The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-04-27

running ION tQre6 10 I'VE QdJS USS1
ming on the Sth ult., consisting OF SIX
ounces of bacon or jerked beef md 81;
! ounces of rice for adults, with half th's
allowance for children under IA Yeas, the
pittance given was sufficient only FOR ore
fourth to one-tentb Of the starving. No1
further relief has hcen given uIato date 1
and the mayors of these towns are>author- |
ity for stating that the captain geperal
had ordered discontinuareo Of food to 1lRe
concentrates.
This order from the consul general was
apparently given because of the INSULT.
cheney Of the food supply for the Spanish
eoldiers.
Consul Eyatt's Report From Santiago.
The reports on tho condition of affairs
at Santiago are made By Consul Hyatt,
beginning On she 18th of November last.
Among property holders, whether Amer
leans or citizens Of ether nationalities, he
says, there is but ore sentiment This
! sentiment is "hands off, or such active
Intervention as will speedily terminate
the struggle. They, he says, greatly dep
recate the constant agitation whicE makes
the governing classes enemies to American
! interests and brings no corresponding ad-
vantages On the Goth of November Mr
Hyatt wrote:
THE text of the new autonomy, rs pub
lished here, is not meeting with favor by
tho most ardent friends Of Spain. There
| is, however, q feeling of relief and safety
since the change iii the captain general
ship
A portion of this dispatch is withheld
by the state department.. Writing on the
9Th of December last, MIR Hyatt said:
.The RECOMMENDATION order is relaxed,
but not removed, but many people have
reached point where it is matter of en-
! tire Indifference to them whether it is re-
moved or not, for they have lost all inter-
est in the problem of existence. A census
Of the island taken today, as compared
with one taken three years ago, feel con-
fdent, would show that two-thiTtls Of the
residents are missing, and the Spanish
army would make no better showing.
On the 14th of December Mr.. Hyatt
wrote:
81 give it as my opinion, an opinion
! that is not biased in favor Of Cuba, that
Spain will be compelled to prosecute far
moro vigorous war than has yet been done
if-she conquers peace in Cuba. think
speak advisedly when I say that in this
end of the island at least there are many
thousand square miles where the foot Of
| the Spanish soldier has never trod. Within
this zone the insurgents have their fam
lilies, corral their horses and cattle and
raise their crops. Why Spain, with large
body of as obcdient and brave soldiers as.
ever shouldered gun, has not penetrated
these grounds and scattered to the four
winds the comparatively small body of
attempt to answer. As write. man is
dying in tho street in front of my door.
the third in comparatively small time.
Mr. Ryatt's letter of the 21st of Decem-
Der deals largely with the sickness and
the death rate on the island, which he
characterizes as appalling.
Smallpox and Yellow Fever.
He also reported smallpox and yellow
fever as prevailing, and said that out Of a
total of 10000 soldiers recently sent to
Manzanillo, nearly 5000 were in hospitals
or q,lartered on the people. On the 18th
of January Mr. Hyatt inclosed transla-
tion of an order issued By General Gomez
forbidding the grinding Of the sugar crop
for the years 1897 and 1898. He adds that
in that part of Cuba all idea Of making
sugar crop is entirely abandoned. He
mentions the inhibition on operating the
Pampo mines of manganese ore, and In
stances several sugar estates which are
held up and which, he says, are becoming
more worthless than before.
He closes with brief but thrilling pic
ture of the conditions on the island. 1T
| is, % he says, "beyond the power of my
pen to describe the situation in eastern
Cuba. Squalidity, starvation, sickness
and death meet one in all places. Beggars
throng our doors and stop US upon the
streets. The dead in large numbers remain
over from day to day in the cemeteries un-
buried
On the 31st of January Mr. Hyatt men-
| tions the destruction Of railroad train by
dynamite hombs near Santiago at the time
of General Blanco's visit saying that 1t
was believed hat insurgents were respon-
sible fer the destruction because they be-
| lieyed General Blanco to be on the train.
Two cars were shiyered in atoms, fvo pas
sengers were killed outright and % badly
wounded.
In enc portion OF his correspondence he
refers to the effort Of a Mr.. Rigney, an
American sugar planter, near Manzanll-
| 10, to prepare for cane grinding during
the coming season. "A few nights since,
be Gays, .'thc insurgents fred seven can
non shots among his buildings, one ball
passing through the roof Of his house.
Americans were hopeful that they would
be allowed to make their crop, but the ac-
tion Of the insurgents toward Mr. Rigney
gives the problem o doubtful aspect. 1t
may have been personal matter against
Mr.. Rigney.
Consul Jova.s Statements.
John f. Jova, vice consul at Sagna la
Granac, under date Of Nov II, 1897, gives
his view OF the autonomis::c policy prom
ised by Spain. He takes strong grounds
against it, saying that an autonomist par
ty in that district could not exist. "1n the
meantime the concentrates he says.
CONTINUE perishing. 1t is impossible to
describe the extent and intensity OF such
tremendous suffering, of such iniquitous,
unjust and sinful inquisition, to annihi-
late thousands of women and children