Peru of that same name. Again we don't know how true this is (the murderer "Prado" used several aliases). But it is interesting that two rather dubious characters of that name claim connections to a prominent personage in Peru. The incident involving Lt. Col. Morel with "his" Prado was in 1876, when they were involved in the seizure of a vessel on it's way to Cuba, and the murder (by drowning) of it's Captain. Maybe it is the same scoundrel adventurer.

In December 1888 Prado the Parisian murderer was guillotined in Paris with a large crowd outside to mark the occasion. One of those who did this was a then obscure artist, Paul Gauguin, whom the month before had broken up with his roommate Vincent Van Gogh in Arles, France. This led to Van Gogh committing one of the two most infamous physical acts of mutilation (though this was self-mutilation) that the month of November 1888 is remembered for.

Jeff

[TradeName]

Info about the forfeiture hearing regarding the City of Mexico.

New York Sun, April 1, 1886, Page 1, Column 6

THE ENGINEER, COOK, AND MATE

They caused All the Trouble of the City of
Mexico, Now Held at Key West.

Lawyer W. W. Macfarland, who was called
from town to Key West just a fortnight ago to
secure the release of the City of Mexico and of
her passengers, who had been arrested as filibusters
by the United States man-of-war Galena,
described the seizure of the steamer and
the arrest of her passengers last night to a SUN
reporter as being "very grotesque incidents in
a wild sort of opera bouffe proceeding" before
the judicial authorities at Key West. Lawyer
Macfarland got home from his trip yesterday
afternoon. He had gone to Key West in response
to a telegram from A. D. Strauss A Co.,
the agents of the City of Mexico.

When he got to Key West he found the City
of Mexico in the harbor, with the Galena alongside
guarding her. He said that the City of
Mexico went down to St Andrews with nothing
more warlike aboard than a cargo of corn, and
no more firearms than eleven pistols, five of
which wouldn't go off even if the ownern tried
to fire them.

The trouble that the City of Mexico got into,
Mr. Macfarland said, was owing to the efforts
of the chief engineer, the cook, and the mate,
the latter of whom was on the verge of delirium
tremens all the voyage, to stir up a disturbance
among the crew. They appeared to be under
the impression that there was a great deal of
American gold aboard and they wanted to get
at it. When the steamer reached St. Andrews and
discharged her cargo, the crew were induced to
appeal to the American Consulate there to settle
the dispute which the chief engineer told
him existed between Capt. Kelly and the men.
Capt. Kelly at this time was 700 miles from'
Honduras, and had on board return mails for
New York, and he intended to return as soon
as he got his import cargo aboard. He explained
to the Consul that no ground for trouble
among the men existed, but, to his astonishment,
the Consul sent word to Colon for a
man-of-war to come down and take charge of
the steamer.

Then Commander Chester swooped down in
the Galena, carried the City of Mexico into
Key West, and filed one libel against her as a
"prlze seizure," and another for being engaged
in an expedition of war against Honduras.
Then he arrested all the passengers. Mr. Macfarland
says that the arrest of Mr. Soto was
made by Commander Chester because Mr. Soto
wouldn't make some sort of an affidavit that he
wanted him to. Mr. Soto had been in an insane
asylum, and he got so frightened, Mr.
Macfarland says, that he became stark mad
again and had to be put into a retreat.

When the case came up before the District
Court for hearing all the prisoners were
promptly discharged, excepting Gen. Delgardo
and Col. Morey. District Attorney Bethel, who
had been in office just one day, insisted that
these should be held for trial in this city on the
charge of organizing a warlike expedition
against a friendly power. They gave $2,000
bail each to appear for trial, and Mr. Macfarland
says they will appear whenever they are
wanted.

The Court continued the detention of the
steamer itself, giving District Attorney Bethel
until April 15 to get testimony from New York
relative to her alleged illegal use as a filibuster.
He appointed United States Commissioner
Shields a Commissioner to take this testimony,
and the document appointing him, with a memorandum
of the witnesses whose testimony is
wanted, was received by Commissioner Shields
yesterday.

Mr. Macfarland says that be is confident that
not only will Gen. Delgardo and Col. Morey be
acquitted, but that the steamer will be released
as well.

---end

New York Sun, April 3, 1886, Page 6, Column 2

OUR FILIBUSTER SHIP

Beginning the Inquiry About the Mission of the City of Mexico

United States Commissioner Shields yesterday
began the interrogatories sent by the
United States Court in Florida in reference to
the mission of the steamship City of Mexico,
seized by the war vessel Galena and held at
Key West as a filibuster. Col. G. E. P. Howard
appeared for the Government. Lawyer W. W.
Macfarland was counsel for the owners of the
vessel, and Lawyer Abram H. Wakeman represented
the Honduras Government, to overthrow
which the steamship expedition is said
to have been fitted out. Detective Jamas Mecham,
who discovered the warlike nature of the
vessel's voyage, was also present. No one else
was allowed to attend the reference except the
witnesses.

The only witnesses examined were Frank J.
Lord, one of the owners of the vessel, and
Samuel H. Marks of 15 Broadway. They were
questioned as to the chartering of the vessel,
and the sort of cargo she carried. She was
laden with corn. A. D. Strauss and Edward J.
Austin are to be examined to-day.

Gen. Delgardo, the leader of the expedition,
and his Lieutenant, Col. Manuel Morel, are the
only persons captured on the City of Mexico
who were held to bail in Key West. Delgardo
is a native of Honduras. Morel is a
West India negro, more than six feet in height.
He was employed by Gen. Aguillera [sic] in
1876 in a filibustering expedition against
Cuba. He and others sailed in tbe steamer
Montezuma from a Central American port, and
took possession of the ship after she got outside
of port. Morel threw the Captain, a
Spaniard, overboard, and he was drowned.
The Spaniard frigate Isabella Cattolica chased
the Montezuma, and she was scuttled, those on
board escaping in open boats. Morel and
Prado, a son of Gen. Prado of Peru, went in
the same boat and found repose on an island
in the South Atlantic.

----end

New York Sun, April 6, 1886, Page 3, Column 3

TO ASSASSINATE BOGRAN

THE ALLEGED OBJECT OF THE
FILIBUSTERING EXPEDITION.

James Brogran Tells Commissioner Shields
his Experiences--Testimony to Show that
Soto Fitted Out the City of Mexico

James Brogan, one of the Fourth ward
filibusters who sailed from here on the San
Domingo two months ago to make war on the
little Central American republic of Honduras,
narrated before United States Commissioner
Shlelds yesterday the history of the Fourth
warders' part in the intercepted expedition.
His testimony was taken in answer to interrogatories
sent here from the United States
Court in Florida, where a suit is pending for
the forfeiture to the Government of the steamship
City of Mexico for violation of the neutrality
laws. Brogan told the story already
published in THE SUN about how the Fourth
warders were induced to embark, and the
allurements which had been offered them. He
sald that James Halliday had introduced him
to a man named Gould, who was the confidentional
agent of Mr. Soto, the former President of
Honduras.

When the San Domingo got outside of land
James Halliday distributed self-cocking revolvers
to each man. Brogan testified that he
asked Halllday what it all meant, and the latter
told him that the men were wanted to start a
revolution in Honduras and overthrow the
Government. The announcement, as Brogan
expresses it, kind of knocked him out at first,
for he did not know where Honduras was located
and what sort of people inhabited it. He
asked Halliday for fuller details, and the latter
then, he swears, told him that the intention
was to assassinate Gen. Bogran, who
was President of Honduras, and to
declared [sic] ex-President Soto the ruler of the
country. Brogan avers that he did not mind
the shindy that it was proposed to have, but
that when it came to cold-blooded assassination
he sort of weakened on the job. All but
four of his companions shared his views. Halliday
told Brogan that Gen. Delgardo was to
command the City of Mexico. The involuntary
filibusters were landed on Turk's Island in the
Caribbean Sea, and were informed that the
Norwegian steamship Fram would be there and
take them to the steamship City of Mexico, the
vessel intended to land the expedition in Honduras.

After they landed on Turk's Island all but one
declined to proceed any further. They were
brought back to New York on the San Domingo.
The four who remained on Turk's Island were
taken on board of the Norwegian steamship
Fram, which sailed from this port about Dec.
21, about the date that the City of Mexico
cleared.

William A. De Long of the firm of Jex & Co.,
who own warehouses and are largely interested
in shipping interests at Corn Island, the point
at which it is charged the City of Mexico was to
be equipped with arms and ammunition for
the expedition, was called before the Commissioner
to testify as to certaln admissions alleged
to have been made to him by Samuel H.
Marks of A. D. Strauss & Co., agents for the
steamships City of Mexico and the San Domingo.
Mr. De Long said that Marks admitted to
him that ex-President Soto was the real owner
of the City of Mexico, and that his firm were
merely agents; that Soto paid for the fitting out
of the vessel, and that all the firm got was the
commission. Mr. De Long said that Jex &
Co.'s manager at Corn Island kept them fully
informed of the movements of the steamship
City of Mexico and the Fram, the vessel which
conveyed the arms from here, while they were
lying off that place.

Gen. Uelgardo. who was to command the
expedition, appeared at Corn Island with a letter
of introduction from A. D, Strauss & Co. to
Jex & Co.'s manager, commending Gen. Delgardo
to him. and informing the manager that
a lot of arms had been consigned to him which
be was to turn over to the City of Mexico or deliver
to Gen. Delgardo's order. The arms were
shipped from here in the steamship Alpino,
but for some reason never got further than
Jamaica. Gen. Delgardo. who was to command
the filibusters, sailed from Corn Island with his
Lieutenants, Col. Manuel Morel. and young
Soto, a nephew of the ex-President, on the 2d
of February. Before his departure he left a
letter for Mr. Eberstadt, an agent for Stranss &
Co. at Corn Island, saying that he was going in
the Clty of Mexico to Corn Island, where the
vessel and those on board were subsequently
captured by the United States frigate Galena,
and conveyed to Key West. There were on
board 200 laborers who were got at Fitzpatrick's
labor agency in this city.

It was testified that the steamship Fram
which sailed from here in December to join
the City of Mexico, was laden with one piece of
cannon, a lot of shells, hand grenades, 800
boxes of cartridges, fifty cases of rifles, five
cases of carbines, a lot of tripods and primers,
ten cases of valises to be used as knapsacks,
800 barrels of flour, aud a lot of shirts for the
filibusters to wear.

Mr. Fraser, a Broadway dealer, testified to
selling the cannon and hand grenades, and
that they were bought, he understood, for Soto.

The Commissioner will go on with his hearing
to-day.

---end

New York Sun, April 8, 1886, Page 1, Column 7

Witnesses Against the Filibusters

Purser Wiley and Engineer John McCann of
the filibustering steamship City of Mexico arrived in
the steamship Lampasas yesterday, and were held in
bail by Commissioner Shields to appear as witnesses at
the trial of Gen. Delgardo and Col. Morel, the leaders of
the expedition. Delgardo and Morel, it is said, have decamped
to Europe.

----end

New York Sun, April 10, 1886, Page 2, Column 7

Soto Expects a Call from his Filibusters

Mr. Marco Aurelio Soto, ex-President of
Honduras, denied last evening the report that Gen. Delgardo
Col. Morel, and Senor Mariano Soto, from the filibuster
City of Mexico, were or had been in the city. He
said that he expected them to arrive in a day or two,
when without doubt they would call upon him, as they
were close friends of his. The fact that the gentlemen
named had spent several hours at a boarding house in
East Thirteenth street Mr. Soto dismissed with a shrug,
and a repetition of the remark that the story was false.

At the house in East Thirteenth street it waa said thai
the three filibusters had spent part of Thursday there.
They are under bonds to appear for trial here on May 2.

----end

New York Sun, April 27, 1886, Page 1, Column 3

Tne City of Mexico Forfeited

KEY WEST, April 26.--In the case of the
steamer City of Mexico, libelled by the Government as
a prize and also for forfeiture for violation of the neutrality
laws, Judge Locke dismissed the prize libel, as
there could be no prize without the existence of a
specific law, but decreed the forfeiture of the vessel on
the grounds of probable intention to violate the law
referring to the outfit of arms and men and intention to
receive other cargoes at points in tbe Caribbean Sea.

