The record-union., 1898-03-18

! command in this city. 1t is under the
admirable management of Mrs. DR..
Lassar of New York, a German lady
and trained nurse. | saw the rapid i'm
| provenents of the first children taken
/ there All Miss Barton's assistants
are exceilently fitted for their duties.
In short, l saw nothing TO criticise
| but everything to commend. The Amer
! lean people may be assured that their
! bounty will reach the sufferers with the
| least possible cost, and in the best man
ner in every respect
! RLANCO'S ORDER NO BETTER.
General Blanco'S order of November
18th last somewh hat modifies the Weyier
order, but is Of little or no practical ben
eft It's application is limited to farms
properly defended. and the owners are
obliged to build centers of defense Its
execution is completely in the discretion
of the local military authorities, and
they know the terrible military efficiency
of Weylers order IN stripping the coun-
try of all possible shelter, food, or source
of information for an insurgent and will
be slow to surrender this advantage. In
fact. though the order was issued four
months ago, l saw no beneficent results
from it worth mentioning. | do not i'm
pugn General Rlanco's motives, and be-
I lieve him to be an amiable gentleman
and that he would be glad to relieve the
! conditions of the reconcentrados, if he
could do so without loss of any military
advantage but he knows that all
! Cubans are insurgents at heart, and
ncne now under military control will be
allowed to go from it,
SPANISH ARMY.
TT is said there are about 6000O
! Spanish soldiers now in Cuba fit for
duty. out of over 300 900 that have been
sent there. The rest have died, been
sent home sick or are in the hospitals,
and some have been killed, notwith-
standing the official reports. They are
conscripts, many of them very young
and generally small men. One hundred
and thirty pounds is a fair average.
They are quiet and obedient, and if well
drilled and led, l believe would tight
fairly we'll, but not at all equal to our
men. Much more would depend on the
leadership than with us. The officer
must lead we'll, and be one in whom they
have confidence, and this applies to both
SIDES alike. AS saw no drills or regular
formation, l inquired about them of
luGUy pSOpie, anu vas eAio' !
they had never seen drill
II saw perhaps 10000 Spanish troops,
but not a piece of artillery nor a tent.
They live in barracks, and are seldom
out for more than a day, returning to
town at night. They have little or no
equipment for supply trains or for a
field campaign, such as we have. Their
cavalry horses are scrubby, little native
4 l.; Yln11 g
tough and hardy, but for the most part
in wretched condition, reminding one or
the mounts of Don Quixote and his
squire Some officers, however, have
good horses. mostly American, l think.
On both sides, cavalry is considered the
Ifavorite and the dangerous fighting arm.
"The tactics of the Spanish as de-
scrfbed to me by an eye witness and par
ticipant in some of their battles, IS Tor
the infantry, when threatened by insur-
gent cavalry, to form hollow square,
and fire away ad libitim and without
ceasing, until time comes to march back
to town. 1t does not seem to have en-
tered the minds of either side that
good infantry force can take care of it
self and repulse everywhere an equal
number Of cavalry, and there are every
at disadvantage.
INSURGENT FORCES.
Having called on the Governor and
Captain General Blaneo and received
his courteous call in return, could not
with propriety seek communication
with the insurgents l had plenty of
offers of safe conduct to Gomez's camp
and was told that if l would write him
.Af,T 1n6 rOlxy
within ten DAYS at most. | saw sew
eral who visited the insurgent camps,
and was sought out by an insurgent
field officer who gave me the best in
formation received as to the insurgent
force His statements We're moderate,
and | was credibly informed that he
was entirely reliable. He claimed that
the Cubans had about 10000 men now
in the field some in every province,
but mostly in the southeastern prov
inces, and Eastern Santa Clara, and
this statement was corroborated from
other good sources.
"They have a force all the time in
Havana province itself, organized as
four small brigades and operating in
small bands They are we'll armed,
but very poorly supplied with ammu-
milton. They are not allowed to carry
many cartridges, sometimes not more
than one or two. The infantry are
poorly clad Two small squads OF
prisoners which / saw, however, one OF
half dozen in the streets of Havana
and one of three on the cars, were
better clothed than the average Span
ish soldiers. Each of the prisoners
though surrounded by guards, was
bound by the arms and wrists by
cords, and they were all tied together
by a cord running along the line, a
specimen Of the amenities of their
warfare.
About one-third of the Cuban army
are oplored, mostly in the infantry. "A
field wfficer. an American from a South
ern State, spoke in the highest terms OF
the conduct of these colored soldiers;
that they were as good fighters and
had more endurance than the whites
could keep up with the cavalry on a
long march, and come in fresh at night
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
THE dividing lines between parties
are the most straight and clear cui
that have ever come to my knowledge
The division in our war was by NJ
means so clearly defined. 1t is Cubar
against Spanard. 1t is practically the
; entire Cuban population on one side
and the Spanish army and the Spanish
citizens on the other. l do not count
the autono,nists in this division, a.
they are far too inconsiderable in mum.
: bers to be worth counting. Genera
Blanco filled the civil offices with mer
who had been autonomists and were
still classed as such. But the marcl
OF events has satisfied most of then