The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-04


sick man was lying. The bedding under
him seemed to be an old coverlet, Palm
leaves or bushes inclosed in bag formed
a pillow for his head. He was crouched
under a sheet with his knees drawn up.
His cheeks were flushed with fever. lie
looked at the strangers mutely and hope
lessly. The chamber of a dying pacihco
has its sacredness and the intrusion made
without knowledge was followed by a
quiet withdrawal.
In the open air the mother told the story
of that family. Her daughter and Others
were by her side. They made a few pen
MES sometimes by sewing the hats. Then
they got together little food, she hardly
knew how They had eaten last night
at 10 o'clock and hoped for something be-
fore the day was over They received no
ratIons from the soldiers. The soldiers
were letti1R them alone now ana that was
good. Her son was sick with some sort
of fever. Her other sSn had IL Hloi.h
ago and died The family had lived In the
country eight miles from Natanzas. Inc
soldiers come and burned their mouse;
then drove them in with the other country
people whose houses had Hlso peeh
burned. Before that 1t was SO easy 10
raise enough to eat, sweet potatCes' pa-
nanas and such things.
II.
tion OF many other cases, and the story
was uniformly the sans. j am bound 10
say he would not prove a Sood intehdant
at hospital or a thorough STUDENT oi
sociology. He and General Lee ula ITO.
see 1t all. They staid on the slope OF tne
hill. Secretary Fishbach and some OF
the rest OF us, who are harder-hearteu
perhaps, followed the ravine and went
among the people In the huts there. Inc
misery was little deeper, II possible, ana
certainly more hopeless. But we were
rewarded by CLEAN Of sunshine. In one
hut, where there were eight mouths 10
feed, the wcman had met with great Sood
fortune. From the heavens had fallen a
piece Of hard tack and some real salt
pork. She had boiled 1t, and the water IN
which 1t wes boiled had been so good for
the children; had tasted to them like real
soup. We heard of no other cases or
good fortune In a dozen huts / was not
able to find a morsel Of bread, a sweet
potato or a scrap of food of any kind.
The first question always asked of the
pacificos was Have you had anything to
eat today?" Sometimes they would say,
'Unpoco' little but oftener the answer
was, NADIA, nada, nada'-nothing, moth
ing, nothing
And when asked about their houses In
the country the invariable answer was:
Los soldados la quemarron'-the soldiers
burned it,
president McKinley's special repre-
sentative could not see the houses burn
ing. That was months ago. And he did
not put the people who talked to him un-
der oath, so the absolute verify of their
testimony may be questioned by skeptics.
Yet there were the evidences of his own
senses. He could not have gone through
the settlement with his eyes blndfolded
a have misery around
But he kept his eyes open and saw women
and children in actual starvation. One
woman hobbled along painfully, leading
her little boy, who also walked as If in
pain. When they approached 1t was seen
that their ankles and wrists were badly
swollen, Many others were in the same
state. They did not know what caused IT.
perhaps the water. 1t is a merciful ig-
norance. A physician afterward told us
that they were in the 'anaemic condition,
no food to make blood and the blood turn
ing to water. Some Of them, he added
were certain to die.
"When the strangers first appeared In
| the camp of the pacificos not a hand was
stretched forth begging aims. not an up
peal was made for charity. All the mem
| bers of the party in starting out had pro-
vided themselves with what seemed lib
eral amount of small change billetes cl
scrip, silver coin and coppers. II was
only when the coins began to come spon
| taneously from our pockets that the clam
| or for aid began. The country people
| thought we were a relief party, and they
could not be blamed if they made known
their needs. The proceeding, at best, was
wholly irregular. The distressed Ameri
| can citizens to whom congress voted re
| lief were not on the hill of Cascaro. Nei
| ther Mr.. Calhoun. the consul general
l n lria nAIo
the rest of us had business there. w
placed ourselves in the class of meddlinS
| Americans. In succoring these poor peo
| pie, the rebellious subjects of Spain, a!
| Minister de LONE calls them, we may
have been guilty of a grave internationa
| offense. But when our pockets were emp
| tied no one was sorry. Food is scarce an(
| dear in MatanZas, yet there is food to bt
| bought with money, and the thought o.
few starving country people having
| something to eat that day must be ou
| recompense.
"The length Of this letter forbids the ac
| count of what was actually done for th'
| Americans. That and some further par
ticulars of the pacificos at Matanzas mus
| be reserved for another letter, along witt
word about the valley of the Yumuri
where nature has proven less inhumai
| than man. 1t was while toiling up the hill
| to the church of Our Lady of Monsenat
where the best view of the valley is had
| that General Lee came near spelling ou
anticipated enjoyment of the scenery. Th'
general Is always explosive. My God,
| he exclaimed, think of those children
1--WE cannot forget them If we would. NJ
| one who has once seen the children amonI
the pacificos on Cascaro hill need be tol,
| to think of them. Helpless, starving child
hood stamps it's impress too deeply to b.
brushed away as passing impression"