The Republican journal., 1898-03-17

Another good thing to have ii the house
T. a vial Of Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets.
s. They cure biliousness and constipation
and never grippe.
foot-sore and weary: with faded and be-
dragged uniforms of blue denim and
swords rusty with nobody knows what
innocent blood. The rank and file of the
royal army are not to be blamed whatever
they do. They are compelled to come,
and to obey orders. The CONSUMPTION
laws of Spain in her present extremity.
exempt no males between the ages of Is
and 50 They are treated like dogs by
their superior officers, hard worked and
miserably fed, beaten with whips and be-
labored with swords for any petty offence.
] am told that the Spanish heart is af1ame
with patriotism; that boys barely out of
petticoats are wild to come to Cuba. or to
fight the United States for alleged inter-
ference; and that mothers. who have
already lost sons on the battle field and in
the hospitals of this refractory island. are
eager to give all the rest in defence of the
honor OF Spain. But the soldiers them
selves do not look it. Understood. un-
drilled and dispirited, their appearance is
not calculated to strike terror to the
hearts of any foe. On the contrary, many
OF them are really pitiable objects. OF the
10 600 Spanish soldiers who are now in
the hospitals Of Cuba, more than half are
there from weakness and exhaustion, the
result OF insufficient noUTishment They
have not been paid for months and it is
impossible to find food for all in this over
crowded and impoverished island It is a
common spectacle to see a beggar in the
uniform of tie royal army. and often when
the starving Reconcentrados have received
their weeks supply from the bounty of
the United States, it is taken from them
by physically stronger, but almost equally
hungry soldiers. Yet 10, 600 new soldiers
are expected to arrive this week from
Spain, and preparations are being made
feather. Always when a new regiment
comes the houses of Havana are bedecked
with flags, bands play. men embrace and
kiss one another, after the ELUSIVE Spanish
fashion, and shouts of Viva Espanar'
I'LL the air The newly arrived officers are
wined and dined, and each private is pre-
cd III
is the last parse they will see for many a
day, and more of them will succumb TO
small pox, yellow fever and calentura,
than will die on the field of battle-far
more than will ever see home again.
There is always more or less yellow
fever in Havana, but at this time of year
it is not considered contagious. In the
hospital de San Ambrosia, where I have
gone every day for a week to visit the few
wounded men of the Maine who vet re-
main here, there are at present only five
cases of yellow fever in its wards-much
below the usual percentage, it is said. As
to small pox, there is to- day hardly case
of it in the city; yet-''for the protection
of the United States,'' so says the ex-
tremely impolite doctor in charge of that
branch of Uncle Sam S interest-all per
sons leaving for that country must be vac
cinated four days in advance of departure,
or exhibit satisfactory marks of recent
vaccination. Nobody's word for it will
answer, nor the certificate of any reputa-
Bile physician; each must go to the Con-
sulate and expose him or herself then and
there, or remain in Cuba. If that sort of
thing is insisted on the year around proper
victims, at least private room to which
ladies may retire while taking off their
basques. The office is a large, public
room OR the ground floor, with windows
open to the street, clerks sitting at desks.
and men constantly coming and going, the
only attempt at privacy being a little
screen behind which one may partially
hide.
Yesterday | went out on the bay in a
steam yacht, with party of Cuban ladies
and gentlemen, to get near view of the
wreck of the Maine Such a melancholy
heap of old iron as is our once beautiful
war vessel, with a single spar standing
upright, on which a ragged American flag
floats at half mast. There are yet bodies
underneath it, probably so or more, and
the swarm of black vultures, the scaven-
ger birds of Cuba, which circle around it
and perch upon every available point, offer
gruesome suggestions. A diver was going
down as we approached, after the two
officers who are supposed to lie near the
strong box, and nearby boat bore sew
eral collins, ready to receive any remains
that might be brought up. 1t is incon-
ceivable how the big, beautiful war vessel
could be reduced in the twinkling of an
eye to such pile of rubbish The great