Evening star., 1898-07-26

conveniently anu tHSy IlUSl ali lie 10
der steam
The other day 1 saw the Texas. Brooklyn
and Indiana firing into Santiago. 1t Is
about six miles to the point of land west of
here which marks the entrance to the har-
Dor at Santiago, and 1t was an impressive
sight to see these naval monsters come UP
in stately procession and hurl deadly mis-
siles ashore. 1 asked a naval officer what
was the object of the bombardment and he
replied that it was to let the Spaniards
know that they were still under the guns
OF the feet.
Some Spanish Prisoners.
There are a number of Spanish prisoners
here, who were captured in the fighting
which preceded the investment of Santiago.
Most of them appear to belong to the guer-
rillas, who were recruited from the ranks
of the natives. These, like their kinsmen
who are in revolt. are q sorry looking lot.
only saw one man among them who had
bright, intelligent face. He was mere
STRIPPING and was Spaniard.
Among the prisoners was burly negro,
who had gained distinction in the estinla-
ton of those who guarded him. He had
been caught in the top of a cocoanut tree,
where he had perched for the purpose of
sharpshooting. 1t was estimated that he
had killed and wounded together no less
than fifty American soldiers, many of whom
were officers, before he was discovered. A
well-directed shot then brought him from
his perch, with both legs broken. He lies
there on cot in the prisoners hospital, a
splendid specimen of physical manhood,
but with the face of brute, pure and sim
pie Stolid and Indifferent he barely notices
what is going on around him. He fully eX-
poets to be shot, l was told by Cuban
guard, who, no doubt takes pains to i'm
press that on the black Hercules and there
by added as much misery TO his existence
as possible
In the same hospital was poor demented
creature, who lost his reason in the excite
ment of the fighting and his subsequent
capture. He has fairly intelligent face
and his appealing, unhappy look was indeed
pitable. 1t curious thing to see tie
estimation in which these two odd creatures
were held by the throngs of soldiers, who
came to look at them and hear the oft re-
peated story of their capture. The human
brute, who could deliberately single out for
slaughter man after man as coolly as he
would eat his breakfast was looked upon
with mixture of awe and admiration.
The poor fool who went crazy from fear
was object of Jest ant derislon- After
all humanity is a curious thing.
Our Own Wounded Men.
Here too, are brought all of our wound
ed soldiers who were hit in the numerous
skirmishes prior to Santiago and who con-
tinue to be hit in the trenches there. 1t
is sad sight to see the poor fellows as
they are brought back from the front.
They are brought from the field hospital to
a point on a little narrow-gauge railroad
which runs from Siboney to Santiago.
They are moved about in rough cars,
but are made as comfortable as possible
on cots and such similar devices as the
medical corps has at hand. Here they are
transferred to the hospital ships Solace
and Relief and the Red Cross ship State
of Texas. The Solace has already gone
north with one load of the wounded and
the Relief is expected to sail in a few
days.
There are iron mines here at Siboney,
owned by the Carnegie Steel Company.
This iron, a naval officer tells me,
makes an unusually fine quality of steel
and has been used largely in the construc-
ton of armor plate for our battle ships.
My navy friend remarked on the coinci-
dence that this metal should have been
taken out of the earth here, carried off
and turned into a weapon of offense to
be brought back and used against the
land which produced it. D. 1. MERCER.