The record-union., 1898-04-12

island of Cuba
From January 18th to the I'D Gen
eral Lee reported by cable daily that all
was quiet in Havana, and that.the re-
| cent rioting had caused some delays,
] but that no difficulty was apprehended
as to the landing of supplies.
February 18th he reports the receipt
of moneys from various sections Of the
United States for relief purposes, and
the manner in which it is being dis
tributed
BLANCO IN BAD FAVOR.
February 10th he telegraphed the
State Department as follows: Cap
tain-General returned yesterday. Met
with no success OF any sort. Spaniards
/ everywhere unfriendly. Rumors of
coming demonstration against him
here. 1 think him an excellent Gen
eral, but in an unfortunate position
Three serious combats reported within
a week, in each insurgents victorious. :"
CONDITIONS IN TOWNS ABOUT
HAVANA
The same day he sent to the State
Department & statement of the condi-
tion in the towns in the neighborh"od
of the city of Havana, made by a per-
purpose of inspecting the number and
condition of the starving. The state
ment covers four towns in the neigh
borhood of Havana, and is largely
repetition of the awful tale Of suffering
which came from the other portions
of the island
AT Melina Del Sur the statement
says, lit is Impossible for the Mayor,
owing to the unhealthy conditions re-
Valling and the want Of resources. 10
relieve the miserable people, who die in
great numbers from starvation. fe"er
and smallpox. There are other towns
in the same condition, for example,
Guines. Catalina and Nadruga, whose
situation could be in some degree re-
lieved if the country people were al
lowed to leave the town freely in search
of food. In some towns this is entirely
prohibited; in others they are expected
to pay a tax. Not having anything to
eat, how can they pay tax? In every
town the first thing noted is the un
healthy condition of the men and their
total lack of physical strength
AT Catlina de Guines the statement
reports the condition of the reconcen-
tradOs as sad and desperate. There
are" it says, mo zones of cultivation,
and the reconcentradOs are not allowed
to leave the town in search of work or
food even without a military pass Food
is so scarce that one must walk four
or five miles before finding a sweet po
| tato. In these districts the relief given
the reconcentrados by General Blanco
| is a farce.
THE land near the town comprised in
the zone for cultivation, the statement
says, has been rented by four Span
iards, who have wealth and influence,
! and they employ the few reconcentra
dos who are able to work at thirty or
forty cents day, but nobody can leave
the town without a pass good Cor a
month"; and which costs twenty cents.
The workmen have to leave at 6 in
the morning, and not being able to take
meals with them are obliged to work
until 6 in the evening without food.
The women who leave in search of
vegetables are sometimes deprived of
them on their way back by guerrillas
In fifteen days 200 reconcentrados have
died in GuineS from starvation.
One of the protectors of the recon-
centrados, in fact heroic one" says
the statement, "is a young man named
Jose Amohedo, whose father and moth
er died attending the poor and who
himself has given up eight houses be-
| longing to him as dwelling places for
the reconcentrados, all the contents of
a grocery store which he possessed and
which is as destitute as they are, but
always attending to those who suffer"
A LETTER FORM GOMEZ.
On February 10Th General Lee trans
mitted to the department a letter with
it's translation signed by the insurgent
Commanderin-C Chief, General Gomez,
addressed to President Mckinley Gen
eral Lee says the letter was delivered
| by messenger who at once departed
| before he saw or had any communica-
tion with him. The letter is as fol-
Lows:
ITO William Mckinley, President of
the United States-Sir: The heroic Gu
ban people possess a characteristic
quality of its moral being, and develop
ed to a high degree, one of the most
noble sentiments, namely, gratitude
Whoever has done we'll for Cuba wins
for himself forever the lively recogni-
tion of the sons Of Cuban soil.
Your great people have given to the
whole world an example of lofty virtue,
and to the shame and stain of SPAIN
not only has it showed comparison be-
fore the great misfortunes brought on
Cuba by the ferocious Spanish policy
but has extended helping hand to the
unhappy victims of the warfare carried
on by the army of that nation.
The gratitude of this people must
be on par with that great and gen
erous impulse, and if Cuba by it's geo
graphical situation and the necessity
for its commercial existence is called
to maintain, once that it is free and for
the mutual benefit of both countries.
closer relations with your great re-
public than with any ether nation
whatever from this day forward Cuba
Will consider trrself bound by closer
tie in the affection it bears for the
noble American maSnanimity.
However true and minute may be
the reports that you have heard, never
will you be able to form a just corr
ception of all the bloodshed, the mis-
cry, the ruin and the sorrow caused to
the afflicted Cubans to obtain her indie
pendence, and how the despotic spirit
of Spain, irritated TO the last degree
before the most just of all rebelions
has revealed the most implacable de-
struction of everything, lives and
property. The nation which at one
time adopted the inquisition and in
vented its tortures lastly conceived the
concentration scheme, the most horrible
of all means to martyriZe and then to
annihilate AN entire people, and if it
stopped in its path of destruction it is
due in great measure to the cry Of
Indignation, which the knowledge of
such horrors unanimously drew from
the States over " hich Won govern