The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-03-25
War Correspondent
Now uindiCated

E1 HE correspondents OF the American
papers in Cuba have been placed
under much unjust censure by
their own countrymen; but In
these days of naval board inquiries
and senatorial Investigations they are
ENJOYING their vindication. The public Is
gradually being impressed with the truth
about Cuba; but one should not forget
that what Senator Proctor has learned
and what everybody is beginning to know
with certainty was reported long ago
BY a plucky lot OF young Americans, who
went out to Cuba at the risk of their
lives, sought the truth. found 1t, sent 1t
to their people and were rewarded by the
sneers of the cynical and the hatred OF
the ease-loving and the selfish. They
were veritable voices crying in the Wild
erness, and they made path which
presidents and congressman are now
treading for the emancipation of Cuba.
A few months ago Grover Flints Notes
OH the 1nsurrection" were treated with
lofty contempt as sensational newspa-
per reports" Today they are brought
out with much dignity in book form and
are introduced to readers by Professor
John Fiske who is glad to emphasize
the fact that the author of the boos is
his son-n-law.
Mr.. Flint was well equipped for the
1896, for he had been a soldier on the
western plains and had spent enough
time in Spain to become familiar with
the language and customs of the peo-
pie. His purpose was to reach Maxine
Gomez's army, and this he accomplished
after varied experiences that lose none
of their exciting quality by being de-
scribed in the deprecatory manner of a
shrewd, rather humorous, young Amer
lean. He learned at the outset precisely
what Senator Proctor found out two
years later-that the Spanish controlled
only the territory they sat on, and that
in spite of the activity of General Wey-
Ter, then in command of the Spanish
forces, the insurgent bands prowled on
The heels of the crowns forces and were
giving a good account of themselves in
provinces officially reported to be "paci-
fed" A rather mixed lot they were and
are. Badly armed, badly clad, insufficient
ly fed, the best of them were mere raga-
muffin soldiers. yet they were able to
take care of a much larger body Of men,
well provided with the implements of
warfare. General Weyler's orders to the
planters to resume grinding cane were
in force, but the insurgents managed to
prevent the grinding by burning the cane,
and this they did under the very eyes
of the Spanish soldiery.
OF the personnel of the officers and
troops Mr.. Flint rode with before he
came across Gomez there Is much that is
graphic. He found men of every class,
from negro bandits and plantation la
borers to fashionable clubmen from Ha-
| vana and New York. At Savanna Grande
| he met an old acquaintance, "very
| swell youth, named Leonardo del Monte
whom he had envied ''promenading Fifth
avenue In a silk hat and a long frock
! coat with the gait they call in England
| the cavalry stoop." AS he came up to
| Flint 'his left shoe was tied on with a
string, because the upper part had CIV
| en- way, and his right foot was bandaged
| in a sort Of splint cunningly contrived
| from bits of cedar cigar boxes.'
| o.
The picture Mr.. Flint draws of Gomez
| is cruelty realistic, for this sensational
| correspondent" takes nothing for grant
| ed, but writes down facts and impress
| sions with admirable disregard for the
| feelings of individuals and with an in
! difference to scenic effect that would
make so-called conservatives blush for
| their enthusiasm. "Gomez," he says, sis
| a gray little man. His clothes do not
| fit well, and perhaps if you saw it in a
| photograph his figure might seem old and
| ordinary. But the moment he turns his
| keen eyes on you they strike like a blow
from the shoulder. You feel the will the
fearlessness ana the experience of men
that is in those eyes, and their owner
| becomes a giant before you. He is a
farmer by birth, the son of a farmer,
| with an Anglo-Saxon tenacity of purpose
| and a sense of humor as clean and as
true as the blade of his little Santa Do
mingo machete." Washington was not a
| sterner discplinarian than this Cuban
general. In enforcing his orders he is
| absolutely ruthless. Playing cards are
not tolerated in the army, and persons
| found gambling are subjected to sum.
mary punishment Assaults on women
| brigandage, fraud and oppression, In
short all the crimes that are the con-
comitants of war among highly civil.
lied nations, bring to the offenders un-
der Gomez's jurisdiction the penalty OF
| sudden death.
OF the civil government Mr.. Flint does
not make a very good report. He found
the men around the president and his
cabinet loose, boastful, not overhonest
Or. Hernandez, one of the heroes of the
rebellion, compared Gomez to Washington
and the civil government to the contin
entail congress. But the little genera
held the whip hand. When a difference
of opinion arose it was the government
that went to Gomez, not Gomez to the
| government. Half the Island, Mr.. Flint
says, is in almost complete control of the
insurgents. Spanish troops have no lib
erty of movement. They remain coope6
up in the large towns. In the small
towns and in the country the peopl,
pursue their ordinary vacations. They
acknowledge allegiance only to Cuba
This is "Cuba free" by her own exer
tions.
The conduct OF the Spanish guerrilla
Is in sharp and loathsome contrast t
the merciful severity of Gomez. Here il
the description of "A typical occurrenc,
which came within Mr.. Flint's expert
. ence: "At Olayita, in the latter part o
February, 1896, the Spaniards (after
skirmish with rebels) made a genera
charge on a sugar-house and it's sur
rounding buildings There were no les
than twenty-three pacifcos, innocent non
combatants, plantation hands and thei
families employed on the estate. The ad
, ministrator was NJ. Braullo Duarte,
French citizen, and the proprietor was
certain Domingo Bertharte. Here is tn
story of the massacre, as told withou