----end

[Mayerling]

A kind of anti-climactic adventure here. As for the $15.00 that some of them got, in 1886 that was like getting about $200.00 today. More buying power.

[TradeName]

Some of the "filibusters" ended up settling for a lousy 15 bucks.

New York Sun, March 12, 1886, Page 1, Column 3

OUR FILIBUSTERS ARE BACK.

Ten of the Fourth Warders Here
With Not a Cent Among Them

Wouldn't Sail on the Fram to Fight for Soto
and they had to Live on Poorhouse Fare
at Turk's Island--The Band of 21 Split

Ten of the Fourth ward filibusters, very
dilapidated, and without the price of a drink
among them, but in perfect health, are aboard
the steamship San Domingo, which dropped
anchor at Quarantine last night. They have
been no further than Turk's Island, in the
West Indies. They and others shipped from
New York in the San Domingo on Feb. 4 "to
pick rubber and survey a canal in Guatemala,"
but they soon found out that the real object of
their mission was to upset the Government of
Honduras. James F. Halliday. Marlon Ray's
brother, and David H. Wallace, her lover, were
leaders of the expedition. There was a split in
the band on Turk's Island. Halliday returned
to this city on the Fram on Monday. Wallace is
at Kingston, and all the Fourth warders with
one or two exceptions came back on tha San
Domingo.

The reporter of THE SUN, who was rowed out
to the San Domingo in a lantern-lighted boat
last night, heard negro melodies being sung in
the Fourth ward version on the steerage deck.
The filibusters rushed to the rail when they
beard that there was a SUN reporter climbing
up the ship's ladder. Every face was brown
with exposure, and every man's clothes had
seen hard usage. They were a jolly, noisy lot,
though, and all talked to the reporter at once.
First thing they gave their names and addresses
as follows:

James Bogan of 7 East Broadway, or Howard House,
as you please; Christopher Dunigan [sic], 33 James street,
used to be assistant undertaker for Mr. Moran; James
Gleason, called "Dutchy," 96 Monroe street; William
Doran, called the "Kid," Franklin House, 450 Pearl
street; John Connors, Franklin House; Thomas O'Connor,
134 Cherry street; Wm. Williams, English, fireman,
boarded wllh David Jones, 147 Cherry street; John
Whittle of Boston was looking for a job as a cooK when
he Was roped in; Joseph Miller, the Dutchman, boarder
with Jones & Williams, 147 cherry street; Alexander
Dix ("Sandy"), printer and variety actor, Howard
House.

Their eleven fellow passengers from whom
they cut loose on Turk's Island, they said,
were:

James F. Halliday, David H. Wallace, Thomas Connors
of Orange, N, J., Charles Perry of Brooklyn, Tommy
Loftus of 141 Cherry street; Jones & Williams's right-hand
man, ---- Alexander of Brooklyn; Harry Ball of
Orange, a friend of Connors, and who told the party he
was a reporter; Dennis Mahoney, 147 Cherry street,
another of Jones & Williams's men; Andrew van Schafflen.
Bangor, Me; Daniel H. Austin, and a boarder in Dago
White's Sailors' Home In Oliver street.

Whittle talked for the rest last night, with
the others chipping in occasionally. He said:

W. E. Gould engaged us in Jones & Williams's office in
Cherry street. We were to go and survey in British
Honduras, and collect rubber, and work on a railroad in
Guatemala. Gould promised us $30 a month aud found[?].
We were told that we would get $5 in advance when we
arrived on Turk's Island. Holliday [sic] was introduced to
us as our overseer, and Wallace, we were told, was
Halliday's best man. After signing we had only half an
hour to get our duds, say good by, and be on the ship.
You can bet we didn't nave time to ask questions.

After we were twenty-four hours out of New York
Halliday, Wallace, Perry, Alexander, Ball and Connors
approached us, and told us in whispers that we were not
to do work on Turk'e Island, but would find out our
duties when we got there. Halliday said that there
were arms and ammunition in the hold of the San
Domingo. When we got off at Turk's Island, Halliday told
us that a steamer would be along soon to take us away.
He didn't say what steamer it was until the Fram
arrived, floating the Norwegian flag. He told us then
that we were to go on the Fram and be transferred by
her to the City ot Mexico on which we were to do fighting
for Mr. Soto of Fifth Avenue, New York. We ten
and three more refused to go on the Fram. H. Jackson,
Commissioner for the island, tried to persuade us to go,
because he wanted to get rid of us, but we wouldn't
board the Fram. Halliday, Wallace, Ball, Connors, Alexander.
and two others went. About this time Austin,
Mahoney and Van Schafflen shipped on different vessels
that stopped at Turk s Island.

We would have been without food after the Fram
sailed with Halliday if Mr Stanley Jones, the Clyde line
agent, and his family had not taken care of us. They
were very good to us. So was C. F. Myers, the American
boarding house keeper, who cared for us three days.
Ihe American Consul, Mr. Sawyer, helped us all he
could. He had to do it out ot his own purse. We were
living on Commissioner Jackson, who fed us jail fare,
until one of us thought of getting up a minstrel
performance.

Christy Dunegan unfolded a huge banner,
which was a programme ot the American Minstrels'
final performance at the Court House.
Admission was 9 pence, and reserved seats
were 1 shilling. "Dr. Brown's Office" was the
title of one of the numbers on the piogramme.

"The show," Whittle said, "netted us $40,
and we were able to buy our own grub for
a while, but we got out of funds again by the
time the San Domingo came along und picked
us up."

The Fourth warders were in trepidation lest
they might not be able to get over Fulton Ferry
or the bridge from Harbeck's Stores, Brooklyn,
this morning, because they could not scare up
a copper among them.

The thirteen men who refused to go on the
Fram made affidavit to the facts before the
United States Consul, N. K. Sawyer, on Feb. 12,
the day tbe Fram touched there. They declared
that they were told when the Fram
came in that "we had to go and fight for
a man by the name of De Soto and
we declined to go on those conditions, so were
left here destitute. without any place to stay.
We all think it was a fraudulent piece of business
from beginning to end." They have
brought back a certificate from the Consul and
from local authorities that they were maintained
on Turk's Island at the public expanse.

KEY WEST, March 11.--Of tbe twenty-nine
alleged filibusters made prisoners on the City
of Mexico, these are from New York:

Charles B. Jackson, George G. Watson. Francis W.
Tryon, Jr., Peter L. Dani and Albert Larradore, all citizens
of the United states, Rosendo Tewara, Central
American; Carlos H. Arvelo, Venezuelan; Jaime Arien[?],
Catalonian; Francisco Ortega, Spaniard; Alejandro
Dumas, Spaniard; M. Soto, Spaniard, aud J. K. Hermann,
servant.

The others are:

Gen. Emilio Delgado of Santo Rosa, F Ramon Soto of
Comayegua, Juan H. Rivan of Porto Rico, Vincenti Ayesto
of Tegucigalpa, R. J. Herradora of Tegucigalpa. Prospero
Weylelaba of Belize, Manuel Morri of Costa Rica, Ram
Aleman of Belize, Fradoro[?] Calderon of Belize, Francisco
Garcia of Belize, Isabel Alvarez of Belize, Jeronimo
Echeverria of Belize, Teodora Baliadar of Belize,
Federico Maradiaga of Belize, Lorenzo Fucisco[?] of Progreso,
Nomedio Luna of Progreso, Luiz M Urbina of Belize.

The probabilities are that all will be set free
except such as are held as witnesses against
the ship.

----end

New York Sun, March 13, 1886, Page 2, Column 4

They Will Call on Soto

The Filibustering Fourth Warders Expect him to Come Down with the Cash

The ten filibusters from the steamship
Santo Domingo split yesterday morning into
two factions, the ragged and the more ragged,
and came from the steamship's pier in Brooklyn
to the Fourth ward by different ferries.
The ragged refused to be seen in the streets
with the more ragged. All hands were to
rendezvous at Alderman Pat Divver's saloon in
Chatham street. Sandy Dix and Kid Doran,
however, had conspired to get possession
of the Consul's certificate brought from
Turks Island. It had been in the
possession of John Whipple of Boston.
The conspirators think they can raise some
money on the strength of the certificate that
they were abandoned at Turks Island because
they would not go and filibuster for Marco
Aurelio Soto, and they don't want the money
to go to Boston.

After Dix and the Kid had got possession of
the paper yesterday, they dodged Whipple all
day. Doran. Connors, and O'Conner went with
the paper to the Mills' building, where they
heard that W. E. Gould had his office. Gould
is the man who engaged them to "pick
rubber," and they wanted him to settle with
them. They couldn't find him there or anywhere
else.

Everybody in the Fourth ward seemed to be
glad to set them up for the boys yesterday.
Before the shades of night fell over Case's
liquor store at James and Madison streets,
some of the filibusters did not know whether
they were on Turks Island or on Cherry Hill.
They had planned early in the day to have a
meeting at 4 P. M., and then go to Soto's
palace in Fifth avenue, and see if he were
wiling to pay them for the trouble they had
been put to, Soto is the ex-President of Honduras,
and is at the bottom of the City of Mexico
filibustering project. The boys were to meet
in Widow Dunegan's kitchen at 33 James
street, but there wasn't a quorum able to come
to time. The pilgrimage to Soto's residence
was put off until this morning, when it will be
made without fail by Whippler, Gleason and
Chris Dunegan.

"It's no use of de hull crowd goln' along,"
explained Gleason, "der make-up of some of
der fellers would give Soto de grand scare."

It leaked out yesterday from the filibusters
that Marion Ray was to follow Wallace South
as soon as Wallace located, and they were to be
married.

----end

New York Sun, March 14, 1886, Page 7, Column 4

Filibusters Sign a Release

Six of Them Get $15 Apiece by Promising
Not to Bother Soto for Pay

Six of the filibustering party of ten from
Turk's Island got $15 apiece yesterday from
Jones & Williams of 23 Old slip, the agents who
shipped them. To get it they had to sign this
agreement:

New York, March 13, 1886.

We, the undersigned, hereby agree, in confirmation of
the money now to be paid, that we will give up all
proceedings against the agents of the parties who sent us
out and everybody else.

The six signers were Dutchy Gleason, John
Connors, Tom O'Connor, Dutchman Miller,
Kid Doran, Fourth warders, and John Whipple,
the Boston cook, who took part in the expedition.

As tbe men were away thirty-five days, and
had been promised $30 a month, and their
board and clothing found, they wanted more
than they got. but Jones and Wlllliams said that
they had forfeited the rest by stopping at Turk's
lsland, when they shipped for Guatemala, and
they had to take the $15 or nothlng. The shipping
agents intimated that they were paying
them out of their own pocket, with little prospect
of being reimbursed. But W, E. Gould, in
behalf of Marco Amelio [sic] Soto, ex-President of
Honduras, will, it is expected, square matters
with the shipping firm.

Fourth warders Christy Dunegan. Jim Bogan,
and Sandy Dlx were not present at the
meeting, and have not got their money yet,
William Williams, Jones's man, did not sign
the agreement. Jones will pay him more than
$15 or get him a good job as a fireman.

----end

[Mayerling]

A really fascinating find TradeName. Now I know why this story is totally unknown to written history or to me - it got nowhere fast in two months, with the party of filibusters ending up returning with nothing to show for all their efforts. I especially like how the dozen or so citizens of that island they landed on off Nicaragua did not know what to make or do about these Gringos from Brooklyn, and worried about the $15,000.00 in specie (coin) in a relatively unsecured shed. The Norwegian craft involved has an historic name, "Fram", which is the same name as the craft that in the 1890s would be used by polar explorer Frijold Nansen to make his historic "drift of the "Fram" along the coast of Greenland (1893 - 1896). The craft used by Nansen was later used by Roald Amundsen (with Nansen's permission) for the 1911 - 1912 Antarctic Expedition that beat the unfortunate Scott Party to the South Pole. It still exists as a museum in Norway to both explorers, but I don't think it is the craft involved in this fiasco.

