The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1898-03-25


hy the Christian Herald, with cuts of
some of the sick and starving recon-
centrados, and took it with me,
these were rare specimens of
the worst possible showing. / saw
plenty as bad and worse many that
should not be photographed and
shown. | could not believe that out
Of population of 100000, 1OO,-
600 had died within these Spanish
forts from actual starvation and dis
ease caused by insufficient and i'm
proper food. My inquiries were en-
lirely outside of sensational sources.
they were made of our officers, our
consuls, of city alcaides (mayors), Of
relief committees, of leading mer-
chants end bankers, physicians and
lawyers.
Several of my informants were
Spanish born, but every time the
answer was that the case had not
been ovelstated. What | saw | can
not tell so that others can see it. 1t
must be seen with ones own eyes to
be realized. The Los Pasos bospi-
tai in Havana has been recently de-
scribed by one of my colleagues, Sen
ator Gallinger, and | cannot say that
his picture was overdrawn, for even
nv pen cannot do more. He visited
it after DR.. Lessar, one of Miss
Barton's very able and Efficient assist
ants, had renovatedit and put in cots.
| saw it when 400 women and children
were lying on the stone floors in an
Undesirable state of emaciation and
disease, many with the scantiest COW
ering of rags-and such lags-and
sick children naked as they came in
to the world. And the conditions
in the other cities are even worse.
1t is not peace, nor is it war. 1t is
desoation and dirliness and concen-
tration and starving. Every town
and village is surrounded by trocha
(trench) a sort of rifle pit, but con
struCted on poor plan, the dirt be
ing thrown up on the inside, with a
barbed wire fence on the outside of
The trench. Along these trochas oc-
cur on every corner and at frequent
intervals along the sides what are
here called forts, which are really
small blockhouses, many of them
more like large sentry box, loop
holed for musketry, and with a guard
of from two to 10 soldiers in each.
The purpose of these trochas Is TO
keep the reconcentrados in as we'll as
TO keep the insurgents out. From all
the surrounding country the people
have been driven into these fortified
towns and held there, to subslst as
they can. They are virtually prison
yards and are not unlike one in gen.
eral appearance, except the walls are
not SO high and strong, but they suf-
lice, where every point is in range of
a soldiers rifle to keep in the poor re,
concentrate women and children.
Every railroad station is within one
Of these trochas, and has an armed
guard. Every train has an armored
freight car, loop-holed for musketry
and filled with soldiers, and with, as
| observed usually and was informed
is always the case, a pilot engine a
mile or so in advance. There are
frequent blockhouses inclosed by a
trocha, and with guard along the
railroad track. With this exception
there is no human life or habtation
between these fortified towns and vii
lagos, and throughout the whole of
the four western provinces, except to
Il very limited extent among the hills,
where the Spaniards have not been
able to go and dive the people to the
towns and burn their dwellings, saw
no house or hut in the 400 miles of
railroad rides from Pinar del Rio
province in the west, across the full
width of Havana and Matanzas PROV
inces TO Sagua la Grande on the
north shore and to Cienfuegos on the
south shore of Santa Clara, 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 imme
date vicinity of the towns In 9th, +
words, the Spaniards hold in these
four western provinces just what
their army sits on. Every man, wo-
man and child and every domestic
animal, wherever their columns have
reached, is under guard and within
their so-called Notifications. To de-
scribe one place is to describe all.
To repeat, it is neither peace nor war.
1t is concentration and desolation
This is the "pacifed" condition of