The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-04-27

New York. April ga special to the
World from Havana says: Private let
tiers from the interior report wholesale
starvation. Some of the cases are heart
rending.
Children are dying in the streets of
Metanzas. and babies have been found
dead in the arms of their exhausted
mothers.
Your correspondent has been through
the province of Pinar del Rio, and has
seen whole villages of living skeletons,
in the dark huts, praying for death to
release them from their sufferings.
General Wevler is seizing the cattle
from the citizens for the use of the
troops in Santa Clara
Rafael Rubio, an American citizen,
lost q head of cattle in that way. When
he complained to the Spanish authori-
ties and demanded pay for them, he
was told that he was imDudent to ask
Spain to pay for what the insurgents
take with imDunity- A guerrilla corps
raised and armed and mounted by
Spanish cattle owners of Sanctf Spir-
titus, 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.
L effect VI the VI lAAC
country people in fortified towns is
seen in all it's awfulness in Las Villas,
as the Cubans call Santa Clara prov
ince. It 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 Grande and Remedies on the north
There were $4,000 people living in the
6x-a of which those five cities
are the capitals.
OF this population $50 900 lived outside
of the cities. All these have been COM
PEELED to leave their farms and move
into the cities and fortified towns. In
some of the latter the concentrates
outnumber 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 ref
ugees. They are half naked, sick from
exposure and dying of hunger. They
are peaceful. Woodworking people. On
their farms they would not only be self
supporting. but able to supply plenty
of vegetables, eggs, meat and fruit 10
the starving people of the cities. Under
VIEWERS policy the whole $4,000 popu-
lation are suffering and 10000 are
doomed 10 die for lack of food, which
they could easily obtain if allowed TO
work This policy as war measure
is worse than useless from the Spanish
standpoint. for it has forced hundreds
of men to join the rebellion before they
will be forced to see their families
starve.
In some other places in. Las Villas,
the overcrowding is terrible. Sitalies.
before the order was given. had 100
people 1t now contains 1000, includ-
ing soldiers. The farmers ordered in
have built $50 huts and are slowly dy-
ing of starvation
Weyler has had all the cattle killed
in the fields by the guerrillas and left
to rot. and a pound of meat cannot be
bought except for 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 plantation and
the inhabitants move in. Not a drug
gist dare sell any drugs or fill a pre-
scription to be taken outside the regu-
lar fortified towns. If grain of quiz
nine for suffering wretch goes out it
means death TO the sender if caught
The ms eats in arms are much better
off than the concentrated pacificos-
They kill a beef in the fields when they
choose, but when they have taken what
they need. they generally send word to
the owner to get the rest of it. or they
try to get it to the starving people
around the cities.