The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-01-10
Tie 7 me for Action.

ON Saturday another earnest appeal
was issued by the president Of the
United StateS--the third since Christ
mas Day-for immediate contributions
of food, clothing and money to the re-
lief of the thousands of men women
and children who are literally starving
TO death in the Spanish portions of
Cuba. On the same day number of
governors also issued proclamations
similar in tenor, among them Governor
Hastings of Pennsylvania. who desig-
mated Mayor Bailey of Scranton as one
of the authorized depositaries to whom
supplies or cash may be transmitted
for sure forwarding to Consul General
lee at Havana.
The Philadelphia Press Yesterday
printed another letter from its CORES
pondcnt in Cuba, Mr. l.. J. Gibson
giving the results of a personal inquiry,
made by himself in company with Con-
gressman King, into the conditions
surrounding the city of Matanzas
among the reconcentrados at Havana
these gentlemen had seen dozens of
persons, principally women and little
children. so reduced by hunger that
every bone i'm their bodies showed; in
Central Park, Havana. one week ago
last might after gorgeous prone
made of Spanish officers ard stylish1y
dressed wolnen, two men were found
dead on the benches from hunger
Their pinched faces. swollen legs and
arms. almost without flesh showed :"
says Mr.. Gibson, "thlt they had died
OF starvation. They had fairly crawled
10 that place of gaiety and display, of
uniforms and diamonds. to lay down
their lives sacrifice to military bru-
laltty unequalled since the dark ages. -
From such a starting point these two
mquirers went to MatanZas, travelling.
through "Oacified"' province in a
train with armor plate sides and
guarded at every window and door b,
soldiers with rifles always held i'm
readiness for use. And this is what
they saw there:
Al Matanzas the scenes of starvation
ana death We're even more awful than
those in Havana. The government gives
not dollar to help these innocent peo-
then forced she families into pens. where
II has starved them and is stiu starving
them to death. We visited some of the
places i'm MalanZas where the worst of
the reconcentradO sufferers were shelf
cred The sights We're sickrning beyond
description. These places We're built by
private subscription, and what little food
is given comes in that way. The Cuban in
charge of one place, where 100 men, Wo-
men ana children were sheltered. said
that he received only four quarts of milk
"A day for the entire 100 inmates "Nine-
teen out of every twenty persons brought
here he said, die They are too far
gone for recovery. OF course, we could
save many more lives If we had food.
But we cannot get it," The corpse of
woman who had died Just before we
arrived was laying out on the grass in
the rain waiting for a cart to come and
carry II away. on the cold, wet ground
covered with a blanket and a stone for
pillow lay man moaning. To our in
quiries we received the reply; THAT is a
colored man. We have no place here for
him. He will not live long"
Mr.. Gibson is not a word painter. At
Washington he is known as a tariff
EXPERT, taking his greatest pleasure in
statistics. But this is how he writes
from Matanzas;
ne siBHl Ol starving mothers with The
sad pnched faces of little children nest
ling close to them was simply indescrlb-
able in its sadness. Then there would
be father i'm the same condition the
mother having already died. In one case
a little 3-year-old child was all that was
left of a family of seven. These scenes
were repeated at other shelters" until
we declined TO visit any more These
poor starving mortals would all stick out
their bony hands for aims and as we had
already depleted our pocketb tbooks in that
way as much as we could with safety
for our return home we did not care Ia
witness more of such sorrowful scenes
without the power to give even the aid
of pennies. But there was no escaping
IT. These starving faces and appeals for
aid were to be seen almost everywhere on
the streets. The governor OF Matanzas
was called upon and asked why the re-
concentrados were not fed. He replied
thatforders had been given from Havana
TO issue rations. but after two days the
order was lcountermanded because OF lack
of supplies. 1t appears that the starving
soldiers complained bitterly that food was
being given TO the reconcentrados while
thessoldiers were not properly fed hence
the Issuance of rations TO the reconcen-
trados was stopped all over the island
and has not been resumed. The COVER
nor who only came into offlce under
Blanco, expressed great sorrow over the
starvation. He said that at one period
as many as forty a day died on the