Jeff

[TradeName]

Thanks, Jeff. Here are a few more articles about the attempted Soto expedition.

New York Sun, February 9, 1886, Page 1, Column 7

Our New York Filibusters

A Little Steel Propeller is Running the Wodden Steamer

Will the City of Mexico Make for New
Orleans?--The Gatling Guns and Ammunition
Bound for an Island of Nicaragua.

The brigrantine Waikna, which has been
purchased and thoroughly armed and equipped
by the Honduras Government to hunt down
the filibustering steamship City of Mexico of
New York, is doubtless the little 95-ton
brigantne-rigged propeller Waikna. She belonged
to A. T. S. Clarke and S. L. Cauldwell, brokers
of 50 Pine street. She is described as a very
swift and stanch new craft, built in Sunderland,
England, by B. Thompson & Sons. She is
104 feet long. 23 feet wide, and 8 1/2 feet deep.
Messrs. Clarke & Cauldwell had her built for
cruising in southern waters and doing a
little business at the same time. She
took on a miscellaneous cargo an4
cleared from New York for Brewster's
Lagoon, Spanish Honduras on Dec. 12.
Her owners, Messrs. Cauldwell & Clarke. Capt.
H. Ells, and a crew of seven or eight men were
onboard. The intention of the owners of the
Waikna was to anchor her at the mouth of the
river and have a good time cruising in the
shoal water on a steam launch they took along.
They probably sold her to the Honduras Government
for a big price.

The City of Mexico, which the Waikna is
hunting for, is twice as long as the Waikna
and seven times as big. What armament she
carries is a matter of surmise. She Is a wooden
vessel. The Waikna is built of steel.

The arms taken from the City of Mexico and
brought back to New York in the Atlas steamship
Albano have undoubtedly gone their way
to Gen. Delgardo in the Norwegian steamer
Fram, Capt. Berneldson, which sailed on Friday.
When the Fram cleared, her manifest entered
at the Custom House was only for a
small quantity of coal. By the law, which allows
a supplementary manifest to be entered within
four days, however, a document was presented
on Saturday, after the vessel had sailed, stating
that she had on board arms and ammunition
worth $26,989. On the list are 8 cases of tripods
for Gatllng guns, 55 cases of rifles, 42 cases of
shot, 4 cases of wheels and feed cases
for the Gatlings, 1 case of fuses,
20 cases of shells, 616 cases of cartridges,
and 38 bags of bugles and swords.
The Fram's destination is put down
on the supplementary clearance papers
as St. Andrews, West Indies. Mr. Sutton
of the Custom House, who holds the Fram's
clearance papers, said he knew no such place
as St. Andrews in the West Indies, and
considered the reported destination a bluff to conceal
the real destination. St. Andrew, however,
is a tolerably well-known island off the
Nicaragua coast. Lord & Austin of 6 Bowling
Green, who cleared the Fram, say that her destination
is St. Andrew. They say that they did
not know who held the bill of lading for the
arms and ammunition. There was nothing irregular
in the Fram's getting away with implements
of war. Her supplementary clearance
paper was a policy they chose to pursue.

The agents for the steamer Fram at this port
are Funch, Edye & Co. Mr. Edye said yesterday
that the Fram sailed under a time charter
for forty days. There was no specified port or
cargo in the charter party. Funch, Edye & Co.
had nothing to do with loading her, and did not
know anything about the cargo until they saw
the story of the Honduras expedition in THE
SUN. She will get to St. Andrew about next
Sunday.

The promoters of the expedtion were
anxious to buy one of the light steam fruiters
trading to the West India Islands, and began
negotiations for the Pomona, one of G. Wessels
& Co.'s steamers. Mr. Wessels said yesterday
that a merchant who was well acquainted with
the backers of the filibusters, as well as with
himself, tried to buy the Pomona secretly. There
was no difficulty about the price, but Mr.
Wessels, knowing the character of the expedition
for which the vessel was intended, refused
to sell unless public announcement of her sale
were made. Thereupon the negotiations fell
through.

Assistant United States District Attorney
Foster said yesterday that if Mr. Soto had fitted
out an expedition against Honduras, section
5.286 of the revised Statutes would be applicable
to his case. The section runs thus:

Every person who within the territory or jurisdiction
of the United States begins, or sets on foot, or provides
or prepares the means for any military expedition or enterprise
to be carried on from thence against the territory
or dominions of any foreign prince or State, or of
any colony, district or people, with whom the United
States are at peace, shall be deemed guilty of a high
misdemeanor and shall be fined not exceeding $3.000, and
imprisoned not more than three years.

Gen. Foster said that no communication or
information of any kind relating to the filibustering
expedition had, as far as he knew, been sent
to the United States District Attorney's office.

----end

New York Sun, February 16, 1886, Page 1, Column 6

News of Our Filibusters

They Are Tourists of Turk's Island at
Present--Stranded Without Money


The Fourth ward filibusters who sailed
from New York on the steamship San Domingo
to help kick up a revolution in Honduras were,
at last accounts, the terrors of Turk's Island.
They landed there an hour or two before the
steamer G. W. Clyde, which got here yesterday,
sailed from Turk's Island for New York. They
filled the natives with alarm, for they said they
were not going to sail away again on the San
Domingo, but had come to stay a while.

It isn't much of an Island, It's a little coral
reef, so small that if a man will stand up on a
soap box he can see almost all over it. It
grows nothing but [...], and now and then
a goat. Great Britain rules it at a great distance,
and by way of Jamaica. There are just
two policemen there, both black. Only two
dozen white folks llve there. The twenty filibusters
landed without baggage, and with
nothing to recommend them to the solitary
hotel keeper.

There was about the majority of them that
hard, unmistakable look peculiar to the New
York tough. Some of them were asked what
they wanted, what brought them so far away
from the Bowery.

"Oh. I kim out for me healt'," one of them
said. "I dunno," said most of them. If It had
been summer time a New Yorker on Turk's
Island might have thought that it was one of
those gangs of young men who join picnlc
parties uninvited and make things agreeable
that had mistaken the steamer for a picnic
barge and had got carried off.

They acted as if they really did not know
how long they were going to stay or what they
were going to do. There was only $11 cash
among them. Halliday, the leader, had that.
He also had what he seemed to suppose to be a
bill of exchange or letter of credit, signed Lord
& Austin. He tried to raise money on it from
one of the merchants, and was informed that it
wasn't what he thought It was, snd that it
wss not good for money.

One good thing about Turk's Island is that it
is warm there in February, and sleeping out of
doors is not prohibited by the two black policemen.
There are no orchards to rob or turnips
to steal. There is no game to shoot except a
tame goat or two. Rum can be had if
you can pay for it. What troubles the
Turk's Island folks most is that there is
$15,000 In specie in the Government House,
a little insecure building of coral rock.
There are no safe vaults for the treasure. No
Turk's Islander would dream of steallng it, but
almost any Turk's Islander would dream that
it wss In danger after gazing upon the filibusters
from New York. When the G. W. Clyde
sailed nobody had an idea how long the New
Yorkers intended to linger on Turk's Island.

----end

New York Sun, February 21, 1886, Page 1, Column 7

THE FILIBUSTERS NABBED.

ARE THE FOUTH WARDERS PRISONERS
ON THE CITY OF MEXICO?

Uncle Sam's Navy Captures that Piratical
Craft, and it is Just Possible that the San
Domingo's Passengers were Aboard

The capture of the filibustering steamship
City of Mexico by the United States man-of-war
Galena has revived interest in the Fourth
ward in the probable fate of its tough citizens,
who were last reported on Turk's Island,
awaiting a chance to join the filibusters on the
City of Mexico. According to Rear Admiral
Jouett's despatch from Aspinwall to the
Secretary of the Navy, the Galena is
now on her way to KeY West with
the City of Mexico as a prize. Consul Jacob
Baiz of Honduras says he thinks it is likely
that the martial Fourth warders were taken
aboard the City of Mexico on Sunday last. The
little brlgantine-rigged steel propeller Waikna,
filled with Gatling guns and loyal Honduranians,
has also been hunting for the filibustering
steamship, which is about seven times
as big aS the Waikna. Whether the little
propeller encountered the big boat and got licked
must be a matter of conjecture until the Galena
turns up.

The City of Mexico left this port on December
last with a dozen filibusters under Oen.
Delgardo. She stopped at Progreso to discharge
a cargo of corn, and sailed for Belize,
arriving there on Jan. 6. She took on twenty-seven
more men at Belize. and started for Bluefields,
on the Mosquito coast. The people there
refused to let the filibusters land, and the
steamship cruised along the coast. There is little
doubt that within the last ten days she fell in
with the Norwegian steamship Fram, and got
from her the ammunition and arms with which
the Fram was secretly loaded while she lay off
Staten Island on Feb. 5.

The City of Mexlco was owned originally by
the Alexander line. The Provincial Steamship
Company bought her. and. according to the
records of the Custom House, sold her on Dec
14 to Christian Barthold Hollander, a clerk
who mortgaged her for $30,000 (as much
as she was worth) to Shipping Agent
A. D. Straus. Mr. Siraus assigned the mortgage
to Ladislao Perea. a Cuban cigar
manufacturer of 124 East Fourteenth
street, just opposite the Academy of Music.
Mr. Perea refused yesterday to say anything
about the assignment of the mortage, otherwise
than it was a private business matter.
He is said to be of revolutionary tendencies,
and to be acquainted with ex-President
Soto, who is supposed to be the promoter of all
filibustering expeditions against Honduras,
and the present owner of the City of Mexico.
If the Fourth warders who sailed on the San
Domingo to join the City of Mexico really
succeeded in getting aboard her, much more
arduous work than pulling rubber may become
their lot. Sections S.2S3 and S.286. United
States Revised Statutes, may apply to their
case and the case of their distinguished chiefs:

Every person who, within the limits of the United
States, fits out and arms, or attempts, to fit out and arm,
or procures to be fitted out and armed, or knowingly is
concerned in the furnishing, fitting out, or armlng of
any vessel, with Intent that such vessel shall be
employed in the service of any foreign prince or
State, or of any colony. district, or people, to cruise
or commit hostilities against the subjects, cltizens, or
property of any foreign prlnce or State, or of any colony,
district, or people, with which the United States
are at peace, or who issues or delivers a commission
within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States,
for any vessel, to the intent that she may be so emploved,
shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor,
and shall be fined not more than $10,000 and imprisoned
not more than three years.

Every person who within ihe territory or jurisdiction
of the united States, begins or sets out on foot, or provides
or prepares the means for, any military expedition or
enterprise, to be carried on from thence against the
territory or dominions of any foreign prince or state,
or of any colony, district, or people with whom the
United States are at peace, shall be deemed guilty of a
high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding
$3,000 and imprisoned not more than three years.

----end

New York Sun, March 9, 1886, Page 1, Column 5

Filibusters Straggle Back.

Picked Up on Turk's Island by the Fram--
Halliday One of Them

The little steamship Fram, which sailed
from New York on Feb 5 with Gatllng guns
and ammunition bound for San Andres, a
Nicaraguan Island, got back to this port at 9
o'clock yesterday morning. She had not succeeded
in conveying the arms to the filibusters
on the now captive City of Mexico. She brought
back with her as cabin passengers five of the
New Yorkers who went filibustering on the San
Domingo, were left on Turk's Island, and have
since been unable to upset the Government of
Honduras to oblige Mr. Marco Aurelio Soto of
Fifth avenue.

Seven of the gang were picked up by the
Fram at Turk's Island, where the steamer stopped
for a couple of hours on her way south.
The Fram didn't find the City of Mexico at San
Andres, and went to Kingston, Jamaica. where
she left two of the adventurers, Tommy Loftus
and David Wallace, the lover of Marion Ray.
She left the arms there. too, with the assistance
of the British Government, which had heard of
them before. The five filibusters who remained
on her were landed yesterday on Funch,
Edye & Co.'s pier foot of West Twenty-third
street wbere the Fram now lies.

