The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-04-20
THE NEW CUBA
WORKS OF RECONSTR UCTION AD-
 MIRABLY BEGUN.

Cubans, Young and Old, Are Busliy
 Studying Our Language English as
 Authorities-America Charities In
 the Island-Gossipy Bits of Informa-
 ton.
 Especial Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier)
 Tulipan Suburb, Havana, April 14-
 That Cuba is becoming Americanized
 with wonderful rapdity is apparent on
 every hand and even the most dis
 gruntled anti-American patriot un-
 willingly admits that the change is inf
 nitely for the better. Never before
 within the memory of man has there
 been so little sickness at this time of
 the year-owing to vigorous American
 sanitation in the way of clean streets, Immediate disposal of all decaying mat
 ter and constant use of disinfectants,
 To-day there is not single case of vel
 low fever in Havana, Matanzas or Car
 denas--the three cities of consequence in western Cuba Yesterday I made the
 rounds of the Havana hospitals and gathered the official information that
 the total number of patients in all of them combined Exclusive of the Lepers' l1ome) Is one hundred and seventy three; whereas in previous Aprils and Mays it has been away up in the thou sands, with an appalling death-rate.
 For the first time since the settlement of the island by the early Spaniards the { streets are actually clean, and the gut X ters filled with running water, instead of the foul, putrefying exerements of a mongrel population. Medicos and cof- flN-makers are complaining that their business is being ruined by these med \ dleSOme Americanoes; and the vultures -those unclean scavengers of the air that erstwhile fattened upon abounding carron, are growing lean and hungry eyed No longer is the Jesus del Monte road thronged, as of yore, with spectac- ular funehal processions resplendent in 4 gold lace and gorgeous liveries, bowling merrily along to the music of brass bands; and the sextons of the great \ Over-crowded Colon cemetery, like old X Uncle Ned, have lain down the shovel < and the hoe for lack of employment. Z Just now the only prevailing diseases are those incident to the close of the long dry season-an affection of the nose and throat, caused by clouds of blowing dust, and the peculiar com plaint locally known as 'nervioso," which at it's worst produces convulsions in children and hysteria in adults, but is seldom fatal. There is no good reason { why this balmy and beautiful island, with its bright skies, fresh a-breeZes and delightfully."- even temperature, should not be as salubrous as any country under the sun. The lion in the way of perfect sanitation is hidden in- side the handsomest houses Built after the fashion of mediaeval Spain none of them had originally any sanitary ar Engagements whatever, and the attempts 8of recent years have taken the form of tiimsy pipes laid outside the walls. Af- ter two or three centuries of occupatio the result to sight and smell can be bet ter imagined than described in print. A fair sample is the once magnificent but now somewhat dilapidated casa in the Cerro suburb of Havana, which was rented last week by the American Ma tional Red Cross for the headquarters and residence of it's representatives in Cuba. The large, imposing residence, surrounded by ample grounds and fronting a park, stands in the highest and coolest portion of the city, where the streets are widest and the residences all of the better class. In such favora- ble environment one would think that a p,o o1h1 .hOnra6 c would be comparatively free from un- sanitary conditions. But listen! Little more than year ago--a few weeks be- fore all Americans were compelled to leave with Consul-General Lee-the Red Cross society took this house for an or pfanage and collected therein two hun dred reconcentrado children under eight years of age At first all went we'll under the beneficient care of Miss | Barton, Dr. Lesser, Sister Bettina" and | other experienced workers; and then | they were hurried from the island just | before the blockade was declared; only | two deaths had occurred in the asylum. | "A well-known Cuban physician was left in charge, with ample money and | food supplies for six months need. What became of the food and funds it is now 1mpOSS1Dle 10 say. PernapS the | good doctor, out of the kindness of his heart, and, like his fellow Cubans, talk ing no thought for the morrow, forgot the original purpose of the provisions and distributed them indiscriminately among the poor of Havana. Heaven knows there was need enough every where when a nation was dying of star vation. At any rate, in less than onei month the cable brought piteous ap peals for more supplies for the orphan age, which could not be sent because of the blockade. The worst of all was that in the second month of the institutions s existence the children began dying by scores, and in short time not half dozen of the original number remained alive. The cause of that terrible death- rate has only now been discovered. Last week, when the long-deserted or- phanage was re-rented for Red Cross occupancy and repairs begun, the gov ernment sanitary inspector was sent for to investigate the plumbing (which the owner declared to be in perfect order) and then was discovered a state of things which, uncorrected, would have meant sure death to the new tenants. Not being versed in the mysteries and technical terms of plumbing I may not