The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-06-20
WERE BURNED ALIVE.
Families Of Women mud children
Harmed In Their Homes.

New orleans, Juno lS-The Times -flcm
ocrat of this morning has the following
gruesomc tale of the condition of affalrr
in cuba:
Among the passengers on the regular
steamer from Havana. which arrived In
nor, a few days ago, was Spanish lady.
She has lived In a small town about forty
miles from Havana. and during tho war
| she has witnessed many interesting and
| thrilling incidents. Her husband ia Il Gu
| ban. and has served In the nsurgont army,
but at present is in this city eonvaiescing
| from a severe attack of Illness.
| In most interesting conversation last
| evening relative TO the progress OF thu
war aud the manner of conducting 1t as
practlced by General Weyler and his leu
| tenants. she said that when she LETT Cuba
the situation of the CubgnB was very nav
orable, and they were generally We'll LED
and In good fighting trim. In regard TO the
Spaniards, she knew from authentic reports
and also from incidents OF which Hhr had
been a spectator, that they were rapidly
dying OF and throughout the army there
wax great dissatisfaction. Speaking more
particularly, shc related tho horrible story
of a raid Of General Linares In the prov
lnce Of Santiago de Cuba.
The Spanish general acting under orders
from Weylcr, had gone into the interior to
look for insurgents, bnt flndlng none nc
proceeded TO wraak his vengeance upon the
hcpltes women and children. II Was his
habit to ride up TO u small house ana IN
quire for the men. Upon being told thht
no men we're away fighting for thH freedom
Of their country ho would order the women
and children out OF doors. Knowing from
previous experiences what would very
likely be- thor fate In case they obeyed The
order. tho women would refuse md barr'-
esde their doors and Windows. Thnfeupon
Tho Spanish general would order the build
ing surrounded and the place set on FIRE.
Surrounded by hostile and hlnodihrsiy sol
diers. aud threatened with deHih by ne
flames. the women yet preferred 20 aln ~
fire rather than 10 deliver Themselves 10
tho muTdrrors outside to 10 saved for
Worse fate.
Upon one occasion this General Iinarcs
burned eleven families and az t.any houses
IN little village, aud not human being
was left to tell OF the barbarous ofin1o,
The facts woro told 10 "A Spanish lady by
one Of the soldiers who had been present.
and IN turn rotated 10 the Spanish lady
Who s at prsfont In this city, her in
formant making the mistake OF supposing
that fhe favored the SpaniArd8. Among
other things mentioned IN Tho conversation
last night was the great amount ~ In
authorization and unrest that Ia manifest
throughout the Spanish army. Many of
the generals upon coming TO Cuba and
seeing how Weyler Ia conducting the war
arc manly and courageous enough to re-
fuse 10 murder the women and children
even at the peril OF n court martial. In
consequence Weylor finds himself handl-
capped by not having "A staff In complete
harmony with hiR plan OF the war, which
makes his undertakings and campaigns 10
much moro difficult 10 prosecute sucess-
fully. The common soldiers moreover are
In dreadful condition physically.
They are half starved In the first place
Then. again most OF their food comes from
Spsin and the army contractors buy the
obeapest that can be procured In order 10
sell II at a large profit. Thousands OF The
soldiers have already died from starvation
and stomach troubles without ever leaving
Havana after landing from the ships. aud
those who have survived are mostly in
capable OF marching two miles xlthuut a
soD. On the other hand the CubanY are
well fed and have very fed sick soldiers
TO hamper their movements. They have
separate commands 10 attend especially TO
the raising and harvesting OF the food sup
plies. and great care ia takcn that these
shall be DESTROYED In Gaze there Is any
DANGER Of them falling into The hands OF
tho Spanish. One very significant tact HAT
was mentioned In tho conYersa.lon last
night was that the oondtlon Of the Spanish
army was constantly growing y orne. main
Nv from the causes mentioned ahose While
that Of the cubans was growing Better,
and rapidly. too. every day. Two largo and
very important expeditions had lately land
ed UPON the island successfuiiy, hno tnou-
saads Of arms bad bssn distributed Among