THE SUN reporter could not get the list from
Capt. Berneldson or the agents. Aboard the
steamer Mate Peter Gunnison, who speaks a
little less Norwegian than the rest of the ship's
company, said that Tommy Loftus and David
Wallace were the two left at Kingston. The
mate had learned Wallace's name from reading
it in THE SUN at Kingston, and Tommy Loftus
was an old acquaintance. Loftus, the mate
said, shipped at Kingston on a brigantine
bound to Cape Haytien. Halliday was the only
name among the five filibusters that the Fram
brought back that the mate could remember.
He got to know Halliday because Halliday was
a sort of boss over the others. The filibusters,
be sald. occupied the cabin, and did not go
about with the crew, They did no work, and
none of them was a sailor man.

The filibusters who arrived on the Fram do
not belong in the Fourth ward. The boys who
left their homes there to descend on Honduras
are still missing. None of them has written
home. Halliday could not be found at any of
his old haunts in the ward last night. He is
not very popular there just now.

----end

[Mayerling]

I checked Wikipedia, and Soto, Bogron, and Barrios all have biographies that basically back up the story about what is going on in Honduras and Guatamala. There was an attempt at unification of the Central American Republics at the time in the early 1880s, but it came apart because the elites that ruled the five republics (British Honduras - the "Mosquito Coast" referred to here - was not independent, and Panama would be part of Colombia until 1903) did not want to lose their separate strangle-holds on power. Actually such a union makes some sense, but it probably is too late by now.

"Filibustering" is an activity in U.S. - Latin American history since the 1840s. In the wake of the Mexican War's success in gaining territory for the U.S., and the growing slavery problem, many Southerners dreamed of seizing all of Latin America (especially the Caribbean area) and turning the lands and islands into Slave states). The most notable filibusterer was William Walker, "the Grey Eyed Man of Destiny" who did succeed in taking over Nicaragua from 1855 - 1857, ruling it as a despot. Walker (I believe from Alabama) hoped to use it for further expansion plans, but in 1857 he was overthrown - not by the U.S. government (under the pro-Southern Pierce and Buchanan administrations, Walker had little to fear from the Federal Government) but through the machinations of "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had property in Nicaragua (a railroad, to be exact) that Walker had appropriated. Vanderbilt backed the anti-Walker forces with cash and supplies, forcing Walker to flee - though not before he torched the capital of the country to show his fury. In 1860 Walker tried to repeat his actions in Honduras, but with far less success, ending up being shot by a firing squad.

The Civil War prevented further foolishness, but after it ended it returned in the 1870s. Cuba was the main drawer to expansionist freebooters. The island had long been coveted in Washington, and in 1854 Pierce's ministers to England, France, and Spain, met at Ostend in Belgium, and issued the "Ostend Manifesto" suggesting a policy of trying to convince Spain to sell the island to us, but if they did not to grab it by force. The stupidity of this public demand that the U.S. rob a neighbor of it's legal government did not enhance the U.S.'s image in Europe much. In 1873 a vessel, the "Virginius" sailed from the U.S. to Cuba with a full crew of freebooters, but it was captured in Cuban waters by a Spanish warship. The crew was imprisoned, and then some 23 or so were executed by firing squad without any real trial.
The British consul convinced the Cuban authorities to stop the slaughter, but there was real damage done due to this. Our Minister to Spain in 1873 was General Daniel Sickels, the "hero" of the Peach Orchard fight at Gettysburg, and a former New York Congressman who was best known for killing the District Attorney of Washington, D.C., Philip Barton Keyes, for having an adulterous affair with Sickels' young wife (Sickels was defended at his trial by future Secretary of War, Edward M. Stanton, and won acquittal with the so-called, "unwritten law" about killing adulterers). Sickels had been the chief secretary and assistant to James Buchanan in 1854 when Buchanan was the Minister to London who helped draft (no doubt with Sickels' assistance) that stupid "Manifesto". So he was gung-ho with the idea of seizing Cuba. As Spain was in the midst of the Carlist Wars, it might have been worth considering, except that the U.S. army and navy had been reduced from their tremendous fighting strength in the Civil War period in the post-war austerity budgets (especially our navy under Secretary of the Navy George Robeson).

Secretary of State Hamilton Fish was a former Governor of New York, and (great rarity here) an actually intelligent and competent member of the Grant Administration's Cabinet. He actually lasted for most of Grant's 8 years in office. He had just had the glory of seeing the "Alabama Claims" arbitration with Great Britain (regarding English built raiders damaging U.S. commerce in the Civil War) settled successfully. Now he had the "Virginius Affair" heating up, not helped by the bellicosity of Grant's choice for Minister to Spain, General Sickels. Fortunately, the British stepped in again, in the person of their Minister to Spain, Sir Austen Layard (the archeologist who found the site of the capital of Assyria, "Nineveh"). Layard and Fish worked hard to defuse the touchy situation with Cuba before idiots like Sickels forced us into a rather stupid war over Cuba. In the end Sickels did a grand stand approach of saying, "Either do it my way or I resign!" Fish informed him, he regretfully accepted Sickels' resignation. Once the General left Spain, the good work of Layard and Fish paid dividends. A small indemnity to the families of Captain Fry of the Virginius and the other victims of the firing squads was paid, and Spain and the U.S. had a breather of a quarter century before we had the war over Cuba.

In that period other filibustering expeditions were tried, and failed. Walker's attempt in Nicaragua was the only really successful one in U.S. history, and it too eventually collapsed. The idea of filibustering never died in the 19th Century. Much of the fiction of newspaper reporter Richard Harding Davis involves U.S. - Latin American situations regarding adventurers and revolutions in the republics. Same thing in some of the stories of William Sydney Porter ("O. Henry") such as "Cabbages and Kings", but Porter actually spent time hiding in Central America in the 1880s to avoid arrest and possible imprisonment for bank embezzlement in the U.S. (eventually he did return when his wife was dying, and after her death spent a term in prison - after he left he began to write his short stories).

In the coming events of the 1898 Spanish-American War over Cuba, filibustering expeditions were sent financed by Joseph Pulitzer's "New York World" and William Randolph Hearst's "New York Journal - American". These actually were to arm the Cuban freedom fighters, under figures like Calisto Garcia (later the titular figure referred to in Elbert Hubbard's essay classic, "A Message to Garcia"). The most notable filibustering event in the lead-up to the Spanish-American War was the chartering of the boat "Commodore" in late 1896. An old and leaky vessel, she sank on the voyage (Hearst and Pulitzer insisted it was scuttled by treachery, but it was an old vessel). On board was reporter Stephen Crane, working for Hearst's papers at the time. He managed to get into a lifeboat with three other men, and they were at sea for a number of days (the experience certainly was not good for the weak lunged Crane, and probably helped to shorten his life when he died in 1900 at age 29. But he turned the experience into his excellent novella, "The Open Boat".

After the "splendid little war" there are no further private "filibustering" expeditions that I know of. However the creation of the nation of Panama in 1903 has "filibustering" coloring at times. The Panamanians actually did want independence, and our interest in the scheme to build a trans-oceanic canal in their country actually gave them some hope. Then, when Columbia (after apparently being willing to accept the initial amount we offered to build the canal) insisted on more money, President Theodore Roosevelt okayed the actions of the Frenchman, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, who was representing the interests of French bond-holders on the failed 1881-89 canal that was under the company headed by Fernand de Lesseps, to move ahead. With a bunch of Panamanians in New York City, Bunau-Varilla got a constitution for Panama written, a flag created, and a signed agreement to accept American building of the canal, with a strip known as the "Canal Zone" to be controlled by the U.S. government. Arms were sent to Panama, and a revolt in Panama City overthrew the local Columbian Governor. Then the U.S.S. Nashville was sent to train it's guns on the only path the Columbian Army could use to invade and retake Panama. The Columbians had no choice but to recognize their former province as a new country.

Years later President Woodrow Wilson (who was also high-handed with Latin America, as witness his handling of Mexico during it's revolution from 1913 to 1920) got a briefly Democratic controlled Congress to pass a treaty paying an additional $21 million dollars "conscience money" to Colombia for that battleship business in 1903. Wilson had no great love for his rival Roosevelt, and the latter died in 1919, so Wilson got a posthumous vengeance on his rival. But in any event the interference with Panama is a turning point - from then on the U.S. imposes itself into Latin American government affairs like the filibusterers did in the 19th Century. I may add that most Latin Americans resent these actions, and wish we'd mind our own business.

Jeff

[TradeName]

Thanks, Jeff. I hadn't heard about the Dreadnought Hoax before.

The article about Steve Brodie and the Brooklyn Bridge mentions that Brodie had been involved with a filibustering expedition. The filibuster story had been covered for The Sun by Arthur Brisbane, who was the paper's London correspondent at the time of the Whitechapel murders. This thread, Author of Central News letters identified - 1891, discusses an 1891 article in which Brisbane is quoted as saying that the "Dear Boss" letter was concocted by John Moore of the Central News Agency.

Here's how Brisbane recalled the filibustering incident in a talk given in 1910.

University Missourian, January 20, 1910, Pages 1, 4

His Are the Yellowest
Brisbane Tells Students of his Newspaper Work--Some Experiences

[...]

Mr. [Arthur] Brisbane, in a reminiscent talk,
told of some of his feats as a young
reporter.

"I was once assigned to learn the
facts about the fitting out of a rubber-gathering
expedition designed to land
in Guatemala, dethrone the president
and make it possible for a rich Guatemalan
in New York City to assume
the presidency. Many reporters had
failed, but I went to a bootblack down
on the waterfront who was an exceedingly
smart bootblack. I learned the
purpose of the expedition and the
name of the man who was furnishing
the money.

"By holding to the rear of the man's
carriage I was able to ride with him
to his home, where I tried to interview
him. The rich man offered $8,000
to have his name suppressed, half for
me and half for the bootblack. The
bootblack wanted to take the money,
and threatened to cut my leg off if I
refused. The story was published, the
vessel was seized and sold by the
United States government as a pirate
for $250,000. The rich man escaped to
Guatemala and never was caught.["]

[...]

---end

A couple of articles from 1886.

New York Sun, February 7, 1886, Page 3, Column 5

Gone Filibustering

Fourth Warders Sail to Descend
on Honduras.

TURK'S ISLAND THE RENDEZVOUS.

Gatling Guns Said to Have Been
Shipped as Merchandise.

IS IT SOTO'S EXPEDITION?

Pistols Distributed to the Men Aboard
the San Domingo.
Some af the Fourth Warders Conclude that
Fighting is Ahead and Won't Go--One of
Them Brings Off a Navy Revolver as a
Mememnto--David Wallace Embraces Tearful
Marian May Aboard the Steamer and
Sails for Glory or a Grave--Brooklyn Elevated
Men Go Too--Teddy Dunegan of
James Street Tries to Dissaude Brother
Chris, But Chris Would Go--Supposed
Destination of the Forces is central America.

When the steamship San Domingo of the
Clyde line sailed for South America at twenty
minutes before 6 on Thursday afternoon she
carried a queer set of passengers about whom
there hangs an interesting odor of romance.
It is averred that there were in the cargo arms
shipped as lard or other merchandise, so that
the company would not know what it was carrying,
and the queer passengers were twenty-five
rather tough-looking citizens of this land
who had been engaged to do a llttle filibustering
among the South American republics.
Some of them know what they were going
down there for, but most ot them did not. This
is the story:

Three weeks ago Stephen Brodie, the newsboy,
a well-knownn citizen of tho Fourth Ward,
who has been a professional walker, and
who is now a member of the Tammany
General Committee of the Second
Assembly district, was leaning against
Martin's liquor store on the corner
of East Broadway and Catharine street, talking
to his wife, and waiting for fortune to blow his
way. Instead of fortune there came an individual
named James Halliday, and with
him a young man well known in
South street, who out of consideration
will be spoken of as Smith. Brodie knew Mr,
Smith, and courteously asked if be desired to
go through an opium joint or see the town, a
little pleasure which the newsboy occasionally
furnishes to his friends. Mr. Smith said no,
but that Brodie was just the man he wanted to
see.

