BARBARITIES IN EQUADOR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 318, 6 July 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

BARBARITIES IN EQUADOR.

EXTRAORDINARY SCENES. .Scenes of extraordinary barharily were witnessed in Quito, the capital of'Ecua;l<»;- «t the eom-nvsio:, „f the recent rebellion. Tlic f0r;.,., „■; -eaction and clericalism triumphed in the struggle, and the leaders of the relndli-.n. headed by General Montero, were captured. The prisoners were placed on'trial in Quito, and a sentence of sixteen years' imprisonment was indicted upon General Montero. The Court was crowded with soldiers belonging to the Government forces, and when the decision - f n>e military judges were announced there was an angry clamor for the death sentence. Uproar prevailed for a few moments, and then tlie rebel leader was shot down by the spectators. His body was thrown into tlie street and hideously mutilated before it was burned in a bon-fire. The other men who had been prominent in the rebel ranks reached Quita a few hours later by train, and were taken to the gaol, through the threatening crowd, in a motor car. Colonel Sierra was in command of the guard, and after he had placed the prisoners in their cells, he withdrew nearly all the soldiers, lie told the others, in the hearing of the waiting mob. that on no account must they use their arms against the citizens. Within an hour the gaol was stormed and the prisoners were murdered in barbarous fashion. The editor of the Republican newspaper suffered amongst them. The bodies were dragged with ropes about the streets of Quito and finally were burned in a public square. The outrages were committed in broad daylight without the authorities making any attempt to eheek the mob. A correspondent of the London Daily News | states that soldiers took an active part in the proceedings, and that members of | the Government watched, while "ladies of Quito society applauded from their J balconies as the bodies were dragged J past." All the foreigners in the f,own withdrew their flags when they saw what was happening, but the protest was not heeded. Ecuador is one of the most turbulent of the republics in South America, and even the horrors of the last revolution are not likely to induce its people to keep the peace among themselves for more, than a year or two at most.