Evening star., 1897-06-05
the SPANISH TROOPS

lHE SPANISH lkUUPS
Continued from First Page.)
still hover over the putrid masses Of horse
flesh.
a Train Accident.
An accident to the train gives an opp3r-
tunity to form a better acquaintance with
some OF the soldiers. This accident Is likely
to appear later In the official reports as a
dastardly attempt at dynamiting by the in
surgents, or in the insurgent accounts as q
successful attack on the Spanish troops.
Actually 1t Is neither. A lightly baliasted
car has slipped its truck in rounding a
curve and torn up the track for some dis
tance. The rest OF the cars have not left
the rails. and the passengers thank their
stars for the lucky escape. The junction is
only a mile, and by walking there we may
catch the other train The greater part of
the walk Il In the rain. 1t Il as IL the i'm
mense sheet which had seemed stretched
across the horizon had been deftly slipped
out and the clouds have come down in q
mass. The private soldier trudging by my
side says 1t Is mot bad" The roadbed is
fair and the ties give a relatively dry foot
inK. 1t Is much better than OF In the
fields. where he had been camped. and
where he had marched In the red mud up
to his ankles. Hard marching 1t was since
the rains began, he told me. and the troops
could not do much OF It. The officers are
less philosophical. but in the Intervals when
the skies clear they make light Of the in
convenience. They are civil, but tGciturn.
in talking about the war. The rainy season
will be very bad on the troops and they
deplore the lack Of hospital accommoda
tions in the field.
We make the other train and the Journey
Is continued without incident through a
country fairly under cultivation. At San
Antonio. Ceiba and the other little stations
are the same groups of soldiers bearing the
marks of hard service and fever sickness.
The everlasting fortinas stretch from MILL
top to hilltop in unbroken line. and the ap-
pIoaches to the railway depots are fortified
and barricaded. A carload of fresh cane
may be taken as proof that the grinding of
what remains Of the crop is going on, that
is, IL one carload OF cane feeds an ingeaio
or sugar mill. The pacificos are not con-
centrsted in camps along the railway rs
they are in going to Matanzas, and we are
grateful to be spared that nightmare.
At Guanajay we leave the railroad and
take vehicle to see the trocha. which lies
along the highway to Mariel. Not caring
for an escort, we had not asked for q mill
tsry pass at headquarters. The officer in
charge. when our identity is established,
valves that formality. and we jog along at
a pace which enables US to form a good I'M
preston Of the trocha. As a piece of mill
tary engineering or q strategic work. 1t
does not particularly impress our civilian
eyes. We see three rows Of posts running
parallel through the fields and parallel to
the road. They are four feet high. and the
three lines Of barbed wire which are
stretched along appear to be about six feet
apart. AS the whole country is open, tie
approach to this triple line of barbed wire
Is easily commanded from the earthworks
which have been thrown up along the
woodstde- Inside the earthworks runs the
ditch which we had always supposed was
the chief feature of the trocha 1t Is about
15O feet back from the wire fences The
earthwork line at short distances is hollow
ed out and lined with stones 1t is exactly
as II rough bowls of stones had been set
down in them. At greater distances are
the square stone forts. The other side of
the road is lined with earthworks and for
tifications in the same way.
The TrOcha Today.
This is the appearance the trocha pre-
sents today between Guanatay and MarieI.
We we're told it conforms to the topog-
raphy Of the country where it extends
through the marshes and swamps to the
sea. While it might be little obstacle to
regular body of troops with light ar
tilery. it Is not hard to see that the bar
rter must be serious to a few thousand
half-armed insui gents When the trocha
was guarded by thousands of soldiers, who
swarmed in the bowl-shaped fortinas, the
larger forts and behind the breastworks,
We can understand that Maceo could only
lead few hundred of his followers through
1: in the swampy country by stealth. No
general assault could prevail
The trocha is still well guarded, but many
of the troops have been sent to Santa
Clara and other places In the western part
OF the island. In addition to the voiun-
teers. 1900 regular soldiers are stationed
at Guar ajay. a large force to hold a small
section OF pactfied country. The insur-
gents are still plentiful in the hills.
Though Col. Cirujeda. whose troops un-
knowingly killed Maceo, is in Spain receiv-
ing tho homage OF a popular hero. the In
hear of a brush they had only three nights
ago with the troops. They came up from
the south within the lines of the trccha at
night, made a ''rodillo' or roundup of
herd of cattle. and drove the whole herd
on in triumph. There was plenty Of firing,
but the invaders left no dead or wounded
on the field. Reckless devils, those insur-
gents. Beef Is very scarce. Rarely do the
Spanish soldiers taste 1t. Perhaps they
are envying the insurgents in the hills.
Life Of the Soldiers.
The drive back from Mariel to Guanajay
is improved to note the life Of the soldiers
in the barracks along the trocha- 1t can
not be a pleasant one. They sleep In ham,
mocks, swung over the bare earth. which
at this season Is a quagmire. After the
rains the malaria steams up from it. Judg-
ing from the number OF soldiers we see
in their blankets, the fever must
be widespread. Some Of the men on picket
duty and in the watch towers of the for