Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-03-05

her decks The road to Jaruco lies
through beautiful country, of rolling
hills and royal palms; or rather, how
beautiful 1t must have been before the
dreadful war. Nature has done her
best for 1t, in climate, soil and scenery.
Three years ago rich plantations, pros
porous villages, country houses and
sugar mills covered every mile of 1t;
now all the canefields and orchards
are burned, the houses and mills In
ashes, the villages mere heaps of ruins
Here and there is small fort, or II
straw-thatched camping station for a
portion of the Spanish army; but not
a sign of other occupation or single
trace of the former inhabitants. The
latter. who have not been killed In
battle or died in prison are all among
the reconcentrados who are starving
in Havana and Jaruco, or are among
the 200, 900 already dead by starvation.
The insurgents have burned cane fields
and killed the cattle and destroyed the
villages, to prevent the Spaniards from
being benefited by them, and the
Spaniards in retaliation have des-
troyed the people. Our train was
strongly guarded by Spanish soldiers,
for every hillock might hide a troop of
insurgents and trains are frequently
attacked Uuder pretext of adjusting
n refractory window, a dark visaged,
poorly dressed stranger-evidently Il
rebel in Observation-Disclosures in my ear,
don't be alarmed, the insurgents Will
not attack this train; there are Amer
leans on board!' 1t is said that the
movements of all foreigners in Cuba
are closely watched. by Spaniards on
one side and the rebels on the other;
so that Notwithstanding the extreme
kindness and courtesy we are con-
stantly receiving, there is always the
uncomfortable feeling of being "be.
tween two fires
Our visit to Jaruco happened to oc-
cur on the second anniversary OF the
raid OF the late insurgent chief, Maceo,
when he laid the city in ruins. Be
fore that day IL was a rather import
ant place OF 1900 inhabitants; now
it numbers about 5000, e-fourths
of whom are In state bordering on
starvation. Aside from the sadness
of its .desolation 1t is one of the most
picturesque places l have ever seen.
The STREETS struggle hap-hazard up and
down stony hills, the pink and blue and
pea-green houses mostly mere rootiess
shells with only portions of their walls
left standing; the church is fort,
surrounded by hastily erected bar-
ricade of stones. and the most promi-
nent features are now the quarters of
the Spanish soldiers, the prison ana
the graveyard. The latter is an i'm
mense bare enclosure on the top Of n
hill. A small high-walled space shows
the cemetery of two years ago-all the
rest having been added since Maceo's
raid, l asked how many We're killed
in the battle. "Oh, nobody was killed
them" they said; there was no bat
tie. Maceo only rushed through.
burning villages as he went. After
wards the Spanish soldiers followed
in pursuit and murdered many people;
but most of those in the cemetery
have died of mlseria." That is the
disease which aiilicts all rural Cuba.
The name was coined by the physi-
clans who attended the starving re-
concentrates. and now 1t is so recorded
I'm the burial certificates. 1t means
misery" nothing more-the gaunt
shadow that has depopulated the coun-
try. II happened that the first car
load of food from the United States
was attached to our train. We did not
know II when we left Havana, and were
in no way responsible for the good
deed but the grateful Jarucans could
not be made to understand that. In
spite of our repeated protest and ex-
plantations, that we came merely as
visitors and had nothing to do with
the food. the entire population turned
out to welcome us, headed by the Jefe,
the Alcaldi and the Judge: we were
escorted In state through the city; fol-
lowed by several thousand people, Civ
en- the best breakfast the place af-
forded. loaded with gifts OF flowers
and BIRDS and to cap the climax your
humble correspondent was addressed