Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-04-26
CUBANS STARVING
Babies Found Dead In tho Arms OIL
Exhausted Mothers.
VILLAGES OF LIVING SKELETONS.
A Hundred and fifty thousand P,opi'
Doomed TO Death til Ongh Gen.
We,ler's Policy.

Anew IOhiNi AEtii 80 RI bpeciui ~
the World from Havana ssys: Private
letters from the interior report whole
sale starvation. Some Of the cases are
specially heartrending. Children are
dying in the streets OF MataDzss and
babies have teen found dcaI In the
srme OF exhausted mothers. Your
correspondent has been through tho
province OF Plnar del RIO and have
ssen whole villages Of living skeletons,
In the dark huts praying for death to
re'ease them irom their sufierings.
General Weyler 10 SELLING the cattle
IRON the citizens for tue use OF the
troops In Santa CLARA.
Rafael Rubio, an American citizen,
lost twerty-ono head OF cattle Ia that
way. When no complained to the
Spanish authorities and demanded
pay for them he was told that he was
impudent to ask Spain to pay for wha
the insurgents take with impunity, A
guerilla corps raised, arm d and noun.
ed by Spanish cattle owners Of SAINT
Spiritus went out and drove 10 200
head OF cattle to be tlau htered for me
benefit OF the needy people OF the city,
but Weyler ordered all the meat
sen, to Mauzanillo Tor the col
diers. The effect of concentrating the
country people In fortified towue is
seen In all Its awfulness IN Las Villas
as the Cubans call santa CLARA
province. 1t means "the towns,"
Santa Clara having many Glitter, I'VE
OF which are OF large population.
rlnra IA In an
Cos and Santi Spiritus on the south
side and Sagua La Grande anu
Remedies on the north. There were
$50, 900 people living in the fve dis
tric.s, OF which these five cities are the
capitals. OF this population 100, 600
lived outside OF the cities. All these
have been c)mpsled 10 leays their
larms and move into the cities anu
forti fied towns. I'm some OF the latter
the concentrates Outnumber the
original population. They have no
money and II they had, there Is not
food enough to supply all.
Bark huts have been built and they
are crowded with poveriy-strick II
refugees. They are halt naked, sich
from exposure and dying Of hunger.
They are peaceful, nard working
people. GA their farms they w0uit
not only be seil-supp 1rting but auie it
supply plenty OF vesetabiet, eggs
meal ami fruit to the starving peopI,
o the cities. Under Weyler's pol cJ
the whole $500 population are suffer
ing and l5O, QUO are doomed to die fof
LACK OF foot which they could easily
obtain II allowed to work. This policy
as q war measure 10 worse than useless
from the Spanish standpoint, for 1t has
forced hundreds OF men 10 Join the re.
bellion before they will DO forced to
see their families s;arve.
In some other places In Las Villas the
overcrowding Is terrible. Sitalies be-
fore the order was given had 100 peo-
pie. 1t now contains 900, inoluuing
the solJierp. The farmers ordered in
have butt $50 nuts anu are slowly
dying of starvation.
Weyler has had all the cattle killed
In the fed by the gusrillas anu left
to rot, but pound OF meat cannot be
bought except Tor the troops.
The owners OF sugar plantations
are not allowed to grind, but they
must protect their property. They
built houses and soldiers are put In
them. This makes a fortified piuntl-
| ton and the iunabitants move In. N OF
| q druggist dare sell any drugs or fill d
| prescription to TO taken outside the
regular fortified towns. II a grain oil
quinine for n suffering wretch goes oul
II means death 10 the sender II caught
The insurgents In arms are much
better of than the concentrated psci.
fcos. They kill a beef In the field
wnen they choose, but when they
have taken what they need they gen.
orally send word to the owner to get
tbs rest OF Il, or they try to get II 20
the starving people around the cities