The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-22

dead men when the shooting took place
assured me that there was not the
slightest excuse for the shooting, and
not word of truth in the sergeant's
story; that the men had not made the
slightest attempt to escape, andf that
the shooting was simply cold-blood-
ed murder.
A CHOICE OF DEATHS.
Life seems to be dear even to those
who are starving and who have two OF
three epidemics raging about them, for
the pacificos, one and all, gave up dig
ging for potatoes, and returned imme-
diately to their leaky bohios and their
starving families. OF course no one in
Matanzas believes for an instant that
the four men had endeavored to escape
and were shot down in the ATTEMPT. 1t
was thought that the sergeant had
taken it upon himself to order the
shooting in order to frighten the paci-
ficos from bothering the governor
again with their foolish complaints.
and to prevent the guerrilla from nav
ing to escort them out of the city again
on a hopeless quest for food. But the
pacificos have never asked to be taken
out again. They seem to prefer the
lingering death that awaits them from
starvation, smallpox and yellow few
er to being shot in the back.
SHOOTING DOWN BOYS.
Nowhere In the world is the blessing
of sleep more difficult to WOO than in
Matanzas during the present reign of
terror. And early in the morning
there comes a sharp awakening, one
a afNf q
blood run cold. Across the blue waters
of the bay, out of the golden sands of
the beach rises the fortress Of San Sew
erino, a great mass of gray, frowning
granite, with here and there an apera-
ture out of which distinctly 10th CEN
tury cannon peeps. Here ON the es-
planade, and in full sight of the town,
are shot in the back the young boys
who have been captured in various
ways and charged with the stereotyped
crime of rebellion and incendarism,"
and have been found guilty by sum-
mary court martial. AS a matter of
fact, and no one knows 1T better than
the Spanish officers, very few of these
victims have ever been in the patriotic
ranks. The very great majority of
them are simply peasants who have
concentration, or who, starving, have
attempted to escape through the Span
ish lines and have fallen in with the
bushwhackers who, day and night, lie
in waiting on all the roads and byways
that lead out of the town to the country
districts. AS a general thing all those
who are caught in the open without a
military pass are simply shot down in
| - ii, .,a.l
and brought into the town to be tor
tured in the hope Of obtaining informa-
tion. Those who are shot down where
found serve a useful purpose. For
days their mutiliated bodies are
dragged about towns and shown to the
morbidly and the bloodthirsty.
One sergeant of the regular army
with whom talked in Jaruco told me
he thought this a most excellent plan,
for, as he said, the sight of the fallen
foe was a good thing, para calentar
lanima, ito warm the soul of the
soldiers"
3 There is, no record kept, or at
least there is no record that is accessi-
BILE, Of the number of so-called insur-
geants that have been shot down since
the beginning of the war.
TURKISH AND SPANISH METH
obs.
once remember hearing a congress-
man say, one who has since been re-
tired from public life by a well nigh
unanimous expression of public opin-
ion, that I'VE want Cuba, but we want
it without a single Cuban in it," do
not want Cuba, but I protest against
| MT aCSiCtiner n
iards in the campaign which, If not in
terrupted, will end in the extermina-
tion of a race which, born on Ameri
can soil, has not unnaturally accepted
American ideas, and American aspira-
| tions. AS / claim, the warfare that Is
being carried on in Cuba under our
auspices is without a parallel in mod
ern history. Turks in Bulgaria, in
Macedonia and in Armenia pale before
the acts which are committed in Cuba
| at our very doors, not covertly and In
secret, but publicly and before all the
world, in obedience to proclamation
of the captain general, the responsible
officer of Her Catholic Majesty.
make this broad statement advisedly
and I think with justification, for
visited the scenes of the Bulgarian
We're committed, when their memory
was fresh in the remembrance of the
survivors, and was personally an eye
witness to the outrages in Macedonia
during the summer of 1890.
BLACK AND YELLOW DEATH.
But If to the end of the chapter, and
to the end of the book, the situation
| In Cuba is only to be viewed by us
from the purely selfish standpoint, it is
my duty to call attention to the i'm
minent danger to our national health
and prosperity which are menaced by
the present sanitary condition of the
island There, with two terrible epi-
denies in progress, all the conditions
are ripe for an outbreak of the black
death, the bubonic plague. 1t may
break out spontaneously, or 1t may be
brought from Eastern Asia. Ships,
| principally transports, are constantly
entering Havana only two or three
months out from Manila. FormoSa
and other parts of Eastern Asia, where
for the past two or three years the
plague has been epidemic. These ships
are in an unspeakably filthy condition,
and they carry ragged, wretched
soldiers, the chosen propagators OF
every plague. And not a. few of these
soldiers and very great many of the
| officers have been transferred directly
from the Philippines, and bring into the
island, without any attempt at fumi-
cation or disinfection. their clothing
and belongings, which have come In
| many cases from plague stricken
ports. If the black plague should
break out this summer in Havana,
should the black death and the yellow
death join forces in devastating the ISL
and, there would be but little chance OF