Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-15
CUBAN PATRIOTS AFIELD.
Plenty of Food for Those Who Are
Fighting Spain.

r18hnng spain.
From the New York Sun.
How do the Cuban patriots live In the
held-that is, as to food and shelter?" was
asked of Edward A. Gilmore, the Texas
engineer who has just returned to the
states after serving eight months in the
patriot army of Cuba.
lhey live exceedingly well, If you COM
pare them with the American patriots under
Marion or under Washington at Valley
Forge was the reply. Some people might
think the life pretty hard, though 1 will
illustrate by telling you of my first visit to
Gen. Rodriguez as a carrier of dispatches
AS L was riding along the highway toward
the camp, which was then less than a mile
away, l saw Cuban lieutenant with a pri-
vate beside him, near the trail They
stopped me and asked where 1 was from
and whittier bound 1 did not at first reveal
my identity. and the lieutenant asked me
Tor a clean handkerchief. while the private
asked me to give him my waterproof cape
They thought I was a common American
engineer, travelling as engineers do there
and that would probably be liberal
gave handkerchief to the officer, because
he needed it. Then l asked where 1 could
find the general, and told them 1 had dis
patches, at which both asked me not to
mention the requests they had made, be-
cause begging was contrary to orders. To
reach the general 1 had to pass three lines
OF pickets, who had counterSigns, ETC., ac-
cording to the regular usage, and then
reached little pole-and-palm-leaf hut in a
clearing that was SO small that the twenty
five men who were within 1t, with half a
dozen hammocks, filled it uncomfortably
full. Lying in one of the hammocks was 4
man under medium size, dressed only in a
calico shirt pair of white drawers and a
pair of black leather slippers, whom my
guide saluted as Gen. Rodriguez.
THE general took my dispatches, and for
ten minutes read them without saying a
word to me / was tired because of a long
ride, and at the end of that time asked an
saying there was none in the camp but
gave me another mans hammock instead.
At that the general finished reading the dis
patches, and asked me If l would like some
thing to eat; then ordered an adjutant to
take me to the kitchen. This was another
pole hut. with fire in the middle, where
some men were cooking. They at once
gave me rusty tin dish with four chunks
Of fresh roasted beef, and three ribs of
fresh roasted pork on another rusty dish
A third pan had fried plantains in it, and
fourth had stack Of a native root that is
like a potato. also fried. There was neither
knife nor fork nor spoon, but there was a
gourd of right good coffee.
well, now, that would seem to be a
pretty crude meal to man fresh from the
Hoffman House or the Waldorf, but to a
man who Is serving as a soldier in the
wilderness it may not seem too bad. And
that is the common fare of the patriot
army. They have an abundance of cattle
and pigs and plantains and bananas, and
the wild potatoes. They have coffee and
salt. What more should a soldier ask !?
Where do they get these things? From
the plantations of the enemy, as a rule !;
sometimes they buy of friends, but friends
often contribute.
Instead of the patriots being short of
food. it is the Spanish that suffer The
Spanish are in the towns and cities. The
patriots hold the rural districts everywhere
in both the departments, east and west.
The highways leading into all the leading
towns are constantly watched by small de-
tachments of patriots, whose duty it is to
prevent the carrying Of all kinds of pro-
duce, like tobacco into the town. They
allow food to go in, however, on payment
of a tax for the benefit Of the patriot army
Thus all meats, vegetables and milk must
pay 40 cents cash per horse load to the
patriots, while cattle paw 81 per head