The age-herald., 1898-12-17

than guard and protect the property there. Several officers of the regiment, among them Captain Shelley and Lieutenant Nor man Jones, have been detailed at various times to command pack trains going into the interior of the islands. The actual work of packing is not done by any of the sol- dfers but by civilians employed for the pur- puse Captain Shelley made one trip on a provision ship around to the northern coast of the island
 'There are now five regiments in or near Santiago. The Fifth Immunes. the Fifth Regulars, the only two white regiments, the Ninth Immunes, the Eighth Illinois, and the Twenty-third Kansas, being the only colored regiments. The negroes are sta- toned eight or ten miles away, most of them at San Luis, and the white soldiers have not had the slightest difficulty with them.
 Cubans Thriving
 "Ail of the Spanish soldiers who were in Santiago have gone long ago, and nearly all of the Cubans who left their homes have returned, and a fine thing they are making off of the American soldiers Each regi- ment turns loose thousands and thousands of dollars there every month, though what they spend it for I have never been able to find out. One would imagine that the sol- diers send home nearly every bit of money which Uncle Sam pays them, bnt such is not the case There are no amusements to spend it on, and very little there to buy, so the mystery remains as to what becomes of the American soldiers money.
 "The United States government, you know, feeds all of the Cuban soldiers, and many others who need food, so the city of Santiago has no poor people to feed. In fact, nothing to do except to prosper and hope that the American regiments may be quartered around their city for the rest Of their existence.
 I~r fa1 regular army rations, which the govern mcnt is trying to vary as much as possible. The Cubans have very little to sell in the way of edibles, except fruits, consequently we don't fare very sumptuousy. Eggs sell for 10 cents apiece, and a few days before Thanksgiving day, I saw a turkey marked down to $5. We didn't get many of those great American fowls at that price. Even cigars, which you would think sell in Sam tiago for little or nothing, are high. For a good smoke we have to pay at least 10 or l2 cents. This is probably due to the fact that Santiago is a sugar province and cigars have to be brought from other provinces in pack trains and wagons. The only rail- roads running into Santiago are the coal and iron mine roads, about ten miles long.
 No Amusements
 'The main objection which the soldiers find to Santiago is the absolute lack of amusements. There are no theaters going, General Wood has placed heavy fine on all bull fighting, prize fighting, chicken fighting and similar sports, and the fact is that is little or nothing for the soldiers 10 do during their long recreation hours. It is absolutely too hot to attempt any athletic sports. We had arranged to have foot ball game on Thanksgiving day between the Fifth Immunes and the Fifth regulars but none of the men had life enough to play the game. In self-defense, the boys resort to rolling de bones,' but I understand that this is not a vice confined exclusively to the troops of Santiago.
 "A short time before I left a circus dis embarked from one of the ships, and for a while the soldiers anticipations of seeing real, live circus ran high, but they were doomed to disappointment; for the aggrega- tion had been there only day or two when four of their men were taken i'll with what was thought to be yellow fever The four were hustled out of the city immediately, which effectually broke up the circus, think. I'll bet the boys would have run that show to suit themselves had they had half chance.
 Pretty Cuban Senoritas
 ''The expected has happened, and nearly all of the soldiers in Santiago have their little Cuban senoritas." Some of these DeneS are as pretty as any girls have ever seen, and it Is needless to say that they have great numbers of admirers among the soldiers. One of our officers, from Birming- nam, by the way, is rushing one of the handsomest of the lot, and the romance of 1t IS that her father doesn't like the soldier in question one bit. The latter manages to Keep his suit pretty warm, however
 Collecting Souvenirs
 A great many of the soldiers have caught the fad of collecting souvenirs of Santlago and the surrounding country which Is now so historic, and you have perhaps heard of numerous guns and tbe like which have already been sent home by the boys When we first arrived in San tlago Mauser and Kragg-Jorgensen rifles and other military equipments could be picked up in great numbers off of San Juan hill, which. is only about three miles from where we are encamped. Since then, how ever, the United States government and the cubans have gathered all of them up, and now they have to be purchased.
 Some of the men in Captain Harrson's company at Morro Castle have succeeded in getting a very novel and valuable sou venir from what was formerly one of the proud ships of the Spanish navy As you know, the Reina Mercedes lies in the chan mel very near the fort. Captain Harrison has some very expert divers in his com pany, and short time ago they decided to explose the sunken vessel. They waited until low tide, and then diving down with out the use of any diving apparatus what ever went into the apartments of the ship, and finally succeeded in bringing out the entire silver service of that war vessel. Of course 1t will be preserved by the com pany as one of the most valuable souvenirs of their service during the Spanish war"
 Lieutenant Whitehead left last night for his home in Mississippi. He will pass through Birmingham on his return to Sam tiago some time in January.