The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-03-18
SENATOR PROCTOR
HAS RETURNED
Sensational and Dramatic Scenes Du-
ring His Speech In Senate.
STRONG WORDS USED by HIN
Newspaper Correspondents Did Not Over
draw the rielut Of Caban Sui
isdag tudef ktSlsr.

I NJ Vermont, who returned lnri Sunday
from an extended trip to ana through the
/ irlnnd ~ cuba. this afternoon made a
I statement to the srnntr NJ hIH ob~rryl-
ilons ON the island From many points
~ View tho statement was remarkable
II hnd evidently been most carefully pre-
pared Every element u scnsniionnllsm
I had been s,udlpusly eliminated from 49,
| and except so far as the facts rccltcd
were sensational. II bore not the slightest
evidence ~ an effort 10 arouse the public
mind ALREADY kronly alive 20 the condl-
ton u AFFAIRS on the island
Calm ana dlspasslonntc 90 a notable de-.
gree. the utt"rnnc,H ~ the senator
aroused brcathlcHr interest Every per.
son within the sound ~ his voice was oon-
WINGED that be- wnH putting hiH ubscrya-
lions into careful terms lest BE- might
subject himself 90 the critiglsm NJ being
emotional ono ~ the beet ChnrHCtcrlzi-
tiuns ~ tho statement Nas made by Sen
ntnr Frye ~ Maine. 1 irw minutes after
IT, delivery ~ ls. said h,." iust Hs n
Proctor had held up his right hano n5d
sworn To iI" That was the impression
ihr statement made upon M, senate The
scene ln the senate just preceding and
during the delivery of tho speech ~ Sen.
ator Proctor was almost dramatic in the
intensity ~ its interest Proctor said.
Thorr are niH provinces In cuba My OBJ
srryhtionr wcrc confined 60 the four west
,rn provinces which constitute about
onc.half ~ the island
The two eastern ones arr practically
In The hands II the insurgents. except the
few fortified towns These two large pro-
yinccp are spoken ~ today as cuba
l.ibrr"
Everything seemed 10 go on much a.
usual "a, Havana, one see. little signs Of
waT there
Outside of Havana an u changed. Il Is
not peace nor II u war. " Is dcsolation
and destruction misery and starvation.
Every town ana village is surrounded
by the ,rochn urcnch or sort of rinc-plt.
hut constructed on a plan new 10 me,
dirt being thrown up on the outside and
a hprbcd.wirr fence on the other side
OF the trench These trochas have at
every corner. and at frequent intervals
along tho sides, small forts with guard
~ from two Ia ten soldiers In each The
purpose ~ these trochns is TO keep the
rcconccntrados In ps well as 20 keep the
insurgents out From an the surround
ing country the people have been driven
into the fortified towns ana held thclc 20
ruhsist ns they can.
There nrc frequent bloekhouses enclosed
N..H al ,.Hlfl .rN nj. hg
railroad track with this exception there
is no human life or habi,Ation between
these fortified towns and villages through
out the whole NJ the four western pro-
vinccE. except to a very limited extent
among the hills where the Spanlnrds have
not been able to 30 and drive the people
60 the towns and burn their dwellings,
I saw no house or hut IN the too miles Of
railroad rides, except within the Spanish
trochas, There are no domestic animals
or crops on the rich fields and pastures,
except such as are under guard In the
immediate vicinity Of the towns
All the country people In the four west
crn provinces. about 10000 In number, re-
manning outside Of the fortified towns !
when Wcylcrs order was made were
driven into these towns and these are
rcconcentrados They We're pcasantry,
farmers some land owners. others rent
Ing lands and owning more or less stock
When they reached the towns they were !
allowed to build huts of palm leaves In |
the suburbs and vacant places within the |
trochn. and lett to live n they could |
Their huts are about 10 hy l6 feet In size |
and for want Of space are usually |
together very closely They |
have no floor hut the ground with |
large families, or with more than one In
This little space. the commoncst sanitary |
provisions are impossible. with foul |
earth, foul air. foul water and foul food,
>r none, what wonder that onc-half have
lied and that onc-quartcr of the living
lrc so diseased that they cannot be saved.
A form NJ dropsy is the result Of this con-
lItion Little children are still walking
lhout with arms and chests terribly ema-
'latcd eyes swollen and ahdomenS
,loNted to three times the natural size,
Physicians say these cases are hopeless,
Deaths In the street have not been I'M
'ommon, | was told by one Of our con-
'uls that they have been found dead about
he markets In the morning where they
lad crowlcd hoping to get some stray
ITS Of food from the early huckstcrs
md that there had been cases where they
lad dropped dead inside the market SUR
ounded by food, These people were In
dependent and sclf-supporting before
Neylcr's order They are not bcggars
ven now.
Rarely is a hand held out to you for
Inns when going among their huts, but
he sight Of them makes an appeal
tronger than words,
] went to Cuba with strong conVtc-
ion that the picture had been over
lrawn, and that few cases of starva-
ion and suffering had inspired and stim-
nted the press correspondents and that
hey had given free play to strong nat
lral and highly cultivated imaglnotions.
could not believe that out of a popua-
ion of l6OO,OOO, 100000 had died within
he Spanish forts within few months
'ost from actual starvation and diseases
aused by insufficient and improper rood.