Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-03-23
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refused to believe that a great government
was waging war of determination, instead
OF war of honor, conducted upon the high
principles of humanity and bravery-yet
such is the fact.
Trip to Matan.as.
Desiring to see something of Cuba out
side of Havana. visit to Matanzas was
decided upon. Matanzas is reached from
Havana by both water and rail. chose
the latter, Notwithstanding the sugges-
tons that the insurgents were not far
from the railroad, which was emphasized
Dy the TACT that an armored car, occupied
by Spanish soldiers, was attached to the
train. The distance ia about sixty miles,
which is covered in three hours by rail-
road, the trains on which are started by
the ringing of a bell in the hands of a
sturdy negro, and the track and rolling
stock OF which suggest antiquity rather
than the ideas of our modern civilization.
The road runs through beautiful val
ley with mountain rarges on either side
which were pointed out as the abode of the
insurgents. Over the entire distance is
seen the effects Of war, scarcely any cul-
tivated lands being visible, and the charred
remains of villages and sugar plantations
telling the story of devastation and de-
struction.
At one point six soldiers and about the
same number of civilians occupied the site
of a village of 1000 inhabitants at the be-
ginning Of the war, only one or two build
ings remaining to tell the story of the
years.
Burning cane fires not far from the rail-
road indicated that the insurgents and pos
sibly the Spanish soldiers were busy In
deed, only few evenings ago an insurgent
force captured large herd of horses and
cattle in the outskirts of Matanzas. while
the Dauntless discharged her last cargo of
insurgent material literally in the harbor
of that city.
IAN along the route were wretched peo-
pie In rags, but not until Matanzas was
reached was the full extent of the exist
ing suffering realized The railroad sta
ton was crowded with poor creatures,
many of them nearing their graves as a
consequence of starvation and resulting
disease. Men, women and children jostled
and crowded one another, begging for help.
Some of the children were entirely naked,
While most of them were covered only in
part, and that with ragged and dirty cloth
ing. The same condition of things was
seen on the Streets and the hotel lobby
exhibited other scenes of similar destitu-
ton.
1T occurred to me as looked upon these
scenes of suffering and horror that the
CSban reconcentrados might we'll have
adopted the words of Dante Who enters
here leaves hope behind when they were
driven from the fields and herded like cat
tie in the cities and towns of this fertile
land The truth is that Weyler devised a
scheme OF human suffering and sorrow that
put Dante's Inferno into the shade, and
converted contented, prosperous people
into herd of suffering, starving unfortu-
Mates True, it is said that under the pres
ent regime, they are permitted to resume
work on the land, but careful inquiry fail
ed to discover that this is really so, and
even were 1t SO, how could starving pen
niless men and women, with sick and ema-
ciated children, find their way to their for
mer homes and take up the duties of life
with their houses destroyed and every
means of supporting life taken from them
by the cruel edict of merciless tyrant?
In MatanZas met an American citizen
no 0f fI,@ I'll
who one year ago was worth $4,000, but
who today is utterly penniless. He was
driven from his home into the city, his
buildings destroyed and the Accommodations
or a lifetime disappeared. Recently he was
told that he could return to his land, which
he did, engaging in the manufacture of
charcoal, but scarcely had he commenced
work when his property was again seized
the line called the zone of cultivation
ReEgary and Death.
"a day i'll Matanzas is one never to be
forgotten. The city nestles by the bay,
just as it did before it was smitter by
famine and when commerce and trade
made it one of the most important ports
of Cuba. Today the bay is deserted, ex-
cept by ships bringing relief to the starving
people. Matanzas is literally place of
begSary and DEATH Never before did my
eyes behold such suffering, and never again
do / expect to see such havoc wrought
after a call on Consul Brice, whose good
work in Matanzas is known and recognized
everywhere, the company vera driven 10
the palace of the governor Of the province,
Were they were received most graciously.
The present governor is Cespe+les de Amos,
a well-known journalist and a man who
seems to fully appreciate the appalling
condition of the people. He was especially
Kind and courteous to Miss Barton, plac-
ing at her disposal one of the finest apart
ments in the palace, and the other man,
bers of the family were equally devoted to
this good woman.
THE governor talked freely of the situa-
ton, rendered the party reception, that
was declined, and when he proposed toast
to Hail Columbia it was evident that his
eyes turned in the only direction
whence help can come to this stricken
people. Gov. Amos succeeded Senior Paret
who served under Weyler, and who is re-
membered as a cruel, brutal man. The
present incumbent of the office, while serv-
ing the Spanish government, is unques-
tionably very solcitous for betterment
of the condition of the people.
In the Hospitals.
Returning from places of public resort
the party visited three hospitals, named,
respectively, Providencia, Carload and San
Carlos, and here were fresh evidences of
the ravages that starvation is working
Some members of the Red Cross had visit
ed the hospital two weeks ago, but they
were terrified to discover that almost every
one Of the then inmates had died, and to
some extent others had taken their places.
Here poverty, sorrow and suffering were
depicted in their worst forms. Children
gaunt in face, but with abdomen and limbs
terribly swollen; women in the last stage
of emaciation, and men rapidly drifting to
death were on every hand.
IF there was food in these hospitals I
did not discover it,; neither were there
signs of medicine or of proper nursing or
care AS these unfortunates lay there, suf
fering the pangs of hunger, an abundance
of food was at the railroad station, sent
there by Miss Barton more than week
ago, but which, through some mistake, had
not been distributed, and the Fern and one
other vessel were lying in the bay loaded
down with contributions from the govern
ment and people of the United States
For a large proportion of the remaining
reconcentrados death is the only relief.
Food and medicine may palliate for a time
the suffering they endure, but starvation
has done its work, and the grave will claim
many of them in the near future.
From the hospitals I went to the futs
on the outskirts of the city, occupied by
the families Of reconcentrados and here
again is material for the artist and the
novelist. In huts of one room, matched
with palm leaves, are families Of eight or
ten. eking out a miserable existence. They
were driven out of their homes when the
pan was adopted to exterminate the Gu