DRAMATIC EPISODE OF THE MELILLA CAMPAIGN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2086, 15 February 1894, Page 43

DRAMATIC EPISODE OF THE MELILLA CAMPAIGN.

A REGIMENT OF CONVICTS. (Daily Chronicle, 4th December.) The latest mail advices from Melilla contain details of an episode of the campaign presenting features of remarkable interest. On the Ist inst., a convict named Jose Ferreu Riera was shot by order of Marshal Martinez Campos, after having been condemned to death by a court martial, and it is this event which forms the culminating point of a series of remarkable incidents. Prior to the appointment of Marshal Campos to the command, and during the time that the Moors were beleaguering the Spanish forts, a man named Arizs, who had been living in retirement at Barcelona, came over to Africa and offered his services to General Macias. He had seen a great deal of rough guerilla campaigning in Cuba, where he had attained to the rank of captain, and while serving there he had made the acquaintance of the general, to whom he reintroduced himself. His proposition was that he should organise a guerilla band, prepared to fight the Moors in their own wild fashion, and to save the regular troops from engaging in a kind of warfare for which they were not over well fitted. Cap- j tain Ariza proposed to pick his men from the j large body of convicts who had come to j Melilla from various Spanish prisons at their own request in the hope of securing a commutation of their sentences should they distinguish themselves in the operations against the Moors. These men, many of whom had received life sentences, were indifferent to danger, and ready to brave any peril on the chance of obtaining their freedom at the end of the campaign. General Marcias gave Ariza permission to recruit his guerilla regiment from these men, and it is said that the captain took pains to select those who had been convicted of crimes of violence. Armed with. Mauser rifles and the Spanish daggers called "navajas," they were speedily drilled and disciplined by their hardy commander, who, when their brief term of training was over, reviewed his regiment and delivered a short address to them. Handling his revolver and dirk he told his men plainly that any one of them who turned his back on the foo or disobeyed orders would meet instant death at his hands. On the following day, before daybreak, in dead silence, Ariza led his troops for the first time against the Moors, and by clever tactics drew the enemy under the fire of the forts, which did great execution. This was followed by many other succesees, and Ariza's band proved an excellent auxiliary to the regulars. It is officially recorded that at this time people in Melilla slept tranquilly, knowing that Captain Ariza and his so-called " Black Watch " of desperate criminals were on the gui vive, ready to deal with any of the daring Riff men who had previously made raids at night up to the very walls of the fortress. At length an incident occurred which led to the disbanding of this strange troop.

One night a patrol of Ariza's band caught a Moor in Spanish territory, and, before the captain heard of the capture, cut off the man's ears with a " navaja." It turned out, however, that he was a spy in the pay of the Spaniards, dnly provided with a safe con-

duct, and when be reached the fort his outcry against the outrage to which he had been subjected produced a great effect. He could never return, he said, to his country, for the very women would ask him where were his ears that had heard news in his own country which he had carried to the enemies of his people. He had abandoned a country where the inhabitants mutilated the dead, and was now among a people who mutilated the living. When Marshal Campos heard of the affair he ordered a court-martial to be held on Ariea's band. The Moor, whose name was Amadi, was called upon to point out the man who had oropped his ears. He first of all identified a convict named Servilla, but another member of the band, Joe 6 Ferreu Riera, came forward and confessed that he had done it. It then transpired that Jose had some time before escaped into Moorish territory and taken refuge at the house of Amadi, who had, however, given him up to the Spanish authorities. Jose swore that if ever he met Amadi again he would cut off his ears, and he had kept his word. The court-martial pronounced sentence of death on Jos 6 Ferreu for treason under article 138 of the military code, which recites that " they commit treason who hinder news reaching the general of interest to the Spanish army." Ferreu heard the sentence unmoved.

The following is an account of the subsequent events, written by an eye witness : — "Ferreu was placed for four hours in the chapel to prepare for death. Father Salas, one of the canons of the cathedral of Toledo, who happened to be in Melilla distributing money among the sick and wounded on behalf of Cardinal Monescillo, did not abandon Ferreu for a moment, but, along with the chaplain of the place, afforded the condemned man all the consolations of religion. Canon Salas, the Marquis de Oastrillo, the Oarlist representative, all the ladies of the place, representatives of the press, and everybody, except military men, who dared not interfere, called on the marshal, urging that th« life of this unfortunate Spaniard should be spared. But Marshal Campos, although feeliDg as keenly as the rest the sad duty imposed on the members of the court-maitial, replied to all: 'This offence cannot be pardoned. Discipline must be preserved. We are a civilised nation, and must not imitate the savage acts of barbarians.' The morning of the Ist of December dawned brightlyT^and only a few lingering clouds capped the heights of Gurugu, when at 8 a.m. we started towards Fort Camellos, near which the crime had been committed, and where Ferreu was to be shot. The chaplain had remained with him from first to last. About 10 a.m. a company of soldiers emerged from the fortress, guarding a carriage in which Ferreu, accompanied by the chaplain, was taken towards Fort Camellos. On arrival there the two occupants descended from the carriage, and walked between the lines of the soldiers to the centre of a small esplanade, stretching from the wall of the fort, looking towards the sea. We were close to Ferreu when he got down from the carriage, and could detect no signs of fear or emotion on his calm and intelligent face. We heard the word of command passed to the troops and paw them form the square,

The officer in command read .the sentence, which Ferreu heard unmoved. The chaplain embraced Ferreu for the last time and withdrew. " Four soldiers who had been drawn by lot — for none had volunteered — moved out of the ranks with an officer at their head, and took their stand opposite Ferreu. We could hear the olick of the Mausera as they were loaded. Ferreu was kneeling on the ground, probably in prayer. Although I scarcely wished to continue looking on, I could not withdraw my eyes. I heard the officer say 'Fire I' and the figure of Ferreu fell face towards the earth. The four shots, at only 20 yards distance, had all hit. Three bullets had penetrated $he head, and the fourth had gone through his body and perforated the heart. The military surgeon approached the body and certified that life was extinct." Captain Ariza's band was afterwards broken up, and the convicts were sent back to their chains. Ferren's career had been a remarkable one. At 20 he was sentenced to penal servitude for life for killing the mayor of bis native town during an election, but he escaped and joined the Carlists. He was one of the defenders of the fortress of La Sco de Urgol when it was stormed by Martinez Campos on 27th August 1875. In this action be sustained three severe wounds. It happened that General Campos saw him, and, admiring the fortitude with which he bore his sufferings, gave him 20 pesetas, and ordered him to be well tended, remarking that a man of such courage deserved to be taken care of.