The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-07-11
LETTER FROM CUBA.


EDllbh OF lNc HERALD s-MOSt A1nCri-
cans have vague idea of the horrors Of
Cuba, ON account Of hearing so much about
it that is not really true OF course Cuba is
not anything like the United States but |
have found, from personal experience. that
IL Is not such bad place TO live in. Anyone
coming here at the present time would not
tind lt very pleasant on account Of the in
tense heat and the rainy season It rains
every day, but not continually. The sky
may be seen withouta cloud and. in fifteen
minutes, il will he as black as night and the
rain pouring 1t even rains when the sun
/ shines. There are many interesting sights
/ to be seen here, but, being under strict mill
| tary rules, we soldiers do not have chance
| to 60 sightseeing as much as we would like
| 60. whenever we are not on duty, which is
very seldom, we can have pass and 90
where we please. If we 0verstay the time
| limited, and do not report for duty on time
! we are fined for the first oilense from fifty
cents to ten dollars according to the time we
are away IT repeated, we are court mar
tailed, and that means the guard house and a
fine. Some men are sent to the fort at hard
labor. On the fifth court martial a man gets
a bOb-tail discharge which is DISCHARGE
without honor, pay or allowances and from
one to six months confinement at the fort
AT the expiration of the term Of confinement
gets transportation to the nearest port in
TIE United States, and then goes as he pleases.
The rules and regulations of the army are
] NhAbANth hbA0 % eANdt utdl ulOIC ludu III IUt
| United States.
Upon landing in Cuba, the first thing
| a person generally does is to look and
stare at everything and everybody,
the same as countryman does when
he goes to some large city the first time
to see If everything they have heard about
the place is really so. / came here with a
detachment of 100 of the hospital corps of
the U. S. army, fifty from Greeuville. S. c..
and fifty from Augusta, Ga. When we were
boarding the transport Minnewaska at
Savannah Ga, we were told by great many
of the 2O2nd n Y. Vol. Inf, who had Just
returned from Matanzas, Cuba, that we would
all be back in the States again in a month
| Well, we have been here almost four months
and heard hut one or two say they would
like to be home again. | have no reasons
for wishing to be back again, except to see
my friends and relatives. l am in good
health and enjoy being in Cuba very much.
have a very pleasant time when not on
duty. The hospital corps have a great many
more privileges, and more time to them
| selves, than any other branch of the service.
have great deal Of time to go around, as |
am kept for special cases only. At present l
am nursing one of our own surgeons, Dr.
Gill, who has a severe attack of typhoid
fever There is no yellow fever here at all,
and but very little sickness Of any kind
among the soldiers, as this is a very healthy
place situated along Matanzas Bay. The
camps are situated on a hill overlooking the
city and bay, and strong sea breeze sweeps
over us all day long. Most all of the soldiers
are now quartered in barracks on account of
the rainy season MatanZas is a city of abOut
the same population as Shenandoah, but
covers a great deal more ground, and there
are not as many places of interest connected
with the war as there is in Havana, where /
was until the 18th of April. 1 landed at
Matanzas on the 27th of March and went to
! Havana on the 2Sth over the Ferro Carril
IInldng In Hah ha 10
tween here and Havana is something
grand. All along the route you can see or
chards of cocOanuts, lemons, oranges, bananas
and all kinds of tropical fruit, also many
sugar plantations. great deal of the fruit
is left to rot, as the owners cannot get anyone
to pick them. Cubans won't work, as they
are too lazy. Going from Cabanas to Havana
in a ferry boat across the Havana Bay, you
see one of the most interesting sights, and
that is the wreck of the battleship Maine. /"
| While was in Havana had a great deal of
| time to go around sight seeing, as / was not
on duty at all there. l visited most all of
the interesting places. l was in the castle
| Weyler used to live in and the Jail where he
| used to cOnfne the poor, innocent Cubans
| Also MORO Castle, where he used to have his
executions done, l have also been in the
prison from which Miss Cisneros escaped
The hospital l was attached to there is also
| very interesting, as 1t was used by the Spanish
| government for the care of her soldiers. 1t
/ is very large place with capacity for 5 900
cots. 1t was called tho Alphonso XIII Hos
| pitales. There was at one time 5000 sick
Spanish soldiers quartered there and dying
at the rate of 100 day. While l was there
we had only 46 sick men with about 300
hospital corps and 30 female nurses to take
care of them.
The Cristobal Colon Cementario, where
the Maine" victims are buried, is one of the
most beautiful and interesting places to be
seen. The statuary there is the finest l have
ever seen. In one cOrneris what is called the
| 'bOneyard." 1t is about 100 feet square and
fifty feet deep, and is filed with human
| bones In another place is what we would
call morgue, and to this place all the bodies
of paupers and others who cannot pay funeral
expenses are taken and put into trays and
covered with quicklime to eat the flesh away.
The bones are then thrown into the bone
yard" There is also another place about
an acre square, with a stone wall eight
feet thick around it, and into this
wall are holes resembling ovens and
large enough to admit a coffin. They are
called vaults and are rented to people who
cannot buy lot for burial purposes. If the
rent is not paid promptly the body is thrown
on the bonepile and, at the end of five years
as they cannot be rented any longer the re-
mains are put on the bOnepile and the vault
rented to some one else. A funeral in Cubs
is much different from one in America, and il
a queer sight wealthy persons funeral il
band wagon belonging to a circus than it does
a hearse, as it is decorated very elaborately
and drawn by four or six horses, also decor
ated with fancy harness and varicolOred
plumes. There are from six TO eight at.
tendants who look like the monkeys that an
organ grinder generally has. They act al
pail bearers. They walk at the heads of the
horses and ride on the hearse. Women never
go to funeral, and there are generally but q
few men. Poor people have quite different
style. There is no hearse and no mouTners
and the coffin is carried on the shoulders O
four men. Such are some Of the daily scene
in Cuba.
Havana is a queer city with queer people
1t might be termed the white city as thu
buildings are white. They are all made o
: stone, or a combination of cracked stone anC
cement, and are very strong. The only
woodwork is on the doors and windows anC
they, too are very strong and massive. Tht
windows have an iron grating running from
top to bottom and there is no glass in them
They are made so as to keep the light anC
sun out. All houses are only One-stOry high
The only people seen on the streets in thu
daytime are those who really have to be out
but, after the sun goes down, they all com,
out for fresh air and to promenade tn
Prada. The women and girls, called senOra
and senOritas that is the best class of Cubans
are very fair and beautiful, and are verl
hard to get acquainted with. They never q
out alone, and are always chaperoned
They dress very nice in different oOlOreC
silks COurting is quite different here from
the custom in the States, and no doubt
great many American girls would object TO it
You can walk along any street at night anC
see the lovers making love through the irOI
bars, the senorita on the inside and thu
hombre, or man, on the outside. | have be
come acquainted with several girls here, anC