After telling of how he was admitted to Weyler's presence, Mr. Rappleye continues his vivid description.
"And what a picture! A little man. An apparition of blacks—black eyes, black hair, black beard, dark—exceedingly dark—complexion; a plain black attire. He was alone and was standing facing the door I entered. He had taken a position in the very centre of the room, and seemed lost in its immense depths. His eyes, far apart, bright, alert and striking, took me in at a glance. His face seemed to run to chin, his lower jaw protruding far beyond any ordinary indication of firmness, persistence or will power. His forehead is neither high nor receding; neither is it that of a thoughtful or philosophic man. His ears are set far back; and what is called the region of intellect, in which are those mental attributes that might be defined as powers of observation, calculation, judgment and execution, is strongly developed."
Mrs. Kate Masterson, another American journalist, was, we believe, the only one, except Mr. Rappleye, who obtained an interview with Weyler.
Among other things that he said, Mrs. Masterson reports the following:
"I have shut out the Spanish and Cuban papers from the field as well as the American. In the last war the correspondents created much jealousy by what they wrote. They praised one and rebuked the other. They are a nuisance."
"I have no time to pay attention to stories. Some of them are true and some of them are not."
"The Spanish columns attend to their prisoners just as well as any other country in times of war." An obviously false statement, by the way. "War is war. You cannot make it otherwise, try as you will."
True to a certain extent, General Weyler, but not from your point of view. There are certain humanitarian principles, of which you seem to be ignorant that can be practiced in time of war as well as in time of peace.
Weyler declared to Mrs. Masterson that women, if combatants, would be treated just the same as men. As a matter of fact, whether combatants or non-combatants, he treated them worse than men.
He sneered at the Cuban leaders, at Maceo for being a mulatto, and for having, as he asseverated, no military instruction. And at Gomez, whom he declared was not a brave soldier and had never distinguished himself in any way.