INVITED TO GO PICK RUBBER.

"The fact is," Mr. Smith went on. after
introducing Mr. Halllday. "that we have discovered
a rubber field in South America. There's
millions In it." (Brodie grew interested.)
"And we want men to go down there and pull
the rubber. You are just the man to find the
men for us. We will give them thelr board and
$30 a month."

That as Brodie knew, was a fine offer in this
combination of bad weather and hard times,
and he promised to bring half the men in New
York; at the same time inquiring why they
came to him instead of advertising, since an
advertisement would bring them more men
than they knew what to do with. Mr, Halllday
answered this question.

"The moneyed man, who is running the
thing," he said. " wlll not let us advertise for
fear it would be made public. He does not
want the snap given away, and then an ad.
would bring us a gang of worthless bums. We
want good men. In fact, to be frank
with you, we want tough men, men who are
not afraid to fight. If we could fix it, we want
men out of jail, men who do not care what
they do, men whose lives are of no value to
them."

Brodie explained that the latter class of men
were very rare, and inquired why so much
fighting blood was wanted. It was explained
to him that the country was full of Indians and
bad men, who wanted to keep all the
rubber to themselves, and who would fight.
Mr. Brodie said that Indians were nothing; according
to what he had read one New York boy
could kill a tribe, and that if this job was such
a good one he would send his brother Tom,
who happened to be out of work.

"Good." exclaimed tho young man called
Smith. "I'll make him a Second Lieutenant,"

"Of what?" said the newsboy. "This isn't
crooked. Is it?"

His suspicions were allayed, and he promised
to be on hand in front of Mash & Crook's restaurant
on Park row the following morning
with six men, including his brother Tom.

He was there, and these are the six men wbo
were With him, ready to "pull rubber" and
fight Indians: Wm. Doran 22 years old,
of 456 Pearl street; James Bogan, from
the Howard House on Chatham street;
Sandy Dick, who has no other name, and who
came with Bogan from the Howard House;
Dutchy Gleason, who lived in James street,
and could be heard from at Case's liquor store:
Johnny Connors of the Howard House, and
Tom Brodie, the newsboy's brother.

A RENDEZVOUS IN OLD SLIP.

Mr. Smith, the young gentleman, and Mr,
Halliday were on hand, but it was announced
that the expedition had been delayed by a
failure to make certain arrangements. Other
meetings were had, until at last, on Wednesday
last, the day before the San Domingo
sailed, Brodie got a note from
Mr. Smith telling him to be at 147 Cherry street
at 7 o'clock that evening. Brodie was there
with his men and his brother, and was
put off for the last time. Mr. Smith failed
to appear, but sent word for Brodie to
be patient, and come at 10 o'clock the next
morning to the office of Jones & Williams, shipping
agents, of 23 Old slip. Brodie was there,
and everything was all right. A lot of other
men were there, who had been brought
together by Mr Halliday, and when
they had all signed tbeir names, they were
marched down to 147 Cherry street, which is
the home of Mr. Williams, one of the firm, who
is better known as Taff Wllliams, a lover of
game fowl. It was as a **** fighter that young
Mr. Smith first made Mr. Williams's acquaintance.

While the men were at the office of the shipping
agents remarks were made that caused
Brodie, the newsboy. some anxiety. A restless
desire was shown to get the men away which
looked bad. and Brodie kept asking himself
over and over again:

"Is there anything crooked in this?"

"His suspicions increased after the men
were gathered in the house on Cherry street.
They were kept there surrounded with much
mystery until the ship was about to to [sic] sail,
and then they were taken down to the San Domingo,
which lay at Pier 86, East River, two at
a time. Tom Brodie, the newsboy's brother,
was made a sort of marshal to escort the
couples and keep them from running away.

MARIAN RAY WEEPS FOR DAVID WALLACE.

At the ship things were very queer and
romantic indeed. Ten of the men were booked
as cabin passengers aud fifteen as steerage
passengers. Brodie went on board, and was
astonished. One of the first sights that
met his gaze was Mr, David Wallace, rigged
out with much gorgeousness, including a suit
of bright blue with a silken stripe down the
trousers, and a jaunty travelling hat of heavy
cloth to match. Mr. Wallace is the young man
on whose account young Mr, Ray, who was
living happily at 1,007 Madison avenue, killed
himself, and endeavored to kill his wife, Marion [sic]
Ray.

Mr. Wallace was not alone. Quite the contrary.
His mother was tbere. and so was
Marian Ray, the wound made by her husband's
bullet not yet healed. She evidently knew that
Wallace was going to pull a very refractory
sort of rubber, and was grieved to see
him go. Mr. Brodie. whose word can be trusted,
declares that she hung upon his neck, crying,
"Good by, sweetheart," in a way that quite
disgusted him with the newsboy: so much so
that as soon as he saw his wife he told her that
if she ever did that to him he would cut ber in
pieces,

"And," said Brodie afterward. "I would."

While on the ship Brodie went with bis
brother Tom into the cabin of Halliday. and all
indulged in wlne.

In the cabin, besides Halliday and the
Brodies. were Tom Loftus and Fred Perry,
who are among the important members of the
expedition.

After tbe wine was drank, Loftus handed to
Tom Brodie a big revolver of the bulldog pattern,
and said: "Here, take this. There is
only one man to kill."

This did not make Tom feel cheerful. He
ran out after his brother. who had just gone
up stairs, and demanded an explanation. The
newsboy did not give any. but said:

"Tom, you had better jump off Ihls thing
and go home."

Tom did so, abandoning his clothes, which,
he says, were worth $22.

THE SAN DOMINGO SAILS.

When the ship pulled out on her interesting
trip there were twenty-five men aboard. Ten
of them who were in the cabin knew
pretty well what they were about;
those in the steerage had only a
vague idea. They had pledged themselves
to fight Indians, and. in a general way. to pull
rubber in spite of everything. This list gives
an idea of some of those men who went, and
what they were. Among those in the cabin
Who travelled as flrst-class passengers were:

David Wallace. the lover of Marion Ray, who
understood that he was to be a sort of Lieutenant,
and who looked very swell.

John Perry, a conductor on tho Brooklyn Elevated
Railroad, of whom it is said that he was a
very smart young man, and belonged to a good
family, &c.

John Perry, in the course of his adventurous
career has been a professional walker,
and was beaten in a walk in Philadelphia
eight or nine years ago by Brodie, the
newsboy, who was a walker then also. When
asked how he came to be in such a crowd,
Perry replied, just as he was about to start:

"I got into it becauso I was a d--- fool, and
I'm too deep in to got out now.["]

James Halliday, the leader among them all,
was. of course, a first-class passenger, too. He
would be much more than a llttle private when
he gets under command of Uen. Delgado, who
has been cruising around the Honduras coast
of Central America on the steamship City
of Mexico looking for a landing, and
whom it is supposed this party is to join.
Just who Halliday is no one seems to
know. It is he who had most to do in getting
the little band together, and he was rendered
attractive by the fact that he was provided
with $1,000 to spend in making himself popular
and keeping up his men's spirits. Mrs. Ray
knew Mr. Halllday qulte well, it seemed, and
klssed him good by.

Then there was Tom Loftus, already spoken
of, who will be in charge of the ammunition,
and who will be expected to be in the storage
a good deal, so as to keep the subalterns
cheerful and resoulute [sic] by comforting words
of promise. His duty will also be to explain to
them gradually just what they are going down
for. Mr. Loftus is known by overy one in
Cherry street, and will be very badly missed.

Thomas Fraiser from Boston is also travelling
toward victory and gore in first-class style.
He will be expected to work the gatling guns
that are said to form part of this outfit.

Another of the lucky ones is an Englishman
named Ball, who used to carry newspapers in
Rochester. Mr. Ball is described by friends as
an extremely solid and dangerous personage,
admirably calculated to capture a small South
American republic all by himself.

Among the steerage passengers are:

James Gleason, called "Dutchy," of 88 [?] Monroe street,
William Austin of Oliver street, young William
Doran. called the "Kid" of the Franklin
House, 456 Pearl street, and Johnny Connors,
22 years old. of the same place; also Alexander Dicks,
nicknamed Sandy, and big James Bogan, called Ryan,
both of the Howard House, Bowery and Roosevelt street.

Doran is a printer, and Connors used to work
in Walsh's newspaper mailing agency in Frankfort
street. They both left the Franklin House
about a week ago.

Bogan and Dicks were employed as compositors
in Scott's publishing bouse, in Park row.
They came to the Howard House together
on last Friday, and on Saturday
night were put out for coming in
drunk and raising a disturbance. Bogan was
registered at the hotel under the name of
Ryan. "Wallace" was written on the register
of the botel on Jan. 28.

SAID TO BE SOTo'S EXPEDITION.

The story told to Brodie by his brother made
the newsboy more suspicious than ever, and,
leaving the ship, he climbed into a carriage
in which sat young Mr. Smith waiting
for the ship to start. Mr. Smith
was feeling very sociable and kind, and was
not inclined to keep back what he knew, he
simply asked Brodie to see if the ropes were
off, and when he learned that the vessel was
under way he told the story.

The expedition, Mr. Smith said with a frank
smile, was really not to pick rubber. It was
sent out in the interest of Mr. Marco
Amelio [?] Soto, a very rich and very good
South American gentleman, who had been
greatly wronged. This was how it was, according
to Mr. [Smith], Soto, in 1883 was President of Honduras.
He resigned on account of the wicked
action of Gen. Barrios, then President
of Guatemala, who wanted to force
a Central American Union, which President
Soto objected to. Gen. Bogran, supported by
Barrios, whose arms were back of him, became
President of Honduras, and the friends of Soto
were greatly oppressed. One, a iad
of 17, named Velasquez, was beaten to
death by order of Bogram [sic] because he
sent a marked copy of a paper containing a
caricature on Barrios and Bogran. Ever since
that time Soto's friends have been importuning
him to use his fortune of four
millions to overthrow the present Administration,
and become President himself.
Soto[, who] preferred to enjoy his wealth in
quiet, and indulge in literary pursuits, was
willing. He sent one expedition down there
on tho City of Mexico, Mr. Smith said. That
has not got along very well. This expedition
was to come to the rescue by furnishing arms
and tough fighters to Gen. Delgado,
who is in command of the Mexico. Just
how the forces would unite Mr. Smith did not
know, but probably the San Domingo would
meet the Mexico at some one of the numerous
little islands off the Mosquito coast or at
Turk's Island, where the men will be
transferred to the City of Mexico and
put under Delgado's command. The object
Mr. Smith says, is to land in Honduras or
Guatemala either and kick up a revolution.
Mr. Smith says that Mr. Soto would a little
rather be President of Guatemala than of Honduras.

GEN. SOTO DISOWNS IT.

Gen. Soto was visited yesterday afternoon at
his house at 854 Fifth avenue. His residence is
a veritable palace, and seemed much proferable
to anything in Central America. Young Mr.Smith
was sitting in one parlor. Mr. Soto was interviewed
in another. He said he knew nothing
about it at all, and did not know Mr. Smith,
who was supposed to be his agent. He had
never seen him. Three times during the interview
he went out to talk to Mr. Smith.

Mr. Soto said that the President of Guatemala
was his good friend. He did not want him
killed. He did not say as much for Bogran of
Honduras. He was out of Central American
politics forever. It was all nonsense.

THE ARMS SAID TO BE ON ANOTHER STEAMER.

