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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



Although fully occupied with business cares 

 and responsibilities, Mr. de Beche still longed 

 to make another venture in bee-keeping; and 

 finding a willing partner in his long-time 

 friend and companion, Mr. F. .L Craycraft, 

 they selected a location in the suburbs of 

 Havana, and in the fall of 1899 they brought 

 from Florida over 200 nuclei, to which they 

 devoted their spare moments mornings and 

 evenings. From this beginning they put in 

 two out-apiaries the following year, and up 

 to the present time have sold over 1000 nu- 

 clei from the first yard, besides having three 

 other apiaries located in the interior. 



On the death of our lamented friend Mr. 

 J. H. Martin, "Rambler," Mr. de Beche 

 bought the apiary founded by him at Taco- 

 Taco, where, from about 200 colonies origi- 

 nally left by Mr. Martin, he has had them 

 increased to 800 colonies located in four 

 yards. 



Reference has already been made to the 

 part taken by our subject in the struggle of 

 Cuba for liberty. In the early part of this, 

 an event occurred which came near assum- 

 ing international importance. The papers 

 were full of it at the time; but the real in- 

 side history involving the acts of the princi- 

 pal actor, Mr. F. H. de Beche, had not been 

 given to the public, because there were good 

 reasons why they should not then be known. 

 But now that the war is over, and peace has 

 been restored, these reasons no longer exist. 

 Incidentally I learned of the part played by 

 Mr. de Beche through a friend; and when 

 the former visited us I quizzed him much; 

 but on account of his natural modesty I did 

 not get many of the details; but I secured 

 his permission, after much coaxing, to get 

 them for publication from Mr. Harry Howe. 

 After some correspondence I secured a full 

 account. It is with no little pleasure and 

 pride that Gleanings is able to give this in- 

 teresting piece of unwritten history fcr the 

 first time. I am sure that our readers will 

 be glad to know that it was a bee-keeper who 

 conceived and carried into execution the plot 

 that resulted in the release of a noble young 

 woman from prison where she had been in- 

 carcerated for no other reason, than that she 

 was the daughter of a brave father who had 

 done much for the cause of freedom in Cuba. 

 The romance would have been complete if 

 Mr. de Beche had married the young woman 

 he rescued; but the fates decreed otherwise. 

 The account is as follows: 



A THRILLING ACCOUNT OF MR. DE BECHE'S 

 PART IN THE RESCUE OF A YOUNG WO- 

 MAN FROM A SPANISH PRISON. 

 BY HARRY HOWE. 



No story of Mr. de Beche would be com- 

 plete without some mention of his adven- 

 tures during the Cuban war. Being a 

 French citizen, he thought he could best 

 serve the cause of Cuban independence by 

 staying in Havana, where he was able to 

 be of great use to the Cuban cause. Among 

 his many adventures the rescue of Senorita 

 Evangeline Cossio from prison is the most 

 important. 



This talented and beautiful young lady 

 was arrested and thrown into the Recojidas 

 prison for fallen women, upon a trumped- 

 up charge to gratify the spite of a high 

 Spanish official. Many attempts to secure 

 her liberty failed. United States Consul, 

 General Lee, tried to get her released or 

 even transferred to another prison, but the 

 Spanish officials refused to act. A petition 

 signed by thousands of women, among 

 whom was the Queen of England, met the 

 same fate. Her case was taken up by prom- 

 inent newspapers of the United States, and, 

 as a last resort, the New York Journal sent 

 a reporter to Havana to rescue her at what- 

 ever cost. 



Among the daring spirits whom he ap- 

 proached was Mr. F. H. de Beche, who told 

 him that the plan of storming the prison 

 was sure to fail. The Spanish spies were 

 everywhere, and it would not be possible to 

 get together enough men to storm the prison 

 without their knowing it. After thinking 

 the matter over he said that, if he could 

 have entire control of the matter, he would 

 attempt the rescue, but only on the condi- 

 tion that his name be not mentioned in the 

 report of the afl'air. 



He made a careful study of the situation, 

 and finally disguised himself as a drunken 

 cartman. He then rented a house directly 

 across the street from the part of the prison 

 where Sta. Cossio was confined. Then he 

 bought some second-hand furniture and 

 moved into his new quarters. At another 

 time he secured a long ladder and some 

 boards. 



The day set for the rescue, an employe (or 

 clerk) of Gen. Lee visited Sta. Cossio and 

 gave her two boxes of candy, of which one 

 was drugged. During the afternoon Sta. 

 Cossio gave the woman in the room with 

 her some of the good candy, and at bedtime 

 she gave both of them some of the drugged 

 candy. Early in the evening Mr. de Beche 

 extinguished the street-light that was in 

 front of his house. He had taken no one 

 into the secret of the entire plot, but had 

 given each a part. At the appointed hour 

 he was on the roof of his house with the re- 

 porter for the Journal, and an Irish captain 

 in the Cuban army, noted as a fighter. 

 They watched until the police had passed 

 on their round, and then shoved the ladder 

 across the street to the window of the pris- 

 on, and de Beche quickly ran across, and, 

 with a sharp, well-greased hack-saw, cut ofl^ 

 one of the bars to the window. When he 

 started on the second one Sta. Cossio whis- 

 pered that one was enough, and that she 

 could slip through, so he started to take his 

 tools back and to put a board on the ladder 

 for Sta. Cossio to walk over. He had taken 

 only a few steps when he felt the ladder 

 sway and heard her coming after him. He 

 turned in time to take her hand and keep her 

 from falling. And so they crossed the lad- 

 der high above the street in the dark, de 

 Beche walking backward, leading Sta. Cos- 

 sio. The slightest misstep would have been 

 fatal, and yet there was need to hurry, for 



