The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-18

and had letters of introduction from
business friends at the north to bankers
and other business men at Havana,
and they, in turn, gave me letters to
| their correspondents in other cities.
| These letters to business men were usu-
ally useful, as the principal purpose OF
my visit was to ascertain the views OF
practical men of affairs upon the situa-
| ton
"Of General Lee. I need say little.
His valuable services to his country in
his trying position are too well known
to all of his countrymen to require men
ton. Besides his ability. high charac-
ter and courage, he possesses the i'm
portant requisites of unfailing tact and
courtesy, and withal, his military edu-
cation and training and his soldierly
qualities are invaluable adjunctS in the
equipment of our representative in a
country so completely under military
rule as is Cuba General Lee kindly
! invited us to sit at his table at the hotel
/ during our stay in Havana, and this
/ opportunity for frequent informal talks
with him was of great help to me. In
addition to the information he volun-
/ tarily gave me, it furnished a conven-
/ lent opportunity to ask him the many
/ questions that suggested themselves in
/ explanation of things seen and heard
4 on our trip through the country. l also
met and spent considerable time with
| Consul Brice at MatanZaS, and with
| Captain Barker, a staunch ex-confed-
/ crate soldier, at Sagua la. Grande a
friend of the senator from Mississippi
| (Mr. WalthalD. None of our represen-
/ tatives whom l met in Cuba are of my
political faith, but there is a broader
faith not bounded by party lines. They
are all three true Americans, and have
done excellent service.
MISLEADING IMPRESSION.
TT has. been stated that 1 said there
! was no doubt the Maine was blown up
/ from the outside. This is a mistake. I
may have said that such was the gem
eral impression among Americans in
I Havana In fact, L have no opinion
about it myself, and carefully avoided
| forming one l gave no attention To
/ these outside surmiseS. l met the
members of the court on their boat but
would as soon approach our supreme
/ court in regard to a pending case as
/ that board. They are competent and
/ trustworthy within the lines of their
| duty as any court in the land, and their
I report, when made, will carry cOnvic-
I ton to all the people that the exact
/ truth has been stated, just as far as it
/ is possible to ascertain it. And until
I ther surmise and conjecture are idle
and improbable. Let US calmly wait
/ for the report.
/ There are six provinces in Cuba,
/ each, with the exception of Matanzas,
extending the whole width of the island.
and having about an equal sea front
on the north and south borders. Ma
tanZas touches the Caribbean sea only
at its southwest corner, being separated
/ from it elsewhere by the narrow PENN
sula of Santa Clara province My OBJ
/ servations We're confined TO the four
/ western provinces, which constitute
about one-half of the island. The two
| eastern ones are practically in the
hands of the insurgents. except the few
/ fortified towns. These two large prov
inces are spoken of today as Cuba
libre.'
Havana, the great city and capital
I OF the island. is, in the eyes of the
/ Spanish and many Cubans, all Cuba as
much as Paris is France. But having
visited it in more peaceful times. and
seen its sights, the tomb of Columbus,
/ the forts, Cabanas and Moro castle,
etc. l did not care to repeat this, pre-
ferring trips in the country. Every
thing seems to go on much as usual in
Havana. Quiet prevails, and except
for the frequent squads of soldiers
marching to guard and police duty. and
| their Astounding presence in all public
places, one sees little signs of war.
NOT PEACE, NOT WAR.
1t is not peace, nor is it war. 1t is
| desolation and destruction, misery and
| starvation Every town and village is
surrounded by the trocha (trench),
sort of rifle pit, but constructed on
plan new to me, dirt being thrown up
| on the outside and the barbed wire
| fence on the other side of the trench.
| These trochas have at every corner
and at frequent intervals along the
| sides what are called forts, but they
! are really small block houses, many OF
| them like a sentry box, and with a
| guard of from two to ten soldiers in
| each. The purpose of these trochaS is
| to keep the reconcentradOS in as well
as to keep the insurgents out From
! all the surrounding country the people
| have been driven into the fortified
| towns and held there to subsiSt as they
| can They are virtually prison yards
| and not unlike one in general appear
| ance, except the walls are not so high
| and they suffice. where every point is
/ in range of a soldiers rifle, to keep
! in the poor reconcentrados, women and
/ children Every railway station is
within one of the trochas and has an
| armed guard Every train has an ar
mored freight car. arranged for mus
| kerry and filed with soldiers, and with,
| as l observed usually, and was in
| formed is always the case, a pilot en-
! CINE a mile or so in advance. There
are frequent block houses encloSeu ny
! the trocha and with a guard along the
railroad track.
WHAT SPAIN HOLDS
With this exception, there is no hui
man life or habitation between these
/ fortified towns and villages ana
throughout the whole of the four west
ern provinces. except to a very limited
extent among the hills. where the
Spaniards have not been able to go
and drive the people TO the towns ana
! burn their dwellings | saw no mouse
or hut in the 400 miles of railroad
| the west across the full width of Ha-
vana and Matanzas provinces, and to
Sagua Ia Grande. on the north shore.
and to Cienfuegos on the south shore
| of santa clara, except within the Span
ish trochas. There are no domest'"