"The truth of this matter is," said Jacob
Baiz, the New York consul for Honduras, last
night, " that the arms were not shipped on the
San Domingo. I do not know how many men
went in her, nor anything about her.
But during last Docember a party of
two hundred filibusters was recruited
here in New York to go down
and create a disturbance in Honduras. These
arms were to have been taken on board, but
they were stored in a bonded warehouse, and
on account of the mysterious actions of those
connected with them there was a hitch about
the delivery, and the gang took fright and disbanded.
The crowd was to have carried
out 2 steam launches, 4 other launches, 50
cases of rifles, 600 cases of cartridges, besides
other arms, making in all 740 packages.
Finally the City of Mexico left for Progresso
with a cargo of corn, carrying along twelve
filibusters, of whom Gen. Delgardo was the
leader, and a few days later the arms were
shipped to Kingston, Jamaica, on the steamer
Audos[?]. The government at Jamaica refused
to allow the arms to be landed except on
the condition that they were to be returned
to New York, and obliged the steamer's owners
to give a bond of $2,000 that the arms would be
so returned, The arms were therefore transferred
to the steamer Albano, and they arrived
in New York last week. Meantime the City of
Mexico had discharged her corn, and sailed
for Belize. where she arrived on Jan, 6.
On Jan. 12 she sailed fur Bluefields, on
the coast of Nicaragua, having taken
on twenty-seven more filibusters at Belize.
The Bluefields authorities, knowing their intentions,
refused to allow the filibusters to
land, and the City of Mexico sailed for Jamaica
via San Andreas to get the arms which she
expected would await her there. The last
heard of her was that she had
arrived at Port Corn Island short of
coal, and not knowing what to do.
In this emergency the Norwegian steamer
Fram was chartered to take coal and the arms
out to her at Port Corn Island, and she sailed
on that mission on Friday at 2 P. M. She had
aboard the arms brought back by the Albano.
They were transfered to her secretly in lighters.
She had been lying off Staten Island.
Suppose the filibusters make a landing, what
hope have they of overturning thw Government
of Honduras? Does the President employ a
bpdvguard?"

"President Bogran walked about as any
American does in New York. He has been
fully appraised ot the expedition, and is only
anxious that it shall arrive."

"I would like to have you say that information
received from Washington makes it appear
probable that an American steamer will
be sent out to bring in the City of Mexico, in
order to put a stop to this business, I am sure
that some energetic measures will be taken by
the American Government."

a FOURTH WARDER WHO DIDN't GO,

Charles Connors of 386 Pearl street, who
didn't go, said; "I heard it talked along South
street on Wednesday night that there was a
good job at Jones wllliams's shipping office
at 23 Old slip, awaiting any one who wanted to
go to Central America. I was on hand at the
office on Thursday morning with fifty-six
others, who were out ot work. Fifteen of us
were admitted to the room, and the others
were shut out. Tommy Loftus, a Spaniard,
who lives at 98 Monroe street and is a runner
for vessels, helped Jones make the selection of
men to sail on the steamer San Domingo that
afternoon. We were told that our passage
would be paid to Guatemala, and that we were
wanted there to pick rubber; but another story
was that we were to help lay a railroad in
Guatemala. of which a nephew of Jay Gould's
was the President. We found out that this was
nonsense, but for a time we supposed thst a
young man who was in the office
was the Guatemalan Railroad President.
We weren't told much about what our work
would be in Guatemala, but our names were
collected and read off by Tommy Loftus. As
each man's name was called he was asked to
put his signature in the centre of a piece of
paper put before him by Mr. Jones. There was
no other writing than our own on the slips of
paper we signed. We did not make any contract
to do work. We were told that a Mr. Holliday
was hiring us. We didn't see Mr. Hollidsy.
After all the names had been obtained. Jones
told us to go by two and threes to the San
Domingo's pier at the foot of Market street.
We were there by 4 P. M., and were admitted
aboard the vessel. Plenty of our friends were
on the pier, for it had been noised in the
neighborhood of our homes that we were going
to Central America without knowing for what
purpose we were engaged. Rumors that it was
filibustering expedition reached my ears, and
I determined not to go unless I knew what I
was sailing for. I couldn't find out from anybody
on board the vessel, and tried to persuade
Jerry Daly of 30 Madison street, and some
others of my companions to get off with me.
They refused, and I left the vessel without
them."

CHRIS DUNEGAN GETS AWAY FROM TEDDY.

Teddy Dunegan of S3 James street, whose
brother Christopher, 33 years old. signed, tells
this story:

"My brother had been in drink since New
Year's, and was out of his head. About 5 P.M.
on Thursday Michael McCormick of Cherry
street came to my widowed mother and myself
and told us that Christy was going to Central
America on the San Domingo to fight. Mike
said he had taken Jerry Daly off the vessel,
and that we'd better persuade Christy not to
go, if we wanted to see him alive again. My
mother and I hurried down to the vessel, and
I caught my brother on the deck, where nearly
all the fellows who had signed were lying
around drunk, and tried to take him
away with me. He hit me in the mouth
and ran down the companion way. and
hid himself somewhere in the hold of the ship.
The mate wouldn't let me go below to look for
him, but told me I could get a policeman. I
sent my mother to look for one, but while
she was gone Capt. Kelly, who, I believe,
is a brother of Capt. Kelly of the City of
Mexico, gave orders for sailing. I had to leave
the ship, but Capt. Kelly promised me he
would put my brother aboard tho pilot boat
and send him back. The pilot boat Marshall
returned to-night, but Christy wasn't aboard
of her.

"None of the fellows who sailed," said Dunigan [sic],
"know anything about a seafaring life. The
talk is around here that they have gone to fight.
But they're very light soldiers. Most of them are
chronic drunks. Toft Jones, I'm told, got $10
a head for shipping the fellows. Loftus went
along with them as interpreter. He is interested
in the affair, whatever it is, in some way. I
heard that a similar expedition, carrying
thirty or thlrty-five men, sailed for Central
America from Martin's stores, Brooklyn, today,
and that another vessel is to follow on
next Saturday."

WOULDN'T LET JERRY DALY GO TO WAR.

Jerry Daly of 30 Madison street told a story
similar to Connors's of the way tbey were
signed in tbe shipping office.

"I didn't think anything was crooked." said
Daly, "until some friends told me it was
filibusterlng, and I'd better come off. I
wanted to give up going. All the
other follows, except Connors, said they'd
stay, but I stepped off the pier to get a drink
of water. and Mike McCormick and others of
my friends nabbod me, and run me down the
pier into South street. I couldn't get away
from them, and the sbip sailed without me. I
ain't sorry, since I've heard I was hired to go
to war. It was a great bluff they gave us about
picking rubber or railroading. They said we
would be ten days making the passage to
Turk's Island, and that there we'd be put
on another steamer going to Guatemala. We
were told we'd be away five or six months, that
our wages would be paid regularly, and that we
wouldn't have to find our board nor clothes.
We didn't hear a word of it until Wednesday
night, and on Thursday we were rushed
through without much explanatlon. except
that we were told that we were getting something
pretty good."

THE SHIP OWNERS KNEW NOTHING OF IT.

W, P. Clyde & Co. are owners of the San Domingo.
Mr. Clyde said last night that no vessel
of his line would be permitted to carry
arms and men, for it would involve the
line in endless difficulties with the
Government of San Domingo and GUatemala
and interfere greatly with its business. The
steamshlp San Domingo was built for the San
Domingo line, and has never been chartered by
any other line or individual.

"The vessel was loaded at Pier 36, East River."
he sald, "because it was more convenient.
She carries general cargo. We have occasionally
shipped packages of firearms in the way
of business, but only small quantities. I do not
think the San Domingo is carrying arms this
time. If there are any on board the
quantity was so small as not to be
noticeable. If any one person paid the
passage of a number of men to any of the
ports we touch at it would cause comment,
and I should certainly hear of
it. I don't know just how many passengers
the steamer is carrying, but I
think the number is small. Our vessels always
stop at Turk's Island. We carry freight and
passengers there. The crew of the steamer
consists of thirty-five men, in charge of Capt.
Kelly."

At Mr. Clyde's shipping office, 35 Broadway,
the officer who cleared the San Domingo said
that the passengers numbered thirty-one, of
whom fifteen went in the steerage. He was
on the steamship just before the lines were
cast off. A young man who had come on
board with a party of respectable-looking
men, all of whom had bought tickets singly
at the Broadway office, was besought
by his parents not to go away, and
he went ashore. The party didn't look like filibusters.
One of them said that they were going
to become planters. This clerk says that
he knows that there were no arms and ammunition
on the steamer.

Mr. Julius, the senior member of the firm of
shipping agents, said to the reporter that a
nice looking young man visited the office in Old
slip a few days ago and on his application several
men were hired to sail on the steamship San Domingo,
but who the young man was, for
what purpose the men were hired, and what
their destination was Mr. Jones said he had
not the slightest notion.

----end

New York Sun, February 8, 1886, Page 1, Column 1

Hunting the Filibusters.

An Armed Vessel Searching for the New York Adventurers.

Ex-President Soto Tells all About the Expedition
and its Object--Gen. St. Delgardo's
Manifesto--Will the United States Interfere?--
Congressman Tim Campbell Appealed
to to Rescue the Filibusters From
the Fourth Ward--Honduras is Wide
Awake and Ready to Repel Invasion.

Mr. Marco Aurelio Soto, once President of
the republic of Honduras, was apparently not
a bit disturbed yesterday by THE SUN's discovery
of his filibustering expedition, the last
detachment of which was shipped on the steamer
San Domingo on Thursday last. He pulled
aside the big heavy curtains of his parlor in
which he was sitting in his palace at 854 Fifth
avenue. smiled a courteous Spanish smile upon
THE SUN reporter, bade him make himself at
home and talked to him cheerfully about the
filibusters, and why they had been sent forth
to battle for liberty and progress.

Brodie, the newsboy. who called upon Mr.
Soto early on Saturday morning to reproach
him for sending Fourth warders to the wars,
declared with a rather scornful sniff that the
ex-President of Honduras was not satisfied to
live like other people, but had built himself a
red brick castle, with fancy trimmings, under
the evident impression that he was President
of New York. Mr. Soto's house really is very
gorgeous. Two street-car horses might romp
through the big parlors without hearing themselves
move, so thick aud soft are the carpets.
They might also dash their heads sportively
against the walls without being hurt, for the
walls are not of plaster covered over with fancy
paper, as with ordinary mortals, but are soft,
yielding cushions, covered in one parlor with
pale blue satin, in another with green embossed
velvet. Stained glass lends splendor to
floors and windows. The Irish maid who opens
the door disappears with your card through a
plantation of marbles and bronzes, with a sort
of hanging garden of queer Spanish lamps
hanging over her head, and sending out all
sorts of colors. It is a fine place to live in--
much better than anything In Honduras,

But Mr. Soto is interested in Central America,
and he was kind enough to enlighten the public
about it through THE SUN reporter.

EX-PRESIDENT SOTO'S STORY

In 1883. he said, he was President of Honduras,
was living there happily with his family,
had been President for seven years, liked
his peeple, and was liked bv them. Everything
was prosperous and happy, when Gen. Barrios,
then President of Guatemala, the most powerful
of the five Central American republics,
went to work and spoiled it all. Barrios got
into his head a scheme for the union of the
five little republics into a United States of Central
America, and went to work without delay,
with the firm intention, of course, of being
boss of the union as soon as it was created.
President Soto says that he refused to go into
the scheme. A union of the republics, he says,
would be a grand thing, and he would approve
of it with all his heart if it was the right kind
of a union. In fact, the great problem of Central
America was how to bring the union about.
But Barrios was not the right man; there were
better men. and the proper thing to do would
be to let the people make their Constitution
and choose their President. Barrios would not
agree to that, and so Soto would not join him.

After his refusal the scheme was dropped for
the time, but Mr. Soto was made uncomfortable.
Gen. Bogran, who wanted to be President
of Honduras himself, kept doing wicked
things, encouraged and sustained by the moral
support of the powerful Barrios. By and by
President Soto learned that Barrios was
preparing to make war against him, and that was
the climax. Mr. Soto says that he knew that it
Was all a personal matter between Barrios, and
himself. He know that if he remained President
he would plunge his people into a bloody
and disastrous war, and he also knew that if he
went away there would be peace, so he resigned
the Presidency, packed up his things, and
came to this city.

