The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1898-06-11
Campos' campaign was decided
failure, and he ingloriously returned to

Spain. s=55, ~ =
The war was beginning to tell, on
the noncombatants especially. Those
whose houses were not burned were
slowly starving TO death, as their farms
had been ravagedH and laid waste, if
not by splateados" (robber bands), by
the ever; destructive hand Of either
Spanish or insurgent. The guerillas,
too, were another terror to the peas.
ants. The following is a single in
stance of their butchery: II. = :: ~. .s
A party of these escaped .convicts
(for they were what composed the
guerilla bands) were in hiding, and,
overheard a lad of about 16 talking to
a struggling party of Spaniards. I'm
mediately on the disappearance Of the
soldiers the boy was caught and taken
TO their chief, as an informant - The
commander, however, considered the
matter too trivial, and, to the intense
disgust of the guerillas, dismissed the
boy. They afterwards re-caught him
and within sight Of his own door used
the machete SO effectually that his body
was scarcely recognized by his parents
who found him a few hours later.
Valeriano Weyler was sent over in
command of practically the flower of
the Spanish army, at the beginning of
1896. His campaign is characterized
with less fighting, but continual fire.
The country he traversed he left in
smoking desolation.
It was during this year that the bril-
liant Cuban general, Antonio Maceo,
was decoyed away under a flag of truce
and killed. The Cubans believe the
Spaniards purchased the treachery of
one on Maceo's own, staff However,
nothing except the bare fact of his
death came to us as authentic. Strik-
ingly similar to this incident was the
death of Lieut.. Joaquin Ruiz, a prom
inent Spanish military leader, who, the
Spaniards claim, was shot down by the
insurgents while in camp undersa pa
role flag. The Cubans' explanation is
quite different. They claim that Ruiz
came to them with the well-worn pro-
position of autonomy, when he knew
that Gomez had issued orders to the
effect that any one proposing anything
short of an absolute independence
should be treated as a spy. Accounts
so conflict that in justice to both par
ties we are obliged to treat all unofficial
reports incredulously. r., s-g.l. A. - 4
Gomez policy was to destroy the
whole island !, thereby dapri living Spain
.of any possible revenue or supplies
like the Cuban chief in the fifteenth
century, VINO discovered gold, and call
ing his people to him with a great
deal of ceremony, threw the shining
nuggets into the river so there would
be no possibility Of the Spaniards ever
finding and profting by it.
At the opening of 1897 the situation
in Cuba was something fearful. Wey-
ler's orders were cruel and relentless.
The suffering of the noncombatants
was increasing. Already the foreign
ers in Havana were doing all they
could to provide for the famine-strick-
en- people. Loyalists, separatists, au-
Economists were suffering alike. Europe
looked on with apparent inu1nerence.
Spain was too impoverished to aid
financially in the work. 1t was daily
becoming exclusively question of hui
manity. Through great dissatisfaction
Weyler was recalled and Gen. Blanco
succeeded him. Statistics show that
already 100000 have perished through
starvation alone. $685..