Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-28
THE VIEWS OF A VISITOR
Mr. John B. 0'EeiRs Opinion Of Cuba and
;. Porto Rico =
His Trip to Santiagosfn Search of His
Brothers. B0dy-SOme
Incidents.

VINO Went to Cuba in December of last
year to find the body of his brother the
late Captain William 90 O'Nein of the
Rough Riders. killed at Kettle Hill on the
san Iuan ridge, returned home a few
days ago. AS heretofore published in The
star, he found the body of his brother and
haa 1t sent here for interment in the ma
tlonal cemetery at Arlington.
Captain ONeill was former Washing
tonian and his mother, Mrs. Mary O'Neill,
is now living at No 2OS 9th street south
east Several years ago the deceased cap
tain left here and went west. When the
war with Spain was declared he resigned
mis- position as mayor of Prescott, Ariz.,
and organized a troop to serve under Colo
mel Roosevelt
When the news Of his death reached here
ms mother insisted that his body be re-
turned to this country, and had her son,
John 'B. O'NeilI, make an early start
for Cuba He left here early in December
and was in Cuba Just four months before
ne found his brothers grave. 1t was To-
Gated about GOO yards back Of the firing
line There was no doubt about the iden-
t1ty of the body, for a ring and handker-
chief found in the blanket coffin with the
pody were fully Identified as the property
or the brave captain, whose life had been
lost IN battle. In addition to these arti-
cles there were peculiarities about the
teeth of the deceased which would have
ai9peieo duy uouDl lQdt might remain.
Speaking to a Star reporter today. Mr.
U Neill said he would have had an extreme
~ enjoyable trip to Cuba and Porto Rico
mad 1t not been for the sad character of his
mission, and the fact that he met with a
mishap:: In searching for his brothers
grave. he said, he travelled many miles on
horseback and once while riding over a
rough path, his horse slipped and fell on
ter the accident he rode distance of sew
enty-two miles to a hospital, where he re-
manned three days before returning to
camp.
While' In camp one night, he said he
heard an cutlery in the direction of the
church over the Ell Cobre copper mines In
company with Lieutenant Feeley, a Wash
ingtonian, and T. A. Dougherty, one Of the
regulars, he answered the call for assist
ance and learned that the church had been
ropped or S3o,oOO worth of jewels and gold.
MS church was a favorite shrine for peo-
pie on the island, and thousands of them
maae pllgrlmageS there each year, many
going barefooted, and approaching the
church on hands and knees. The jewels
which had been stolen represented the Of
1erings OF the people. In addition to these
OF gold and other valuable metals, was
taken. S
An effort, Mr.. O'Neill says was made to
olame Americans for the robbery, but he
ana come OF the soldiers had seen three
susplcious-looking Cubans and a Mexican
on the road near the church that day.
Ihese men We're afterward captured and the
plumber recovered.
During his seven months stav on the is-
lana, MT. ONell says, he saw a number of
SICK people and number of dead ones He
oeheVes that with proper care and nourish-
ment much of the sickness would be
avoided.
Rum a Cause fSfckness
ha l.;
did not feel indisposed during his STAY
there. He said he believed a great amount
of the sickness is due to the quantity of
rum consumed. This liquor is made from
sugar cane, and large bottle of it can be
bought for 5 cents. A gallon of it costs
only 80 or 10 cents.
Many men, he said drink this stuff and
then go out in the hot sun They find the
combination to be too much for them
Fruit he found to be exceedingly cheap
and during his many country rides he
found that he could get all of it he wanted
for the mere picking of it. What he re-
safded as enjoyable, as well refreshing,
was the milk from the cocoanuts. This he
drank early in the morning, when it was
cool. He had no trouble, he said, in get
ting the natives to- climb. the,trees and get
the nuts for him. All they wanted for their
trouble was Nickel some food or some
flour sacking material for clothing.
A source of some complaint was in the
buried in a trench not far from Gen.
Skaters headquarters. In the trench,
which was nine feet long, said Mr.. ONeill,
twenty bodies were buried to a depth of
five feet. So far as he could learn not
much trouble had been taken to put marks
of identification on them, for one mark
ed unknown a letter requesting that the
body be shipped to Macon, Ga, found.
scenes of DesoIation.
Many sad scenes of desoIation were wit
messed by Mr.. O'Neill during his stay on
the island, and number of towns now
Exist in name only. Five miles from San
tiago he saw four houses in a town where
ffty-six buildings and a fine railroad station
had been burned during the recent war. At
some places where churches had been da-
stroyed he found only piles Of burned tim
Der, and occasionally he saw the church
balls, which had not been disturbed.
Many of the drinking and gambling
places, well as resorts for crooks, he
found We're conducted by Americans The
Army and Navy saloon IN Santiago, in
which three cases of yellow fever were
recently reported, he said, is run by a
Washington man and a colored man from
Before returning home Mr.
O'Neill visited Porto Rico. where he found
a country, he says, that is much better than
Cuba. The people there are more energetic
and the magnificent roads show that the
natives are more progressive.