The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1898-12-02
Letter from Santiago de Cuba.


80
The road run in a westerly course
parallel with the Jaragua Iron Com
pany's Railroad for about two miles,
then turns in a northerly direction.
In some places it runs through groves
OF cocoanut palms; in other places the
shrubbcry is ornamcnted with orch
ids. Sometimes one bush has as many
as a dozen orchids clinging to its
branches. We came upon u palma
christi forest, many Of the trees reach
ing ten feet ia height. We saw many
land crabs. some very beautifully col
Ored, while others were OF u deep
brown TINT, also numbers Of lizards
and chameleons and a flock OF wild
guineas. AT the waters edge we
found trees resembling the banyan in
the manner0f growth, sending down
shoots from the branches, which take
root, thus forming an almost impen.
etrable thicket. So enraptured were
we with the beauties so layishly scat
tered about us, we scarcely felt ia
tigue. 1t was about 8 a. m, when we
reached FL MQrro, when after a brief
rest Boyd aud / went down to the
bottom Ut the castle and there began
our Investigations. The bottom of
the structure Is about fifty feet above
sea level and the roof proper about
two hundred aud nifty feet. We ex-
plOred every room and sentry box ia
the place, among Others, the cells in
which HobSOn was confined. One Of
thnso ic knpt e1ncaN aud ma ~ uIIuu,
ed TO enter 1t, but you can look 10 and
see all that Is to be Eel The walls of
this eel are decorated with some splen-
did drawings Of persons and things,
thus showing that some artist Of no
mean talent had been imprisoned here
for quite a time. One popularity about
this structure is that all ways of
egreSs and ingress from one floor TO
another are on the outside and thus
IN view Of the enemy. The lower
part Of the building is all dug out of
the earth or stone, whichever it 10
called. 1t is almost too hard for the
former and scracely hard enough for
the latter. The upper part is mason
ry; also the ramparts. The rooms are
mostly large, twenty or thirty feet
square, though there are Others not
more than six by eight or nine feet.
The armament consists principally Of
old smooth bore cannon and mOrLars,
though there are Il few riled cannon,
and in some Of the secondary batteries
nearly all Of the cannon are rifled. In
the Estrella battery about. half the
cannon are riled, but most Of them
have never been mounted. | saw
where a shell or two from the "earth-
quake maker" .Vesuvius had exploded
and 1t certainly must have made the
earth quake, to judge by the hole it
tore In it. We Saw many other places
where smaller shells had burst and
torn up the earth. The castle bears
some evidenced the fight, the walls
being pierced and torn in many places
by shot and shell. The light house,
which Is in the rea OF the castle, was
pierced in a dozen Or more places and
nearly half Of it was torn away and
the light destroyed. 1T was built of
iron one and one half inches thick.
The barracks also were penetrated in
manytdaceS and bear evidence OF the
skill and craftsmanship Of our gun.
ners. The hospital was struck by one
shot, bat was only slightly damaged.
The Estrella battery and the secOnda-
ry batteries In the rear Of the castle
seem to have received most Of the at
tention of our gunnerS are aud almost
total wrecks.
The Reina Mercedes lies where she
was sunk, about equally distant from
MORO and EsLrelia, her upper deck
mostly out OF the water. All that can
be seen of the Mcrrimac are her masts
and the top Of her smoke stacks. The
day was full OF pleasure and interest
to me. / gathered Il few relics and a
number of beautiful orchids. We
reached camp in time for supper and
enjoyed it as only wcaried pedestrians
are capable of doing. On the first OF
November l visited the city Of SANTA
90 and called to see my friend, DR.. e.
r. Bragg. Together we spent an hour
or two in traversing the city and not
ing places Of interest. W. then re-
turned to his boarding house, a large
two story brick building of ancient
Everything about it is of mas
sive build. The windows and tran
are beautifully pictured and col
Ored. The walls OF the rooms are
nearly twenty feet in height and the
rooms large and we'll ventilated, hav-
ing tiled or marble floors. The out
side doors and windows when closed
render the building as secure as II it
were a prison. In the center OF the
building there is an open court or
square about hfty feet each way, which
Is only accessible by passing through
the building, thus the inner doors and
windows can be left open with perfect
IMMUNITY, the ventilation being all
that could be desired. Most OF the
large buildings in this tropical city
are constructed in this manner. The
bath room interested me very much.
1t has alargc stationary tub built OF
cement and tlling, arranged as "a com.
mon bath and shower combined, and
different from anything OF the kind
l have eyer seen. After a smoke In
DR.. Eds room, We repaired to the par.
Tor, where a little Spanish girl enter
tanned us with music upon the piano.
Then We spent u few moments 10 the
doctors room, arranging our toilets for
dinner. After months OF army ra-
lions, you may imaKine how l enjoyed
the dinner which was elegantly served
In courses. Then followed coffee and
cigars. We then visited San Juan
Hill. The Doctor having been there
during the whole Of the fighting,
proved an interesting and entertain.
Ing companion. We went Ovcr most
OF the ground occupied by both
armies. l saw all Of the trenches oc.
cupied by them during the fight; also
the route taken by our men when as
saulting the blOck.housc, IN which
our loss was about two thousand men.
The assailants had to cross an open
plain about q half mile wide and
climb the hill, the whole time 10 easy
range from the entertainments OF the
enemy. There were a great many kill.
ed and wounded on both sides by the
time our men had taken the position
occupied by the enemy who retreatcd
toward Santiago. VIZ visited the val.