The times., 1899-06-18

| Philadelphia, and Washington, as well as
| in Europe. and know how to dispense most
elegant and gracious hospitality.
Next morning We drove out to the Aslo
del Patria, as the reconstructed Benefeen-
cia is called passing. by the way, through
wide and handsome street named &C ara
Barton, as lamp-posts and corner sign-
boards show, The orphanage occupies the
top of a breezy hill in the outskirts of Sa-
qua, its several low, blue-painted wooden
buildings ranged around three sides of a
! garden, its entrance decorated by a sky
| blue signboard lettered in black, which in
| forms the beholder that the inmates are
| orphans de la Patria, sustained by private
charity There are 316 of them, i told
| but the larger ones are domiciIed in a
separate dwelling some blocks away. All
who are old enough to work are kept re-
| ligiously at it, rolling cigarettes. manufac-
| turing shirts and undergai ments for sale.
| embroidering, making paper flowers 10
! adorn churches, and in other ways demon
| trating that in this case charity, so-called
| begins at home" The larger boys and
| eirfs are farmed out TO whoever will en-
ploy them, and in the sewing a dozen
machines are constantly busy. Cuban
| woman is in charge with her cousin Tor
! assistant, and the older orphans do the
| housework for the big family of 315 while
! the cousin instruets in sewing and hods
school three hours Gay. She is not very
competent teacher. and the Ildren ere
ate a small bedlam, all studying aloud at
once, laboriously learning to misread sim
( pie lessons.
This asylum was first established by Sc
nor Francisco Machada, then the autono
/ mist governor of Sagua. a most excellent
man and personal friend OF Miss Barton.
Nowadays it unfortunately happens in most
/ of the asylums of Cuba that politics and
{ religion are at war with one another and
{ have well-nigh superseded the cardinal vir-
tue which ''sIffere h long and is kind The
result is about as bad as can well be i'm
{ agined. The present alcade is very diff
/ ferent man from Senior Marchada and the
! sleepy old town has rung with scandals
concerning himself and the good-looking
grown-up orphans. For some time the in
stitution has been assisted by United States
/ Army ratfons, and when the Catholic sis
ters left in body it was alleged (untruth-
fully), that the reason for their departure
! was because they could not eat the rations
but pined for the peppery flesh-pots of Gu
ba noticed in the store-rooms more
oat meal and cereal foods than anything
/ else. When Will Uncle Samuel learn to
send the right things to these people? Oat-
meal is not only bad for the climate pro-
ducing rash and hives, but is extremely
distasteful to all Cubans, big and little,
and nothing but the pangs of starvation
will induce them to eat it. Certainly it is
palatable to nobody without milk and su-
gar, and as the asylum furnishes neither
of these "trimmin's.' the cereals are vast
ed. Rice is what is wanted everywhere in
Cuba and condensed milk-rice always with
some corn meal, and beans galore.
II one-tenth of the money that is put into
oatmeal and other useless things were ju-
diciousiy expended for foods suited to the
climate and the taste of the people, the
cost would be less and the result infinitely
better. SO. too, with canned tomatoes.
Uncle Samuel seems to have an enormous
lot on hand which he is determined to work
off on the Cubans. While tomatoes are
undoubtedly good in their place, they can
not be recommended for small children
and hospital diet. If you do not believe
1t, cook some in an old rusty pan that
nothing else will clean. When you see the
tin or iron come out from the tomato hath
shining as if its inner coating had been
peeled by acids reflect if you desire to serve
the delicate lining of your stomach in the
same fashion. prevailing complaint in
Cuba, affecting young and old. is akin to
gastritis, and nothing can be worse for it
than tomato acid, to say nothing of babies
and dysentery patients who are expected to
feed on it.
lot of dried peaches in the Benef-
! preparing
wriggle, because nobody knows how TO
prepare them for food None of these chill
dren have any underclothing whatever
only a cotton dress apiece, or blouse and
trousers, according to sex. Beds and bed
ding are also badly needed. often as many
as three, and sometimes four little ones
sleeping on the same narrow cot. Besides
a generous gift of clothes and beds Miss
Barton wisely decided to help the inst.tu-
tion by permitting it to help itself. In
other words, by removing the orphans who
do not belong in Sagua. Fully two-thirds
of the 3l6 were gathered during recon-
centrado days, and if these are now sent
to their respective villages and put into
orphanages there Sagua can easily care
for her own.
The Hospital Civil is another group of
large buildings, in a high and pleasant
location, al the other end of the city,
and is one of the few in Cuba which was
constructed for hospital purposes But
alas! the great main edifce, with its airy
wards, bathrooms, and modern water
closets, was abandoned sometime ago be-
cause its roof had decayed and was liable
al any moment TO drop down upon the pa
tients. This hospital is supposed to be sus-
tanned by the government, assisted just
now by the United States in the way of
rations. but its revenues appear to be
<.
the others are in tolerable repair, barring
diet and unsavory smells that betoken
frightfully unsanitary conditions. At
present there are 204 patients and "a en-
ployes-as many as if the largest ward
was usable. Among them are so women,
gathered in by the police during their
weekly inspections of the houses of ill
fame, as is now the law in every Cuban
city. There are only canvas cots in this
hospital, mostly without bedding and all
extremely dirty. The wards are crowded
as closely as nature packs her seedlings,
with no regard for ventilation or cleanli-
ness; and of course the percentage of
deaths is uncommonly large. The patients
look as if they had not been washed dur
ing their stay in the hospital, If ever in
their lives. In many cases the dirt on
their bodies is so thick that it actually
seems ready to break and scale off, like
crumbling calcimine, encouraging the hope
that in time it may be shed" as a snake
disposes OF its last years skin
FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD.
Naval Contract Work.
Contracts for work amounting to 81, ,000,-
OOO will shortly be given out by the Bureau