THE CITY OF MEXICO BOUGHT TO FILIBUSTER

Bogran at once became President, supported
as he was by the army of his good friend Barrios,
and Soto's friends began to suffer. Mr.
Soto says that a revolution began to be cookod
up there by the leading men. Friends of Soto
wore especially persecuted, and they begged of
him to come and put himself at the head of the
revolution. Mr. Soto did not wish to do that,
but he was willing to do what he could to help
along. When Barrios, early in March, 1885,
declared himself military chief of Central
America, and prepared to carry out by force his
scheme of a union of the republics. Mr. Soto
Was determined that he should not succeed.
He got together men nnd ammunition, and
Was liberally devoting his fortune to making
things hot for Bogran, Barrios, and the union.
But just as he was ready to swoop down there,
Barrios was killed, and the idea of a union was
given up. Bogran promptly announcing after
Barrios's death that he wanted to go on in the
Old way.

Meanwhile. the revolutionary business was
going on steadily; the heads of the revolution
down in Hondurns were urging Soto to come
back, and Gen. Delgardo, who came up here
with a number of Honduranians, who were exiled
as Delgardo had been, urged Mr. Soto to
go back with him. Mr. Soto would not, but did
What he could in the way of furnishing ways
and means to help Delgardo along. The steamship
City of Mexico wns bought, and went
down to stir things up. She had on board Gen.
Delgardo and just twenty fighting men. Most
of them were Honduranians; two or three
were Cubans, and four were Americans. Among
the Americans was a man whose name Mr.
Soto could not exactly spell, but which sounded
like Tyrone. Tyrone was a friend of Mr. David
Wallace, the lover of Marion Ray, and Wallace
had an idea of going along, only he was prevented
by the smash up in his love affairs
caused by the suicide of Marion's husband and
his attempt to murder Marion.

The City of Mexico went to Progreso and unloaded
corn, which she had incidentally taken
along. Then she went to British Honduras,
where all the revolutionists hang out, and
Where the chiefs of the revolution stay and plot.
But at Belize, the port to which the City of
Mexico sailed, things were made very uncomfortable
for her. The Consul of Honduras did
all he could to be ugly, and so did the
Consul of Spain, a much more important
individual, who got it into his head
that that was another dreadful plot
to free Cuba. So the City of Mexico took on
board seventeen of the revolutionists who had
the best fighting blood and made for Bluefields,
on the Mosquito coast. A bad opinion was
formed of the City of Mexico's crowd. and they
were not allowed to land. It was intended to
make Bluefields a sort of general headquarters,
to prepare everythlng, and start from there
when things were more ripe to overthrow the
government of Honduras. Unable to land, the
City of Mexico went away, and just where she
is now neither Mr. Soto nor any one but those
on board knows.

REINFORCEMENTS FROM THE FOURTH WARD.

As it was impossible to make a headquarters
at Bluefields for the purpose of getting men
together, and as Delgardo had not enough men
Under him to do very much, it was thought advisable
to ship to his aid the cargo of Fourth
Warders and other New Yorkers which was
sent away on Thursday by the San Domingo
and told about yesterday in THE SUN. Mr.
Soto did not care to say very much about the
young men who went away, nor did he desire
to state that it was he who had sent them
or paid their expenses. Agents or friends
of Gen. Delgardo, he supposed, had attended
to that part ot the business; he
was a friend of Delgardo's, of course. Mr.
David Wallace was one of the men most anxious
to go. Shortly after the departure of the
City of Mexico he called upon Mr. Smith, the
young man who looked after things a little for
Mr. Soto and told him that he was in an awful
fix, and wanted to get away somewhere on
some sort of An expedition. The affair with
Mrs. Ray was making him uncomfortable, and
he wanted a change of air. Mr. Smith, who
had been introduced to Wallace by the man
Tyrone, who sailed on the City of Mexico, told
him he thought he could fix him out, and so
Wallace joined the expedition one of the very
first, James Halliday, an experienced man
with a cool, fearless head, who had been down
in that part of the country before, was to be
the boss of the expedition. Wallace was to
rank next to him.

Just where this expedition of gallant Fourth
Warders would find the City of Mexico and
Gen. Delgardo, Mr. Soto did not know. They
would have to go down there and look around
for the General until they found him. Mr.
Soto said the statement that those men were
going down there with the idea of assassinating
some Predisent to make room for himself
was all nonsense. He had not sent them on
any such errand, nor were they going to make
any attack on Guatemala.

WHAT THE FOURTH WARDERS ARE TO DO,

Honduras and the wicked Bogran were all that
they were after. And neither Halliday nor any
of the rest would do anything illegal. They
would go there in a quiet way, get as many as
possible of Soto's friends to Join them, and
overthrow the govenrment if they could. This
would probably include the killing of President
Bogran, who. it appears, is a fighter from a
long distance back, and is likely to make a
tough struggle. but this, as an intimate friend
of Mr. Soto's remarked, was not at all the same
thing as going deliberately to work to assaassinate
a man. If It should be the fate'of Gen.
Bogran to meet the Fourth warders and fall at
the head of his army. It was a glorlous and
perfectly legitimate death that no one could
complaln of.

Once the Government overthrown, Mr, Soto
said. the next step would be to learn the sentiment
of the people. The object of the expedition
was not to make Mr. Soto or any other
man President. The expedition was simply
sent out with the unselfish intention of restoring
to the poople of Honduras their rights and
privileges. They would then be summoned
to vote, and elect a President for
themselves. Mr, Soto's friends say that he is
very popular In Honduras; that he is, In fact,
the big man in the eyes of Central Americans,
and that they would want him to be President
beyond all doubt. But Mr. Soto chides them
for talking so. He says that that may not be
true at all. The people may not choose him
for President, and even if they do, it will be
necessary for him to think the matter over
calmly before making up his mind to accept
the proffered honor. Mr. Soto is fond of a quiet
literary life, and is not at all sure that he cares
to be President of Honduras or any other
country.

Friends of Mr. Soto had asserted to THE
SUN's reporter that Mr. Soto's plan included
the possible overthrow of the Government
of Guatemala, and insinuated that to be President
of that republic, which is a much finer
republic than Honduras, would suit Mr. Soto
quite as well. But this Mr. Soto altogether
denies. He says that the actual President of
Guatemala, Gen. Barillas, is a warm friend of
his; they belong to the same, the Liberal party,
and Guatemala is altogether out of
the question. Mr. Sato thought that the great
mass of Honduranians would hasten to join
Gen. Delgardo and the Fourth warders as
soon as they made a landing, and he had no
doubt of the success of the expedition, although
an armed vessel of Honduras is now
cruising to catch the City of Mexico before she
can land. Mr. Soto did not care to say anything
about the ship load of arms reported to
have left Brooklyn on Friday. In fact, he did
not know anything about such a ship load.

[...]

THE MISSING FOURTH WARDERS.

Every inhabitant of the Fourth ward had a
copy of THE SUN yesterday reading about his
acquaintances who had gone filibustering. The
departure of the San Domingo with Fourth
ward boys to do fighting with Gatllng guns
among the South American republics was the
topic that occupied everybody's mind. The
crowd around Case's liquor store, James and
Madison streets, was laughing over a recital
by Charles Connors, who didn't go, of the antics
on board ship by Chris Dunegan. the
undertaker's assistant, who had with him a shaving
mug, a razor, and a pair of scissors, and
declared himself the ship's barber. Chris used
to shave corpses for Undertaker Moran. His
mother, the Widow Dunegan of 33 James street,
is weeping over Chris and his chances of getting
shot. The companions of Jerry Daly of 80
Madison street, who kidnapped him from the
steamer just as she was about to sail, guyed
him all day about his having pawned his overcoat
because he was going to a hot country and
wouldn't need it, and having spent the money
for a flask of whiskey and cigars to comfort
himself with on the trip. A young citizen who
was set on going to Honduras was James Gleason,
called "Dutchy," of 98 Monroe street.
Dutchy's mother and sister bewailed his loss
yesterday,

"Jamie hadn't been doing anything for four
months," Mrs. Gleason said. "he came home
on Wednesday night, threw up his hat, and
said he'd struck a soft job at last. He was going
to Central America on the San Domingo,
he told us, to pick rubber for $30 a month. I
begged him not to go so far off in such cold
weather but he tied a suit of underclothes and
a pair of socks into a bundle and said they'd
be all he'd want. He borrowed fifty cents of
me to buy some tobacco and note paper to
write home on. Jamie was up early on Thursday
mornlng, and went out. He came in at
2 P. M. and bid us good-by. 'Don't fret,
mother,' he said to me. 'I'm going to boss
[...] and survey a canal. jay Gould's
nephew is hiring me. (This was a current
statement among all the men,
but they were mistaken or deceived.)
He says he's glad be'a got such a
lot of fine young fellows to go down there, and
that when we come back he'll see that we get
good jobs.'

"I didn't understand Jamie at all." continued
Mrs. Gleason, "and I got worried thinking
about his going off in cold weather without
warm clothes. I went down to the foot of Market
street and stood awhile on the sidewalk
looking at the steamer, and saw a man creep
over her side and let himself quickly down a
rope to the pier. Then he ran. crouched down,
until he was out of sight in South street. I
wondered if he was running away from $30 a
month and his board, which Jamie was going
to get. I went back to the house with a heavy
heart for Jamie."

Interpreter Tom Loftus's sister, Mrs. Samuel
Bond, who lives at 141 Cherry street, said:
"Tom brought a well-dressed man here on
Thursday and introduced him to me as Mr.
Halliday. He said Halliday was his Captain.
l asked Capt. Hallidav if there wasn't danger
of Tom being killed, 'No.' he said; 'do you
think I would go into danger myself? No; it's
perfectly safe.' Tom talked at first of going to
pick rubber at $30 a mouth, but a few days
afterward he said he was going to be an officer,
and would be paid $60 a month, because he
could speak Spanish. If he didn't like it in
Guatemala, he said, he'd jump across to Callao,
where his wife was, and make her a visit. He
wasn't going to let slip a chance to go to Guatemala
free."

Phil Loftus, Tom's younger brother, was the
first one signed, but he didn't go because, he
says, his brother-in-law, Sam Bond, gave him
the tip that a man who signed to sail in a ship
without his articles, stating what he was going
to do. was not far from a greenhorn. Phil told
Tom about Bond's misgivings, and Tom told
him, after some reflection, that perhaps he'd
better not go. one out of the Loftus family being
enough.

Young Loftus tells the same story as all the
others about the way the crew were engaged
in Jones & William's office. They were
all assured, he said, that when they came back
from Central America Jay Gould's nephew
would get them all good jobs for life, and Jones
& Williams told them they were willing to give
them a written guarantee that the promise
would be fulfilled.

Tom Loftus's friends want to correct the
statement that he is a Spaniard. He was born
and brought up in James street, and is a
genuine Fouith warder, but he has been to Panama,
and speaks Spanish like a native.

Tommy Nestor of Oliver street signed to go
and wanted to go, but his parents kept him
away from the steamer. He is glad now that
they did.

CONGRESSMAN TIM CAMPBELL APPEALED TO.

Billy Bogan. brother of Jim Bogan, who went
on the expedition, consulted some friends in
Alderman Pat Divver's place yesterday, and
acting on somebody's advice he hunted up
Congressman Tim Campbell, and told him, as
a Seventh ward constituent, that he wanted
the matter Drought up in Washington right
away and the San Domingo stopped before she
landed any of her passengers.

There is a rumor current In the Fourth ward
that another ship with ammunition and filibusters
aboard is to sail for Honduras this
week. The report that such an expedition
had sailed from Martin's stores, Brooklyn, on
Saturday, is apparently incorrect. Seventy
days ago the Miranda, an English steamer of
the Red Cross line, loaded guns and ammunition
at Harbeck's stores, and when she sailed
no one along the docks knew her destination.
The Quartermaster of the New York and Brazil
steamship Finance, now at the Brooklyn stores,
went aboard the Miranda as second mate. The
crew of the Finance tried to talk him out of going,
because he did not know why implements
were put aboard the Miranda, or where she was
going with them.

