The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-07-20
FEEDING THE
STARVING
Distributing Suppliesfrom
the Red Cross Steamer
TO THE PEOPLE OF SANTIAGO
Frantic Rush Of the Half Fam
s~.a- ished Citizens.
MANY OF THE SUPPLIES STOLEN.


the Food-The City Ripe For an Epi
demic Of Yellow Fever-The Town Lacks
Every Sanitary Feature, and Is verita-
Bile Pest Hole.
Santiago de Cuba. July 2O.-The Red
Cross society's steamer State of Texas
arrived at O'Clock Sunday evening.
and Monday morning at daybreak DR..
Elwell. who Is In charge of the work
of unloading secured eight stores in
the heart of the city and one large
shed on the dock. engaged 80 stevedores
and began unloading the steamer She
had 1.40O tons of provisions on board.
The distribution began at 3 o'clock,
allowing pound and a half Of rations
to each stzen. When the unloading
began crowds of half starved citizens
rushed to the dock, fighting, trampling
one another under foot breaking open
the cases and stealing the supplies
Finally a picket of troops was placed
on the wharf. refusing admittance to
anyone.
The entire cargo had been landed be-
fore the distribution began. Each ap-
plicant was furnished with a ration
ticket supplied by the local commits
siOners. with General McKibbens en-
dorsement.
Before the distribution of the sup
plies from the State of Texas there was
literally nothing in the city to eat BE-
1ore the refugees left for Ell Caney
flour was selling at $3.50 barrel. beans
at $50 per hundred pounds, condensed
milk at IS can and hard tack at 81
apiece. At Ell Caney the prices were
still higher, $25 for a can of condensed
milk and IS for a piece of hard tack.
The ruin and want In the city are al
most inconceivable.
! General Shafter has had thorough
examination made of the sanitary con-
dition of Santiago. The work was done
by DR.. Goodfellow, of the generals
staff, and by a civilian physician, DR..
Orlando Dwiker They find that al
though there are at present but six
cases of yellow fever in the city, in ad-
dition to two suspects, the town Is ripe
Tor an epidemic. Santiago and Rio
Janeiro are considered the greatest
fever breeding centers in the world.
This town lacks every sanitary feature
at Its best. and now, after two months
siege, leaving 1t dirty and repellant,
It Is a veritable pest hole. The awful
stenches that arise from the streets
stagger and choke one. No cordial in
Santiago has the power to wash this
odor from ones throat.
There is no sewage system. The city
drainage is all from the surface into
the harbor, and the lower part of the
city, through which much of the drain
age runs, especially from the poor
quarter around the bull ring to the
of the, city, is the seeding
center Of malarial, typhoid and other
low fevers.
The city of Santiago is a typical
tropical place, with narrow, crooked
streets and low. one stOred dwellings
and stores. Many of the houses are
succeed and painted with startling
colors, sky blue and vivid shades of
green predominating. These, with the
red tiles of the roofs and the quaint
verandas, show evidence of past pic
turesqueness, but everything Is now in
4 state of dilapidation and decay, and
the city Is but a shadow of its former
self. The majority of the houses are
absolute ruins, and public squares, once
green, with fountains playing in the
;enter are now utterly neglected. The
iron fences are broken and rusted |
while the fountains. on account of the
1earth of the water supply, have long -!
2esp dry. ~,r~ r'' .rs~+- II 'ts::Es|'s.;
There are four hospitals In the city, !
he Civil hospital. presided over by the
Sisters of Charity, and the Military |
Mercedes and Conchas hospitals. In |
hese four hospitals are 1,747 patients
which Is comparatively small mum.
Der, considering the lack of food and
ong siege, but it must be remembered
hat the reconcentrados We're never ad-
nttted to the hospitals, and when the
of the proposed lombard
nent by our batteries were received
very patient who could stagger out
vas driven into the streets. Twenty
epers who were in the Civil hospital
we're turned into the streets, through
which they have been roaming ever
ince.
hC hVSl Vi pdtltHlS are Ill |
he Military hospital, where there are
7 wounded Spanish officers and 45l
rounded soldiers and sailors. The sail
rs were wounded in the battles of
uly l and July 2. They were disem-
arked from the ships of Admiral Ger
era's fleet in order to assist in resist
lg' the attack of the American troops
y land. These sailors say that when
ne Spanish fleet sailed out of the !
arbor half of the sailors and marines
n board had been fighting and work.
lg in the trenches on shore for 48
ours previously.
The water supply Of the city, which
'as cut off on July above FL Caney
y General Garcias troops, leaving the
)wre without water, was turned on
gain Monday. The ice factory re-
lmed work Monday, using the rain
ater supply in the cisterns.
All the liquor stores, wholesale and
etail, are closed, under General Shat
RS orders, but the Spanish soldiers
ave large stock of rum on hand,
hich they are exchanging for our
ard tack and corned beef
The Weather.