The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-08-17

downpour of rain. They then marched on,
cold and breakfastless across the creeks,
which were swollen waist deep, until they
got to the front, just i'll time to find that
the fighting was over and their services
hardly needed.
MARCHED INTO FEVER AND DEATH.
With ordinary care they could have got
to the front dry, except as to the feet, with
plenty of ratiOns. AS 1t was they were
soaked to the skin all night, lost all their
ratons, waded through water over their
hips, and then sat down in the trenches
with change of clothing. Result-ma-
larial fever and death, Of course.
But perhaps the greatest suffering of all
felt by the people of Santiago who
went out to Caney for fear of the lombard
ment. Expecting to be kept there for about
"a hours and being forbidden the use Of
horses and carts, they carried only what
they could on their backs in the way Of
food and clothing. For two mortal weeks
they lay in the mud at Caney, 10000 hui
man souls where is not habitation enough
for 5C0 and in spite Of all the efforts of the
told off to feed them there was not
enough food to feed half of them half OF
the time And yet there were tons of food
lying idle within few miles at Sboney.
The return Of the refugees was sight
that can never be forgotten lola in his
most vivid moments, even D'Annunzio in
The Triumph of Death. never painted so
terrible scene as was actually depicted
there. though these men and women and
children were going back to their homes
though they knew the long struggle was
over, they had not even the heart TO smile.
Every face bore the same bestial expression
of long-contlnucd hunger, every eye burned
with the fever which comes Of want and
exposure to the deadly dews of Cuba. Old
men were supported by still older women
for the women seemed to stand the strain
better than the so-called stronger SeX-but
in every case the effort of dragging
foot after the other seemed almost too
great.
What was hardest of all was to see gen
tie, refined women exposed in their suffer
ing to the gaze Of the rough soldiery that
lined the road. All day they came and at
night they lay by the roadside coming again
In the morning as thcky as ever, until
| dusk of the second day saw the road prac-
| tically empty
: ROUGH RIDERS FEED REFUGEES
During all that time the Rough Riders.
through whose camp they came. WED with
each other in carrying food to the weakest,
and they robbed themselves to do it, but
no one could see such extremties of star
walton unmOved. Many of the throng-the
children. especially-were worn to skin and
bone, except where the protruding stomach
| marked the last stages Of hunger
1t was little that the kindly soldiers could
DO. A handful of hardtack was bounced
upon and gone before the giver could single
out any particular object of pity The weak
went naturally to the wall and women with
children on their breasts born by the wav-
| side and hardly an hour Old. would risk the
! lives of their children to get crumb
Ihere were occasionally pathetically comic
incidents, as when Il child would stagger
along under the weight of a hideous chrome
hthograph which had evidently been taken
out OF the city to esca,e Sarnnsons shells
lts d1incult, of. cOuise, to lay the blame
1or all this horrible suffering at the door
OF any particular official. What one feels
| 10 De most necessary is that the American
| people should not be allowed to go wholly
unaware of the horrible mismanagement
| "hlch marked the progress of the recent
| campaign In Santiago. Every one l. ant To
| judge of things by results. but it is we'll
! also TO know at what cost these ~esuIts
, were obtained.
CARELESSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE.
Even when the capitulation had become
| a matter of history the same extra ordinary
want of care after the health Of the men
| seemed to prevail. The cavalry division. for
| instance, was ordered back to the nils be-
| hind Caney, for sanitary purposes The
| troops We're told to be in marching order at
o clock. They got up, had a hurried
| breakfast. and packed up their shelters
Ihey We're then kept waiting for four hours
| in the hot sun with no protection. until
| finally at 10 O'Clock they received ordera to
| march. Naturally, in the extreme heat Of
the day, they fell out not singly but by
| companies, and next morning one COM
pany, with which l was staying al the time
| had exactly half its men sick in quarters
| general who is guilty Of such orders as
| these Is not fit to command an army
| Carelessness Of human life was conspicu-
| Gus in the management OF the campaign
| from first to last. We advanced through
| the country like schoolboys. and when it
! came to the crucial fight, the commanding
| general was two miles in the rear. issuing
| orders which, had they been carried out,
| would have brought about horrible dis
i aster. Fortunately We had commanding Of
| ficers in front who took matters into their
| own hands, and the men themselves ad-
| vanced of their own accord, and the day
! In spite OF all the efforts of the
! general in the rear. The men did It, md
it is meet that they should have the credit.
| But, of course we had to pay big but
| chers bill. You can't run up square
| against line Of trenches with no artillery
to speak Of, and no attempt to turn the posi-
| ton, without a heavy loss. Our men took
| the loss and went ahead without mur-
] mur. But those PecksnifYs who are telling
us just now that we should take VIC
tory and say thank you, without asking
| awkward questions, are surely ignorant OF
the spirit of the American people. Or are
| we really inhumane as to hear of the
| needless sickness and death of our fellow
citizens and say nothing, lest in SO doing
we might seem to incupate the man whose
name is associated by good fortune with
the victory?