Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-07-20
RIPE FOR EPIDEMIC.
SANTIAGO IN TERRIBLE CONDITION
FROM SANITARY STANDPOINT.
SKATER HAS EXAMINATION MADE.
The Town Found to he a Pest
Hole, Yet There Are But sir
Cases of reIIow-Fever I'm 1t at
Present,

| SANTIAGO, July IS, via KINGSTON
july ls' noon.-General shafter has had a
| thorough examination made OF the sani-
| tary condition Of Santiago. The work was
done by DR.. Goodfellow, of the Generals 9
stan, and by civilian physician, DIR. Or
iando Dwiker. They find that. although
there are at present but six cases OF vel
iow-fever in the city, in addition TO two
suspects, the town is ripe for an endemic
santiago and Rio Janeiro are considered
the greatest fever-breeding centres in the
world. This town lacks every sanitary
feature at its best, and now, after a two
months siege, leaving It dirty and repel-
lant, 1t is veritable pest hole. The awful
stenches that arise from the streets stag
ger and choke one.
The city of Santiago IS a typjoal tron,-
cal place, with narrow, crooked streets
ana low, one-storied dwellings and stores
Many OF the houses are succeed and
painted with startling colors sky-blue and
vlVld shades of green predominating
Ihese, with the red tiles of the roofs and
the quaint verandas, show evidence of
past picturesqueness, but everything is
now in a state Of dilapidation and decay.
ana the city Is but a shadow of its former
self. The majority of the houses are alb
solute ruins, and the public squares, once
green, and with fountains playing in their
centre, are now neglected.
But, here and there, through the open
doors or the more pretentious dwellings.
one meets with the vision of an omen
court filled with palms, brilliant-hued
pouchianos, and other Towering trees and
plants. 1t is like brief glimpses of a happy
past, long gone.
NO SEWERAGE.
There Is no sewerage system. The city
drainage is all from the surface into the
harbor, and the lower part of the city.
through which much of the drainage runs,
especiaiiy from the poorer quarter,
around the bull-ring to the northwest of
the city, is the seeding centre of malaria,
and typhoid, and other low fevers.
Tnere are four hospitals in the city the
Civll Hospital. presided over by the Sis
ters or Charity, and the Military Mer-
cedes. and Conchas hospitals In these
hospitals are LA patients, which is a
comparatively small number, considering
the lack of food and the long siege 1t
must be remembered that the "reconcen-
tradoS' were never admitted to the hos
pltals, and when the notifications of the
proposed bombardment by our batteries
were received, every patient who could
stagSer out was driven into the streets
Twenty lepers who were in the Civil
Hospital were turned into the streets, and
they have been roaming about ever since.
The largest number of patients are in
the military hospital. where there are
thirty-seven wounded Spanish officers and
AL wounded soldiers and sailors. In ad-
dition, there are hundreds Of cases of ma
laria and dysentery, and six cases of yell
low-fever. :"
SAILORS OF CERVERAS.
The sailors were wounded in the battle
Of July 1st and %. They were disembark-
ed from the ships of Admiral Cerveras
fleet, in order TO assist In resisting the at
tack OF the American troops by land.
These sailors say that when The Spanish
fleet sailed out of the harbor half of the
sailors and marines on board had been
fighting and working in the trenches
ashore for fOrty-eight hours previously.
Admiral Ceryera, they also assert. sacrl-
feed his fleet in obedience to the popular
cIamor, both in Spain and Cuba, including
Santiago, that he should give battle to
the American fleet.