The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-01-17
BELTS ON THE CUBANS
Reput es the Charge That They Have
Turned Ingrates.


Lieutenant Belts is a defender Of the
Cubans. OF all those who have returned,
he alone stands valiantly by the dusky
opponents of liberty.
On the score of their cruelty, Belts said
yesterday: 'In Santiago great many of
the Spaniards are selling out at a sacri-
fee and getting back to Spain. One old
Spaniard sold a beautiful home at a sac
rifice for $4,000. There is no use of con-
cealing the fact that the Spaniards are
lighting out because they fear assassina-
ton. And they have good reason to fear
it. Around our camp every day / saw
we all saw-a little girl who had been
caught by the Spaniards during the war
and both her hands had been cut off at
the wrist. I know a little insurgent boy
who was treated in the same way. 1 know
the wife of an insurgent whom a detail
Of Spanish soldiers once tore from her
home and took to the Spanish barracks,
where she was ravished by Spanish Of
ficers. There is no use of talking about
the Cubans forgetting and forgiving now.
They couldn't do it If they wanted to.
think the Spaniards show good judgment
in getting away.
Now on the score OF the Cubans not
loving America. I never saw a Cuban in
surgent who would not lay down his life
for the stars and stripes In fact the Gu
bans are as tender on the flag as the In
dams used to be TO beads. A Cuban will
give up anything for flag of the United
States. And another thing which impress
ed me was that whenever the regimental
Io
the little Cuban boys would stand stock
still and pull off their hats in respect to
the air. I saw thousand things like this !;
things which told me that the poor Cuban
is a patriot and is grateful for all we have
done for him"
Belts has whole chest full of souven-
IRIS. including three machetes. which he
will exhibit in the Boston store, including
the watch which came from Cervera and
which has his name in it,
In speaking Of the stores in Santiago
Belts says the drug stores are beautiful.
marble floors, counters and soforth. The
grocery stores are horribIe-smelling af-
fairs. In the first place big dried Goldfish
is piled up in every grocery store like
cordwood. Then there are great strings
u SdA4lC ~ duu 10 the DOOR. IleTe Is a
large rat in the island, larger than the
postum These are also dried and stacked
up in the grocery stores.
He says the Cubans are increasing in
pleasant appearance al the time: in fact.
the change is wonderful When the Kan
sss boys first reached there the Cubans all
had the cane belly" That is they ate
nothing but cane to keep alive. which gave
them each prodigious stomach Since
then they have better food ard their stom-
achs are getting down 70 a normal size
However the Cubans are still very Door
and the houses they live IN. SAYS Belts
look a great deal like those huts you see
in the Illustrations OF Livingstone's trav-
els in interior Africa. He says the Cuban
women are very virtucus, and the men
very polite. The beef the enlisted men get
Is the best he ever saw. It is beef from
Swift * Co, which has been frozen six
months. and II Is brought out fresh from
Santiago every night
one OF the funny sights he-saw there
was the climbing Of trees BY the Cuban
boys. There grows a tall palmetto tree in
those parts. which at the top has a bunch
az seed. These seed are good feed for the