Evening star., 1898-08-06
How an English Correspondent
Viewed the Santiago Campaign.
BRAVEAMERICANS, SUFFERINGCUBANS
The insurgents Get the Best Of
Everything in This War.
SPANS STRONG POSITIONS
Charles F. Hands In the London Mail.


the American conquest
/ fancy that under the rule of the naughty
Spaniarls it achieved prosperity and impor-
tance az great sewerage center. The hills
arcrnd slope down in a sort of amphltne-
atsr TO the little cliff-surrounded cove
Hence an abundant water supply The
hills are rich in iron ore, and down by the
shore there is a narrow gauge railway run
ming on the west to Santiago and on the
east 10 the first landing place Da1quiri-
The houses are dotted about on the side Or
the little foothin which rises behind the
cliff and are arranged in such a manner
that the drainage of each one of them runs
under the flooring of every other. The
houses give unmistakable evidence of ST.
bcney having been largely c, ncerned in the
cow-keeping and pig-raisins industry for
the houses are just single-storied wooden
cowsheds. with sliding woo6 IN shutters for
windows.
The Cuban headquarters ouse is cow
shed painted in blue stripes-so fine that
some srandee must have lived in II. fhft
is the worst of the Cubans Thsy get the
best of everything in this war. AS our
ships or our troops have frightened the
Spaniards out of their houses the Cubans
have come swarming down from the hills
and taken possession OF everything
Cubans seize Everything.
At Daiquiri the Spanish commandant had
to leave in such a hurry after our gum
boats began to throw crackers at him that
he had no time to finish a little store of
good oId-Ianded Spanish claret, which ne
kept in bottle in a sort of rabbit-hutch in
his bed room. Between the time the last
shot was fired and the first boat load of
troops sprang ashore not five minutes
ava NH,
enough for the Cubans to crawl out of their
holes in the ground and collar everything
that was worth annextng, or was not worth
annexing, and all that our men found was
a sacked and looted village
The Cubans had even eaten all the fruit
off the trees. There was not a ripe mango
to be seen, nor even many unripe ones.
Only the cOcoanuts had escaped, and that
was because the Cubans had had a surfeit
of cocoanuts while they were living in the
woods.
No Horses for Rough Riders.
There wers a dozen so Of good horses
which the Spaniards had not had time to
fetch from the corral These the Cubans,
being busy going over the cottages and
huts, overlooked. Roosevelt's Rough Riders
found them. The Texas cowboys had affect
ed to laugh at the nickname of Weary
Walkers" But it CALLED them terribly.
They had not been ashore five minutes
when one of them lifted up his face and
snined.
..wnoopr' he yelled; "hosses. There's
bosses around, by snakes and Shafter."
He and dozen others made wild rush
in the direction of the wind, and there, sure
enough, they found the horses. with the
Spanish army brand on them There was
wild joy in the ranks of the Rough Riders,
and they were arranging to mount a dozen
picked men on the captured animals and
send them out scouting 70 find more, when
a oare-l9gged, ragged Cuban came along
and claimed them.
According to the Rough Rider the Cuban
said: Americana no cabaNero; Cubano ca
balleror'
Get out" said the Rider. "or I'll knock
the stHff1ng outer yerr''
The Cuban went off to Gen. Castillo. and
the general went TO Gen. Shafter, and Gen
Shafter sent instructions that the horses
were TO bs given up to the Cubans. 1t was
q sorry sight for all rs footweary ones tc
see a picturesque gang of ragged Cubans
ambling gayly along on the captured horses
We were all going about offering untold
gold for a three-lsgged mule, and / must
say-for the Cubans do not esteem money
before their cause-offared il in vain.
There IS nothing for it but to walk, and
how any one is going to walk more than
five miles a day in this clirnats and over
these hills L dare not Try TO think.
1 used to despise the Cubans until got SO
filthy dirty myself. Now that my white
are cake1 with mud, and my coat has slit
up the back, l am able to appreciate the
good points of people who are much worse
OF and who have not washed themselves
for centuries. And the donkey patience
with which the Cubans bear heavy loads
lcng distances. go without food and endure
physical suffering is nothing less than won
derful
Cubans and Americans.
From here to the front, where the Cuban
scouts and guides are. is some eight miles
as the turkey buzzard flies But it is as
hundred miles on foot, through swamps on
narrow paths across which prickly cactus
SPIKES meet. across hill streams beginning
to be swollen by the rains into rushing riv--
ers, up slippery mud slopes, along river
beds: through, in fact, an almost impossible
country
The American soldier, strt 1g and brave
caring nothing for difflcultie or hardship.
and filed 10 bursting point tn enthusiasm
and fighting devil. has seen very little as
seen has taught him to be indignant that
he should be called upon to carry his tent
and his three days rations.
BY the side Of him the Cuban is but a
poor. thin-limbed, half-starved. miserable
skinned rabbit But l saw a Cuban come
down the stony hill path into the town
hmping, barefoot. He had a cash on his
right toe. which he had bound up with
Dit OF he lau walked tnSre and
back carrying on his head a heavy bag
filled with ammunition. and from daybreak
until now he had eaten nothing but berries
and wild fruit.
1t is not that they do not know fatigue or
that they have great physical strength
They do suffer. and suffer terribly, but they
bear their suTerings so patiently. The
American soldier throws away everything
superfucus, because he does not think he is
called upon to bear all the suffering of car
rytng them. But the Cuban though he is
not half so strong. goes on carrying. just
because he does not conceive that he has
any right to resent suffering. He has been
fighting for years without arms that arc
worth calling arms, he has been fighting
practically without food, without clothes
more especially without boots-but he has
kept on lighting.
Up there on the crest of the rock hill on
the right OF the cove, Is a Spanish block
house which commands the sand beach and
the mouth of the road through the valley
On the left, on the crown Of the opposite
cliff, Is another blockhouse which also COM
mands the landing place, as well as the
path over the hill. At the junction of the
road from Daiquirt and the road to Santi-
ago is another Elockhouse.- Here and there
along the ridge OF the mountains through
which the roads wind you see little black
knob outlined against the sky. 1t is block
house commanding SOM mountain naSS or