Evening star., 1898-01-12
Charles w. Russell Tells What He
Saw in Cuba.
LITTLEBEING DONEFOR HESUFFERlNG
Over a Thousand Deaths in a
Month at Santa Clara.
VAST SUMS ARE NEEDED

Mr.. Charles w. Russell, assistant attor-
ney for many years in the Department of
Justice, has just returned from two
weeks stay in Cuba. He is well known In
this city, and the thrilling story he told
a Star reporter today will be of deep inter-
est. He said
Il left for Cuba feeling that, because of
the contradictory and often incredible re-
ports from there. the condition of affairs
was an absolute blank to my mind. /
found a state of affairs which l do not be-
lieve anything 1 can say will enable the
reader to realize. No reports of MIR. Charles
Pepper. whom 1 frequently talked with, or
CT any other newspaper correspondent
whatever he may say, can give the reader
Il sufficient idea of the suffering of the
Cubans us a result of the order of concen-
tration. Not less than 100000 people have
been practically starved to death by it,
and as mary more, thousands of whom l
saw in the central and eastern parts OF the
island, are ECw starving and suffering al!
the bereavement and distress which come
from u total lack OF food and medicine.
To undarstS nd the co-ceGtratiOn order
and its effects, il is necessary 10 explain
that there are practically no farms in CUBA,
such as We kLow in this Fart of the coun-
try; that rich and Icor alike are sustained
by the prod Cls Of two great crcps-sugar
and tobacco; that even wnen a poor man
owns. or. oftener happens. rents thirty
three acres CT land, which is the usual
measure in Cuba, he raseS sugar CT TO-
bacco. and oIly to Il slight degree chick
ems, pigs and vegetables for his own use.
Most of the persons concentrated in the
towns were thus employed principally on
the large sugar estates.
while the river forces. or local loyaliSt
volunteers in the different localities, were
despoling the people in the country of
what little they had. General Weyler issued
an order for all Cubars to come within the
fortified places. These were the cities,
towns and railroad stations and the great
sugar mills. All of these We're surrounded
hy small square block houses, called forts,
with a long slit on each side about thu
height from the ground of d mans shoul-
Ger, which block houses were filled with
Spanish soldiers. The larger towns were
surrounded by trenches and wire fences,
constituting. perhaps. the most ridiculous
military means of defense ever invented.
In some cases, however, instead of trench
es, the barbed wires were interlaced SO as
to constitute thick network some ten
yards across, which would, of course, be
effective. Such a barrier surrounds the
city of Santa Clara. AT the larger places
the forts extended to the surrounding hills
and the dead line, or zone of cultivation
extended further out than at the small
places. AT the numerous railroad stations
and mills everything was within Il few hun
dred yards, and while / saw here ard there
Il paJhetlc-lonking patch of vegetables
about twenty feet long ana a little less in
width, the people there had absolutely
nothing upon which to sUbsist except
as they begged from the small number of
persons who were travelling for short dis
tanceS on tie heavily guarded trains whicn
that Usually receives the dynamite of the
Insurgents