THAT CARGO OF ARMS.

The steamer Albano. with 740 packages of
arms, ordered back to New York by the
Nicaraguan Government, was lightered in New
York harbor last week by tho steam lighter Admiral.
Consul General Baiz was advised, by
telegraph that the owners of the steam ship
City of Mexico, which first took the arms out
from this city and from which the arms were
transferred to the Albano, had entered into a
bond of $2,000 to return the arms. The Consul
sent messengers to watch the lighter and see
that the arms were landed. The messengers
reported to the Consul that the men on board
the lighter said the lighter was to proceed
to the Eric Basin, and that there the
arms would be taken out and placed for
safe keeping in a storehouse until the
owner should prove his claim to them. Mr.
Baiz sent messengers to the Eric Basin, but the
lighter did not appear. She had disappeared
between Thursday night and Friday morning.
Mr. Baiz says that she transferred the arms to
the Norwegian steamer Fram, which sailed on
Friday for St. Andrews. The owners of the Admiral
are Shortland Brothers, 108 Wall street.
At the office of Shortland Brothers on Friday
and Saturday it was said by a member of the
firm that the lighter's whereabouts had not been
known for four or five days. Mr. Thomas F.
Shortland, a member of the firm, said yesterday
at his residence, 316 Clifton place, Brooklyn,
that the lighter was still missing. It was
not unusual, Mr. Shortland said, for a lighter's
whereabouts to be unknown to the firm for a
week or two. Mr. Shortland denied all knowledge
of the lightering of arms by the Admiral.

GLOOMY PREDICTIONS FOR THE FILIBUSTERS.

Mr, Baiz, the Consul of Honduras, said
that he had received a letter from Washington
which announced to him on the part of
the Government that the Fourth warders
would not be allowed to terrify Central America.
They would be sat down upon probably
by an American cruiser, which would be sent
after the City of Mexico, as a Hondurns cruiser
has already been sent. Mr. Baiz said, though,
that he did not think that Honduras was in any
very great danger. Mr. Soto, he thought, made
a mistake in measuring himself with Gen.
Bogran. who was much the best man. He said
that of course the entire expedition was
planned and carried out by Mr. Soto, who
owned the City of Mexico, and had put up all
the money. The City of Mexico, Mr. Baiz said,
was a very nice ship for passengers to travel
in, being very nicely fixed up, but was not very
useful as a privateer, as she burned a great deal
of coal, about twenty-five tons a day, and coal
was hard to get. As for the enterprising young
men who went to pull rubber. Mr. Baiz was
very sorry for them. If they succeeded
in joining Gen. Delgardo and landing,
which was doubtful, they would
all be shot, and if they failed to
find him and went ashore starvation and fever
threatened them. The interior of Central
America is healthy enough, but unacclimated
white men, Mr. Baiz says, cannot live on the
coast, and the Fourth warders would find it impossible
to get into the interior on account of
the expense. There is, however. plenty to be
had to drink at very reasonable rates. Mr.
Baiz is not going to complain against Mr. Soto,
or any one connected with the affair, but
declares himself quite satisfied with things as
they are.

The Republic of Honduras, which the New
York boys have gone to conquer, is about as big
as Ohio. It covets 17,090 square miles, and has
about 100,000 people.

CRUISING AFTER THE CITY OF MEXICO.

NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 7.-- The steamer E. B.
Ward, which arrived here today from Puerto
Cortez and Rustan, Honduras, reports profound
excitement in that country over the departure
of filibusters from New York and other
American ports for the purpose of overthrowing
the Bogran Government in the interest of
Soto. The Ward herself was impressed
by the Honduras Government to
transport troops from Puerto Cortez to Rustan.
The American bark Cofalu, from Bluefields,
Nicaragua, was seized by the Honduras Government
because she was not provided with
the proper papers, and was released only upon
the American Consul's furnishing a bond to a
considerable amount, American vessels are
watched with great suspicion, and are in danger
of detention unless, all their papers are in
perfect condition. The brigantine Walkua has
just been purchased by the Government, thoroughly
armed and equipped, and sent on a
cruise in search of the steamer City of Mexico,
on which are the followers of Soto.

----end

[Mayerling]

The Pedestrian hoax of Brookfield and his chums

After you showed the passage from Brookfield about how he and his friends pulled a fast one on the American pedestrian and the local university townspeople, I wondered why it sounded a little familiar. It occurred in the 1870s, and then I remembered today an incident from 1910 that is still admired as one of the best practical jokes on officialdom ever done. I'm referring to the "Dreadnought Hoax" of 1910.

H.M.S. Dreadnought was the most advanced piece of military hardware (and certainly naval hardware) of the pre-World War I period, forcing every major power to seek ships of similar speed and armament for their own fleets. In 1910 the Admiralty received word that the Emperor of Abyssinia and his official party were coming to England and sought to see the great ship. At the appropriate hour a train arrived and the Emperor and his party (in native "Abyssinian" garb showed up to be escorted by an official naval unit to see the battleship. The party of about eight included a translater (who was German) and spoke "Abyssinian" to the "Emperor" and his men. They would speak out loud so all heard them talking, and the entire visit proved to be successful except for one point: when an official barge was sent to transport the party to the "Dreadnought" a motor boat crossed it, driven by a naval officer. Later he would be reprimanded. It was one of first Sea Lord Battenburg's sons (possibly Lord Louis Mountbatten, of all people). But the repremander never seemed to notice that the young officer, despite his family connection, did not seem to be aware of the royal visitors of that day. It should have tipped him off.

Soon the hoax was exposed in London. Horace Cole, a notorious practical joker of genius, got his friends (including a young Virginia Woolf - then Virginia Stephen), to dress up as the "Abyssinians" and come to see the "Dreadnought" and it's crew in the best naval uniforms. The language spoken by the interpreter, was mispronounced Latin that the jokers had worked on (taking words and putting emphasis on the wrong syllable). A rather red faced First Lord of the Admiralty had to face the House of Commons asking questions about security regarding this.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

I was reading the review of the play, and started looking at the actual translated text. I don't think this kind of play would make it with an audience in 2016, but it was meat and potatos for the melodrama loving audiences of 1882-83. Victorien Sardou (and his predecessor, Eugen Scribe) were the leading advocates of what was termed "the well-made play" where the physical structure of the business in the plot was all important. George Bernard Shaw made of this, calling it "Sardoodledum", but it influences his early plays, like "Arms and the Man" and "The Devil's Desciple", but Shaw's sense of humor covers it up by making tricks played by Scribe and Sardou on the audience into self-collapsing incidents (a key letter found by the heroine's father about Captain Bluntschli in "Arms and the Man" will reveal the circumstances of their embarrassing first meeting - but it is lifted from the father's person before he realizes it, and he shows massive confusion when he can't find it). The only real remnant of "the well-made play" from this period are the farces of Georges Feydeau with the timed entrances and slammed doors in his comedies.

I heard of the incident with poor Sir George Arthur. A matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jeff

[TradeName]

Jeff, I think Vladimir is a character in the play Fedora. Brookfield played Gretch, the police detective, in the Haymarket production.

Dramatic Notes, Volumes 4-6, May, 1883

Pages 21-25

Review of Fedora


Page 77

Cast List for Fedora


An English language version, but I'm not sure if it is the one produced at the Haymarket.

Fedora: A Drama, link

This version of the story about that Baronet caught slumming in Whitechapel says, "He then turned his attention to theatricals, and when the Bancrofts produced Fedora they allowed Sir George [Arthur] to appear as the corpse. " i think "the corpse" refers to Wladimir. And the Bancrofts produced the Haymarket version.

Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 28, 2 February 1889, Page 1

ARREST OF A BARONET FOR THE WHITECHAPEL MURDERER.

[Mayerling]

Fascinating about Payson. I recall the detective story novelist, Peter Lovesey, wrote a "Sgt. Cribb" novel about early pedestrianism as a popular sport, "Wobble to Death".

I wonder what that incident alluded to by Brookfield (presumably in his memoir) was - regarding "Count Vladimir". Interestingly Saki wrote a story where his hero/anti-hero Clovis Sangrail pretends to be a "Count Vladimir" ["The Unrest Cure"], but it does not deal with universities or exercise (specifically pedestrianism).

Jeff

[TradeName]

Brookfield recounts an anecdote about the American pedestrian, Edward Payson Weston.

Random Reminiscences (London: Edward Arnold, 1902), link
by Charles Hallam Elton Brookfield

Pages 55-57

Dull as practical jokes usually are, we perpetrated a fairly amusing one in about 1878 at Cambridge. There was at that time a man called Weston who was walking through England at some prodigious rate—-a hundred miles a day, or something of the kind (it may have been less, but my brain reels nowadays at the idea of anything over five). He wore on this expedition a close-fitting suit of velveteen, with knee-breeches, a sombrero hat, a broad ribbon across his body, and he carried a light cane. It was announced that on a certain afternoon Weston would enter Cambridge—-via the Newmarket Road and Jesus Lane—-at about five o'clock.

I believe it was W. G. Elliot who first conceived the idea of anticipating him. At all events, we selected one of our number who was more or less of Weston's build—-I fancy it was 'Peter' Burgess—-and procured for him a suit exactly resembling that worn by the pedestrian. We then 'cast' the rest of our number as trainer, doctor, timekeeper, newspaper reporters, etc., and made arrangements to invade the town on the appointed day in these characters. There was a good deal of excitement about Weston's visit. Scaffoldings were erected and rows of seats, and tradespeople let their shop-fronts at remunerative rates, and when the great afternoon came round every corner was crowded.

Shortly before five a little party hove in sight, the athlete in his unmistakable velvet suit, his wide-brimmed hat jauntily cocked, walking with an easy swing, fresh as paint. His trainer beside him carried a bowl of water, and occasionally flicked a few drops in his face or tenderly sponged his mouth. In a dogcart alongside sat a grave-faced doctor (bearing a striking family likeness to the one who a few years later attended Count Vladimir in the play of' Fedora' at the Haymarket Theatre), while a timekeeper recorded in monotonous tones each minute as it passed. At the back of the cart two eager reporters were writing in their notebooks at lightning speed.

The cheering was long and loud. At certain points wreaths of laurels and bouquets of rare flowers were hurled at the hero of the hour, but he could only acknowledge these by a graceful touch of the hat with the Wanghee cane he carried; he was obliged to hurry on to keep faith with the public. The floral tributes were placed in the back of the dogcart. At last the party, followed by an enthusiastic crowd which increased at every yard, reached the Bull Hotel. After vociferous acclamation the champion appeared for a moment at the window and said a very few words: 'Ladies and gentlemen, I am a walker, not a talker. But I thank you—-I thank you—-I thank you.' And the window closed —-the crowd went home.

At about half-past five, as workmen were taking down the deal stands that stood along Jesus Lane, a shabby, exhausted man appeared, covered in dust, his stockings ungartered, shambling along in evident distress. It was the genuine Weston. But the public wouldn't have him at any price, and greeted him with hoots and missiles. 'Some infernal charlatan,' said one, 'trying to impose upon us. Lucky he didn't come half an hour sooner. He might have taken us in.' 'Not a bit of it,' replied another. 'I've seen the posters. You can see at once; this chap's not a bit like them.'

---end

A contemporaneous version:

Vanity Fair, Volume 21, March 8, 1879, Page 137

There is an amusing story told of Weston's walk, to the following effect:—-

On the day when Weston was to reach Cambridge, an undergraduate, himself no mean pedestrian, started from a remote village on the route, arrayed in full walking trim, an hour in advance of Weston himself. As he proceeded he became encircled by ever-gathering crowds, who escorted him in triumph into Cambridge, where he walked in grand style into the inn where Weston was to put up, sat down to the dinner which had been prepared for the latter, ate it all up, and got away just in time to come upon the real Weston, whom he found in course of being mobbed as an impostor!

---end