Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-02-16

showed hard usage their uniforms were
clean. There was quite a contrast be-
tween their dress and the dress of the na-
lives, both Cubans and negroes. A more
dirty, ignorant and shiftloss lot of human
beings | never saw. I saw the Spanish
cooking meals and eating their rations,
and the Spanish drilling. In one place
there were II kettles Choldng about half
barrel cach) i'm a row ana round, and
beneath these kettles was Il hot fire cook
ing "A soup. 1t was a mixture OF rice po-
tatoes and bread. When cooked the ket-
ties were taken away to different places
ana from these kettles each soldier would
help himself.
EXPERIENCES IN MANIANGLLA.
Tho boat stopped long enough at Man
camilla to allow quite an inspection of the
city and IT is described as follows:
''It has cutie a history and about 15.Ooo
population. The -nitcd States has five
companies of soldiers stationed there They
arc now distributing daily to the recon-
ccnrados 10000 rations. This city WIS
bombarded Ivy our small cruisers or Mos
quito Fleet ! counted nine vessels our
fleet suuk-two large and seven small
ones. our people raised two of the small
vessels that were sunk and captured, ono
of which they are now using. Wcylcr
built 80 block houses outside this town.
saw nine. They are from three to five
hundred yards apart (gunshotD Inside the
line of these block houses the Spanish
drove the reConcentrados and here they
died by the thousands.
The mail agent. Lieut.. Schumm, and my
self made the tour around the city to-
gethcr and when passing church heard
music and stepped inside. There was Il
church well filled with Spanish, Cuhlns
and negroes. After music the priest EaVo
them New Years sermon in the Span
Sh language. This is the only church in
Narzauilla and there is not another
church nearer than A. miles. There are
many lopcrs in this place. saw but ono
an old lady. I saw many children. boys
and girls, three or -four years old, as naked
as when they were born into the world.
1t being New Years and not being whore
! could make children happy in Danny and
Mount Tabor | thought | would see what
| could do in Manzanilla. / procured
about 700 (centaNoS) cents, and gave caC h
child I met begging, one ceutaVo, and |
wished | had more pennies ! did not have
It penny % give onc-third of those that
followed MS. | think one-quarter ! gave a
penny to were in state of perfect nudity.
The churchgoers here bring their chairs
with them to church the same as in
Durango. Mexico. In church while SER
vice was going on they were selling a hap
ny New Year song. | bought one and send
it with this letter. Don't lose IL. 1t is
very warm in the city Of Mauzanila. Tile
major in charge of the city told me the
thermometer outside his room on the wall
III the sun at 1 p. m. registered 30 degrees
but in the shade only % degrees
For the first time | ate oysters this
morning that grew on a tree, They were
fresh and on the half-shell There are
numerous Keys near shore and these are
covered with small trees and on these
trees the oyster clings and grows a key
is what looks to he an island but when
reached you find it entirely covered with
water from two to four feet deep, and the
trees or brush are about eight to twelve
feat out of water and show bright green
leaves.
They also have cotton here that grows on
trees aud it has a fiber that can be work.
ed same as any cotton. The trees are
from six to twelve feet in diameter and 20
to 80 feet tall.
THE TRIP INLAND.
After his arrival at Santiago and meet
ing the American officers there and visit
ing the battlefield of San Juan in company
with Lieut.. Elwel, he started inland. The
letter reads
Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 3d. 1890, | went
with Mr.. Elwel to San Luis, by rail, 40
miles distance from Santiago. Wedncs-
day morning we started on horseback for
the interior our objective point being
Bayamo. There were seven in our party
, one Spaniard, four Cubans and two Amer
leans The four Cubans were insurgents
during the war and fought under Maceo.
Each had his machete. We took these
! Cubans along to protect us, also for
| guides. One wore the badge OF a major
and another the badge of a captain
/ About two miles out of San Luis the 23d
/ Reg. [. S. V, were camped. They We're
colored troops from Kansas-ofcers from
the colonel down being colored. ElWcll
knew the colonel and We stopped with thu
We're introduced to all the officers Their
camping ground was once "A sugar planta-
ton. We rode five miles before reaching
the forest. The soil is very rich, a darn
loan and from four 10 eight feet deep. The
grass beside the road or trai! was fully
four feet high and green, called Yerba
1t is used for feeding both horses and COWS
/ never stacked or shielded and cut only ms
they wish to use it. The woods are not
mountainous, but very dense. There was
seldom a time one could see ten feet from
the trail, and much of the way the trails
We're grown up with yerba and underbrusf
so that no more could be seen outside al
thetrail than in the bottom of a well. | saw
but little mahogany and cedar standing
until about sixteen to twenty miles out o
San Luis, except such was too small iUl
lumber. The largo timber had been Gu
and shipped to New York, except such a.
was cut, hewn and then lying where cut
II Was cut ny lle opdllltiuS III buI part
before the war. Although it had been Gu
and lying on the ground three years, will
a machete one of the Cubans would Gu
off not more than one-eighth of an incl
and the stick was as sound as when hrs
cut. Tho average size and length Of sucl
as / saw was lSX20 feet and 20 feet long.
CUBAN HOME.
That night we stopped with a Cubai
family. The house was built like all othe
Cuban houses that | saw in the forest
For frame they used bamboo, for sdin!
the bark OF a royal palm, for covering tn
roof the branches and leaves of the SAM
palm. There is no floor. no windows, m
: nails used in the house, no furniture an,
? the only dishes We're three tin plates
three tin spoons and an iron kettle Th
family consisted of "a man and his wifi
and two children and two pigs. The gin
was eight years Old and the boy four year
old and the boy was as naked whe
. born into the world. 1t was in such HON
. as | describe that Elwell and myself slcp
i'm that night The family, except the tw
= pigs slept in one end of the house and "
- in the other end of the house. The pig
were rompng around all over the hous
until about three O'Clock in the mornin
when they settled down for nap ana no
+ four feet from where we were trying I
steep.
@ The lady gave us a typical Cuban sur
- per and breakfast. 1t was but one disl
II was made in a kettle and was Il boile
o mess and cooked over a fire made ON tn
d ground in the room where we slept.
a consisted of rice, sweet potatoes, yam
g ready to eat the kettle was taken GU
= pIuCpl n - oIoHnI from il we bal