The record-union., 1897-04-21

around me in cells of the same size
were other prisoners, thirty or forty
men in every cell. You do not know
what that means These wretched
creatures had not air enough to supply
air had been good But the cells are
damp and the air is vile.
THE stencil of the prison is slcKeh-
ing. Let me tell you in word now
bad it is. after / got notice OF my re-
rease l obtained permission to go TO the
doors of one or two of these dungeons
and say a word of farewell to men
knew.
THE odor was so bad; even when L
stood outside, that l could scarcely re-
main there long enough to exchange a
simple good by-and l am not easily
offended by bad air. To the thirty OF
forty wretched men inside-kept there
day after day, month after month, not
knowing, scarcely caring, whether they
We're to be taken out and shot or not
you must see that such places mean
torture and death.
there are absolutely no sanitary pro-
visions. Once, sometimes twice day,
barrel which is placed in each cell
is carried out and brought back again
that barrel represents every effort
made to cleanse the pens in which the
Spanish kept the prisoners who sur
rounded me.
In these cells how can men eat or
sleep? When they fall from exhaustion
and have no longer strength to push
their way to a corner, where the air
| is least offensive, they sometimes
sleep. Some have hammocks. If all
had there would be no room to hang
them. So those without sleep in filth
on the floor In the daily mockery of
cleaning these human pens the guards
spill refuse on the floor and in the
corridors.
DIED CRYING FOR WATER.
How much water these prisoners get
I cannot tell you, but l can tell you
this, that often, when the nights were
hot, and the damDness made these
places worse, l heard the cry, Water.
Water!' go up all around me. And, of
course, no one needed. Every one who
might have given these wretches a
drink did not care whether they lived
or died
Some of them died. I do not know
that any We're beaten to death there, as
you know Dr. Ruiz was in Guanabacoa,
but it is not necessary to beat them.
Their punishment is sufficient as it is.
Some of these men are guilty from the
Spanish standpoint. Others do not
know even of what they are accused
and are innocent from any standpoint.
These, like the others, are companions
in the stencil and shout in vain for
water.
What do they eat?'' The soldier
struck his right hand-broken by a
bullet-against his left like man who
strikes a blow. They cannot eat. The
sight of the stuff that is given to them
would sicken a, man in the open air.
The usual food is rice and dried beef.
1t is disgusting. 1t is also cold. 1t is
fit for animals, as the cells are.
when these men are i'll they try
to conceal it. Every morning a Span
ish soldier goes the rounds and calls
out before each cell to know who is
i'll. After him comes the doctor.
would have died where I was sooner
than go to a hospital, and the others
felt the same way. They knew that
the hospitals We're crowded with men
in all stages of all diseases, and that
they would be worse there, if possible,
than in the prison.
Z have reason to believe that the
Spanish authorities attempted to have
me poisoned. [ will tell you about it.
1 was allowed what in Cabana are ex-
traordinary privileges from the first. !
had cell to myself. I was permitted
to have my meals sent in from outside
the prison. l was even able TO buy a
little milk at times and made coffee in
my cell. Once when Campos was Cap
tain eneral-he had been a friend OF
mine-I wrote to him asking for al
interview. He wrote excusing himself
I Martinez Campos did not dare face me
in prison.
TRIED TO POISON HIM.
+'Well, about that attempt to poison
me- One day General Weyler came tC
| Cabana. 1t was known to him that
was treated mildly: that l was ar
American citizen and that influence
was being used in my behalf You have
heard how my release affected him