The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-06
Distributing Food
TO Starving Cubdns

NDER date of March So j. =. Dun
II II ming writes from Havana to the
IL New York Commercial-
ii ii an interesting account of the scenes
W attending the distribution OF Amer
lean relief for the starving in cuba. In
the course of 1t he says: Two thousand
people have died in BciuCal within the
past year. The original population of the
town was about 5000, but now the place
is crowded With the families who Were
driven i'm there by Gen. Weyler's edlct.
notwithstanding the fact that the people
in BeiuCal, owing principally to the rich
district surrounding it and It's proximity
to l1aVara, are in far better condition
than those in almost every other part Of
Cuba, there is great desttution there and
the marks OF famine can he seen in hum
dTeds Of faces.
The Americans who were with the re-
lief train visited a number OF houses and
found many instances of great distress.
As far as clothing is concerned, nearly
every one is in rags, and this is particu-
| larly 50 in the case of the children, hun
| drCdS of whom can be seen on the streets
| entirely naked. Fathers of large families
! can obtain no work, for the moment that
! they 90 into fields to look for employ
ment they are driven back into the town
! by the Spanish soldiers. There is no
! business OF any consequence in the town
! itself, and one has to marvel at the num-
| Der of people who are still alive. Those
! who came into the town aged and infirm
| have died long ago.
| Little children have been carried or by
| the hundreds and for no other reason
| than that they had not the food to sustain
| life. Those who are left walk the streets
| begging morscls of food under the eyes
| of the Spanish soldiers, who parade in
| front Of the walled barracks in the heart
| of the village. one cannot associate these
! unfortunate little creatures with the chill
dren of his own land even the ragged and
| ill-fed urchins who are seen H. the poorer
! districts of large cities. They do not play
in the streets; the only game they know
is one OF struggle for a daily existence,
! one round of begging bread from those
| who cannot give it and from those who
will not give it, They peer through the
! gratings of the fort and watch thC issue
! Of ratiOns to the Spanish soldiers, who
drove them and their parents from the
| fields ,ol sugar cane, but their sunken
cheeks and cmaciated bodies tell the story
of their own starvation. These children
| know nothing beyond their lives on a
| sugar plantation and .he days and pghts
| of hunger they have had since they fled
| with their parents from the blazing fields
| which once gave them home and subsis-
| tcnce.
|
But recently a new factor has entered
into their lives. They have been told that
a people, strangers in tongue and tho
| representatives of Il humanity that they
know nothing about, would feed them
When a half dozen Americans walkcC
through the principal streets OF this lit.
tie town OF Bciucal they were followed
everywhere by over 200 children, who had
probably never seen an American before
Supplies have bcen going into the tOwr
for several weeks, and these children
wanted 10 sec tie kind of people they
were who mad appcascd their hunger
There was nothing offensive in their man
ncr. and they did not even attempt tC
ask any aims. They had been told tha
these people had fed them, and that they
would feed them moro. But the curiosity
to see Los AmcriCanos" was not con
fined TO the children. Men and women o
all ages crowded every doorway and win
dow in every street through which thu
small party Of Americans passed. an>
many a one who had been beneficiary o
the people who had given them food lie
fall sincere word of blessing.
| q
As to the general relief work on tn
island, n system of distribution has bee,
perfected within .the past week or twt
which has greatly reduced the suffering
ReConCcntrados in over 400 towns hav
| been supplied with food ana train load
of provisions are being sent into the in
terror daily. Those in charge of the worl
sent circulars 20 the AlCaldes of towns il
every province asking for information a
to the necessities of the people and re
UucSting the AlCaldos to act themselve
or to appoint committees to act in tn
distribution Of the supplies that were T.
he sent them. II cannot he denied tina
the Spanish officials i'm Cuba resent III
efforts of Americans 70 feed the starN in
people, and Cdpt.-Ger. BlancO instruCte
local officers throughout the island not I
give the information that the America
committee asked. But, nevertheless, IN
information has been obtained from an
sources possible ana train loads of pro
, visions have been going to every part q
| Cuba which can he reached by railroad
and other means have been employed /
sending relief to remote sections. Sin'
! the relief movement started in January
2 800 tons of provisions have been receive
; in Cuba from the United States. and wit
, | the supplies on hand now and those o
the way here it is believed that the 200 n
: reconcentrados can be fed for thre
months.