, 1897-04-27

New York, April ga special to thu
World from Havana says:
Private letters from the interior re
port wholesale starvation. Some of the
cases are especially heart-rending. Chill
dren are dying in streets OF MatanZas
arms of their exhausted mothers. YOU
correspondent has been through the
province of Pinar del Rio and has seer
whole villages OF living skeletons, in
the dark huts, praying for death to re-
lease them from their suffering.
General Weyler is seizing the cattle o!
the citizens for the use Of the troops in
Santa Clara.
Rafael Rubio, IN American citizen,
lost q head OF cattle in that way. When
ne complained to the Spanish authori-
ties and demanded pay for them. he was
told that he was impudent to ask Spain
to pay for what the insurgents take with
impunity.
A guerrilla corps raised and armed
and mounted by Spanish cattle owners OF
Sancti Spiritus, went out and drove In
200 head of cattle to be slaughtered for
the benefit OF the needy people of the
city. but Weyler ordered all the meat
sent to Manzanillo for the soldiers.
The effect Of concentrating the coun-
try people in fortified W is seen in
all its awfulness in Las Villas, as the
Cubans call Santa Clara province.
1t means the towns" Santa Clara
having many cities. five Of which are OF
large population. Santa Clara is in the
center. Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus on
the south side, and Sagua la Grange and
Remedies on the north. There were
$4,000 people living in the five districts,
tails. OF this population $50, 900 live out
side Of the cities. All these have been
compelled to leave their farms and move
into the cities and fortified towns. In
some OF the latter the concentrates out
number the original population. They
have no money and if they had there is
not food enough to supply all.
Bark huts have been built and they
are crowded with poverty-stricken refu-
gees. They are half naked, sick from ex-
posture and dying from hunger. They
are peaceful, hard working people. On
their farms they would not only be
self-supporting, but able to supply plen-
~ Of vegetables, eggs, meat and fruit
to the Starving people of the cities.
Under WeyIer's policy the whole $50
900 persons are suffering and $50 600
are doomed to die for lack Of food, which
they could easily obtain if they were al
lowed to work. This policy, as II war
measure, is worse than useless from the
Spanish standpoint, for it has forced
hundreds of men to join the rebels rath-
er Than be forced to see their families
starve in the cities and towns.
AT some other places in Las Villas the
overcrowding is terrible. Sitiallato. be-
fore the order was given, was inhabited
by 100 people. 1t o contains 1000,
including soldiers. The farmers order
ed in have built $50 huts and are slowly
dying OF starvation.
Weyler has had all the cattle killed
in the fields by the guerrilias and left tC
ro;. But not il pound of meat al be
bought except for the troops.
The owners Of sugar plantations are
not allowed to grind, but they nus pro
tect their property. They build forts and
soldiers are put in them. This makes a
fortified plantation. And the inhabi-
tants move in. Not a druggist dare sci
any drugs OF fill a prescription to be
taken outside the regular fortified towns
II a grain OF quinine for a suffering
wretch goes III it means death to the
sender, if caught. The insurgents in
arms are much better of than the con-
centrated pacificos. They kill a beef in
the field when they choose, but when
they have taken what they need, they
generally send word to the owner to
come and get the rest Of it, or they try
to get it into the starving people around
the cities.