New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-18
the few fortified towns These two large prov
inces are spoken Of to-day as Cuba Libre.
THE SITUATION IN HAVANA


France But having visited /. in more peaceful
times and seen its sights-thc tomb or Coium-
bus the forts Cabanas and MORO Castle. etc
I did no, care to repeat this. preferrng trips IN
the country Everything 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 sign
OF war.
MISERY AND STARVATION PREVAILING
"Outside Havana all is changed. 1t is not
peace nor is It war. 1t is desola;ion and els
tress misery and starvation Every town ana
village is surrounded by ;rocha orcnch n
sort OF rifle pit but constructed on plan new
20 me- the dirt being thrown up on the inside
and O. barbed wire fence on the outer side OF
the trench These trochas have at every cor
rer and Mt frequent intervals along the sides
wha, are called forts bu: which arc really smaIi
blockhouses many of them more like large
sentry- box loopholed for musketry, ana WIN u
guard OF fror, two 10 ten soldiers in each
'"rhe purpose OF these troohns is 10 keep the
reconcentrados In. as we'll as 10 keep inc IN
surgents ont. From all the surrounding couh-
try the people have been driven into these ioT-
tifed towns. and held there to suosist as they
can. They are virtually prison yards, ana no'
unlike one In general appearance. except tnat inc
walls are not SO high and strong. but they SUI
Ace. where every point is in range OK a soldier
rife. TO keep in the poor reconcentrado women
end children. Every railroad station Is within
one of these trochas. and has An armed guard
Every train has arr1ored freight car. loop
holed for musketry and filed with soldiers. ana
with. as observed usually and was informed
was always the case n pilot engine mile or
Enclosed by trochas. and with guard along the
railrc I'D track With this exception there is no
human life or habitat!on between these fortified
towns ard villages and throughout the whole of
the four western provinces except to a very
limited extent among the hills where the Span
Yards have not been able to go and drive the
people to the towns and burn their dwellings.
saw no house or hut in the four hundred miles
Of railroad rides from Pinar del RIO province
in the west across the full width OF Havana ana
Matarzas provinces. and to Sagua la Grande
on the north shore and to Cienfuegos on the
south shore OF Santa Clara except within
the Spanish trochas. There arc 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
HOW THE ISLAND IS ''PACIFIED."
I'm other words. the Spaniards hold in these
four western provinces just what their army
sits on Every man. woman and child and
every domestic animal. wherever their columns
have reached. is under guard and within their
so-cailed Notifications. To describe one place is
10 describe all To repeat. It is neither peace nor
war. 1t is concentration and desolation This
Is the 'pacified condition OF the four western
provinces
.,Yest of Havana Is mainly the rich tobacco
\ fCoH v
Nearly all the sugar mills are destroyed between
Havana and Sagua. Two or three were stand
ing in the vicinity of Sagua. and in part run
ming. surrounded as are the villages. by trochas
ard forts or palisades. OF the royal palm and
fully guarded Toward and Cienfuegos
there were more mills running. but all with
the same protection. II Is said that the owners
Of thes. mills near Cienfuegos have been able
10 obtain special favors Of The Spanish Govern
ment in the way If large force CT soldiers.
but that they also, AS well as all the railroads,
ray taxes to the Cubens for immunity ] had
no means Of verifying this. 1t is the common
talk among those who hava better means OF
Knowledge.
THE RECONCENTRADOs.
All the country people In the four western
provinces about four hundred thousand in num-
weyler's order was made were driven into these
towns. and these are the reconc-ntra3os. They
were the peasantry. many OF them farmers.
some landowners. others renting lands and own
ing more or less stock others working on
tates and cultivating small patches and even
a small patch in that fruitful cline Will support
a family. 1t is but fair to say that the normal
condition Of these people was very different
from that which prevails In this country Their
STANDARD Of comfort and prosperity was not
iIigh. measured by our own But according to
their standards and requirements their con-
dit ions Of life were satisfactory.
JEWELLERS CONCENTRATION ORDER.
:? They lived mostly in cabins made II palm or
IN wooden houses. Some Of them had houses Of
stone, the blackened walls Of which all that
remain 10 show that the country was ever in
habited The first clause Of Weyler's order
reads follows:
J order and comrnond First all the inha S,tsnts
tons Of the towns shall within the period of eight
days concentrate themselves in the town occu-
expiration Of MS period Is found in the uninhabited
parts will be considered rebel and tried as such.
The other three sections forbid the transpor-
taton Of provisions from one town 10 another
without permission OF the military authority, d.
rect the owners Of cattle to bring them into me
towns. prescribe that the eight days shall be
counted from the publication Of the proclama-
ton 10 the head town OF the municipal districts
ard state that II news is furnished Of the enemy
which can be made use Of II will serve ds a
recommendation
TERRIBLE EFFECT OF THE DECREE.
MANY doubtless did rot learn Of this order
Others failed to grasp IT'S terrible meaning II.
execution left largely to the guerlas to
drive in all that had not obeyed. and I was in
formed that IN many cases a torch was applied
70 their homes with notice, and the inmates
fed with such clothing they might have on.
their stock ard other belongings being appro-
priated by the guerillas When they reached
the town they were allowed to build huts OF
palnl lna VOC in TN s,;Alirhs and rlarnc