Evening star., 1899-03-04
Something About the Leader of the
Cuban People.
POPULARITY Is At ITS HEIGHT
Has the Confidence and Respect
of His Soldiers.
RECEPTION IN HAVANA
Copyright, 1899, by Charles NJ. Pepper.)

| as the leader of the Cuban people. There
| might have been doubts in the minds of some
observers before he came to the city of
Havana. There is none now. All classes,
and this includes the Spaniards, look to him
fer guidance and advice. A week of his
presence has been enough to show that he
will be trusted during the period which is
just being entered upon. His personal pop
ularity is at its height AS he goes forward
with his work this popularity may decrease.
Some things he will have to do will not be
pleasing to the population; yet if he fol-
lows in the path he has marked out he will
keep his influence after he has ceased to be
a popular idol. Some of the incidents of the
last few days have shown that the conf
dence in Gen. Gomez is greater that the
personal liking for him.
l have watched the receptions of the old
general since he came to the province. They
give the best idea of his strength. He
would not be successful politician a
campaign tour. His ways are too blunt
The day he came from Matanzas to the in
surgent headquarters at Marianoa he had
a special train for himself the members of
his staff and various civilian officials. Go
mez's car was the one into which every
body naturally drifted. When, between
places he got tired and wanted to rest he
said for everybody to clear out. The Cas-
lillian language does not express Ii quite so
bluntly, but the words mean the same thing.
When there was hesitation tall captain
went through the aisle of the car and push
ed intruders before him. At one place
Cuban Of prominence had seated himself
in the generals seat while he was on the
rear platform. When Gomez returned the
Cuban remained. Gomez glanced at him
impatiently moment, frowned. and with
out word seized him by the shoulder. The
seat was instantly vacated.
Courtesy to a Woman.
A little later a handsomely dressed wo-
man was presented Gomez was on his
feet in second, as CALAMITY as a French
courter, and would not sit down until she
had seated herself beside him. Then he
took her jeweled fan and welded it as
gracefully as only the Latin women know
how to WELD a fan. This Cuban woman
belonged to wealthy family, whose means
had been given freely to the insurgents and
which had suffered persecution from the
| Spanish officials. In those few minutes talk
with the old general she had her reward
| for all the sacrifices that had been made.
But she was not allowed to monopolize his
| time. One of his officers brought forward
a poorly dressed woman and her little
| daughter. They had hung back anxious
for word of greeting, yet afraid to in
| trude. Both were in black. Gomez knew
| the story in an instant Husband or son
| or brother had been lost in the insurrec-
| ton. Since he came out of the woods he
| has known the same story hundreds of
| times. Instantly his attention was turned
| from the elegantly dressed lady at his side
| to the poor woman in black. She had his
| greeting and kindly inquiries after her well
Idre. mat was ner recOUlp6ilSe-
| The "tacos," or Cuban swells. are hardly
jealous of Gen. Gomez, but they are en-
vious. The smiles of all the pretty girls are
| for him. The Latin customs permit more
| freedom thar those of the United States.
| Here it seems quite natural to strew the
| path of a hero with flowers and to embrace
him in public. Nobody becomes nauseated,
| as sometimes happens with American he
| roes, because being custom, it seems
| natural and not maudlin for Gen. Gomez to
| let the pretty girls kiss him, while the
'tacoS'' rage inwardly and wish they had
| spent four years in the brush fighting the
| Spaniards. One of the newspaper cores
| pondents who had been with the party in
| the journey through the island told me the
| old general was very particular and never
| let the ugly women reach him. ! shall not
| get into trouble by saying there are ugly
| women in Cuba, but it is permissible to say
some are younger and handsomer than
others. L watched them Chamber on the
platform at various points. 1t did appear
| to be the case that the pretty girls always
| managed to have the way cleared for
| them. and they were so numerous that they
| left no room for those who were not young
and pretty. once in a while mature years
not blessed with beauty overcame the OBJ
! stacles and embraced the old general. He
endured it with the fortitude of a soldier
accustomed to discipline. At the ball in
| the Tacon Theater Gomez paid respectful
attention to the matrons, but it in
variably the young women with whom he
danced or promenaded. Carnival afternoon
It,
drive up and down the Prado among the
| merrymakers was one of the most beautiful
young women of Havana.
Feeling Among His Soldiers.
1t may be surprising to many to learn
that Gen. Gomez's personal popularity is
least among his own soldiers. He has their
respect and their confidence and he does
not need to be popular with them. They
know that he is thinking of their good and
is working for it. They have had leaders
who enjoyed great personal popularity, yet
these were not the ones who proved the
strongest in the critical periods of the in
surrection Both Maceo and Gomez knew
how to enforce military discipline. AS the
necessity grew Gomez became more in
flexible. His men felt the need and yielded
implicit obedience, yet they did not like the
harsh old general who dominated them
AS far back as last October l heard the
stories that Gomez had completely lost
his influence" Second lieutenants of vol
unteers who had been in Cuba a fortnight
told me so. Major generals who had
tremendous idea of their own rank and a
corresponding contempt for the commander
of an Irregular bushwhacking army thought
the same thing. A few visits to the insur-
gent camps satisfied me that Gen. Gomez
retained as much popularity he had
ever possessed among his followers. They
knew he-meant to hold them together till
arrangements were made for paying them
something. Without knowing definitely his
policy they were content to hold together
under his orders and wait. They success
fully resisted every effort to disintegrate
their forces. Some of the subordinate
commanders were restless and complained
| of Gen. Gomez's harshness. They sought to
| break away from his influence and they
found themselves without followers. That
was the condition until President Mckinley
sent directly to Gomez to arrange for dis
| tributing what the United States was able
| to do for the relief of the insurgent troops
| Since then there has been implicit conf
dence that Gomez would be able to do
| something more. Whatever plan he sug-
| gests will be supported by the Cuban as
sembly and accepted by the troops.
The Cuban officers who were swelling
around the hotels and cafes in fancy uni
forms have not been so prominent since
Gomez came to Havana, yet they do appear
with a show of regalia. They were afraid.
! at first, of a harsh manifestation of his dis
| pleasure. They have found him too pre-
| occupied with weightier affairs to bother
with their vanity. He has been content
himself with a plain blue uniform and
| brown cavalry hat which is not very
| artistic blending of military colors. The
| men who were with Gomez in the brush say
| 1t gives poor impression of him. famous
i L.