ASPINWALL. 



45 







taken to the outposts of the rebel' forces be- 

 yond Monkey Hill and confined in a cane hut. 

 Not more than half an hour had elapsed when 

 the rebels were surprised by the Government 

 forces, and the prisoners escaped. After trav- 

 eling five miles on foot, Capt. Dow reached 

 the " Galena " at 7 A. M., and Mr. Connor went 

 on board the " Colon " at 8 A. M. of March 31. 

 Lieut. Judd, showing signs of insanity upon 

 his release, was sent home on the " Colon " to 

 New York, and was cared for at the Naval 

 Hospital. For eighteen months previous to 

 the Isthmian trouble he had been navigating 

 oflScer of the "Galena." In January, 1885, 

 there were many indications that a civil war 

 was imminent. Political affairs were much dis- 

 turbed, and there was serious apprehension 

 that the revolutionists from the coast might 

 make a descent upon Colon. At the request 

 of Gen. Santo Domingo Vila, a force of U. S. 

 marines commanded by Capt. Clarke was landed 

 at Colon from the American man-of-war " Al- 

 liance " to guard the railroad and canal prop- 

 erty there, and to guarantee the integrity of 

 transit. Sefior Pedro Prestan took peaceful 

 possession of the city of Colon. On March 16 

 he sent a notice to Mr. Burt, Superintendent 

 of the Panama Railroad, announcing that he 

 had been proclaimed, by the unanimous voice 

 of his fellow-citizens, the civil and military 

 chief of that department, and had accepted. 

 He also addressed the British consul at Colon, 

 requesting that the arms on board the British 

 steamer " Alene " should be delivered. The 

 arms had not been landed in Cartagena on 

 account of Gaitan's successes. On March 19 

 an appeal was made by the President of the 

 State, who called a meeting of business men, 

 for funds to be employed solely in maintaining 

 order on the Isthmus. March 20, Prestan be- 

 lieved he could reckon on 413 men, abundant 

 arms, and four cannon. He was now under- 

 stood to be associated with Gen. Aizpuru, then 

 in the city of Panama, and acting under orders 

 of that commander. 



On the resignation of Dr. Pablo Arosemena, 

 . President of the State of Panama, which took 

 'effect on the 26th, Gen. Gonima assumed com- 

 mand as civil and military chief, and appointed 

 Gen. Buenaventura Correoso his secretary-gen- 

 eral. Prestan's next move was to refuse to 

 forward the mails to Cartagena from Panama 

 via Colon. On the 26th, Gen. Gonima issued 

 a decree, declaring that the Isthmus would re- 

 main neutral in the revolution now taking 

 place in the interior of the republic, and on 

 the same day he assumed the position of civil 

 and military chief of the national army. 

 March 28, by order of Prestan, a notice was 

 posted on the door of the Panama Railroad 

 freight-room, to the effect that a sale of mer- 

 chandise belonging to Messrs. Zubieta and Pa- 

 sos would take place that day, until the 

 amount demanded as a forced loan should be 

 paid. The auction-sale began, but some satis- 

 factory arrangement having been made, it was 



summarily closed. This is a good example of 

 the system of taxation resorted to, whenever 

 the party out of power desires to take meas- 

 ures to get in. March 30, Prestan, with eighty 

 soldiers, determined to resist the landing of 

 American marines, and said that, if any man- 

 of-war's boat should attempt to land, he would 

 fire into the boat, but, if the captain desired to 

 come on shore, he could do so under a flag of 

 truce. On the afternoon of March 31, fire i 

 broke out in the Government building on Boli- 

 var Street, the entrances of which were de- 

 fended by cannon behind barricades. The 

 wind blew from the north, and all south of 

 this point was destroyed. The Pacific Mail 

 Steamship wharf was saved by a change in the 

 wind. Two steam fire-engines were destroyed. 

 The principal losses were suffered by the rail- 

 road and canal companies, and the Royal Mail 

 Company. The Boston Ice Company were 

 heavy losers. The superintendent of the rail- 

 road sent a messenger to Gatun (the telegraph 

 wires being cut), for supplies for the poor and 

 needy, and a relief-train with provisions was 

 dispatched, and it was met at Gatun by Mr. 

 Burt, with a guard of marines from the "Ga- 

 lena," who took the car to Colon. Prestan, 

 having been defeated by the Colombian guard 

 under Col. Ulloa and Sergeant-Major Brun, re- 

 duced the town to ashes and then fled. Men 

 found in the act of setting fires were sum- 

 marily shot by the Colombians. American 

 employes gave notice that they would leave 

 the Isthmus unless the United States Govern- 

 ment sent a suflicient force to afford protec- 

 tion. "When the news reached the Navy De- 

 partment at Washington, the " Tennessee," the 

 "Alliance," and the "Swatara," were ordered 

 to Colon; and the "Iroquois," the "Wachu- 

 sett." and the " Shenandoah," to Panama. 

 Marines were forwarded by the passenger- 

 steamers, and three hundred mechanics went 

 down to assist in building up the ruined city. 

 A large part of the men belonging to the Sec- 

 ond Battalion of Marines, which arrived from 

 New York April 16, occupied points of impor- 

 tance in and about Colon, and the remainder 

 were stationed at Matachin, and at San Pablo 

 bridge. For the crime of setting fire to the 

 city of Colon, the notorious Haytian Gen. Pau- 

 trizelle, and his associate, Cocobolo, were exe- 

 cuted May 9, on a gallows built over the rail- 

 road-track, opposite the site of the old cala- 

 boose. Pautrizelle laid the responsibility for 

 his crime on his superior officers. The incen- 

 diaries were arrested by Lieut. Robert M. 

 Doyle, April 1, twenty-four hours after their 

 accomplices had fled with Prestan. They were 

 tried by court-martial, and condemned by the 

 Colombian Government. Gen. Gonima was 

 deposed and banished. Don Pedro Prestan 

 was captured at San Martin in August, and 

 on the 1 1th arrived at Colon under guard. Au- 

 gust 17 a council of war assembled on the spot 

 where the city once stood, to decide the fate of 

 the principal agent in its destruction. At 7.30 



