The times., 1899-05-14
RED CROSS WORKERS
At CATALINA DE CUBA
Natives Recuperating From
the Rayages of War.
Cuban Women and Children Naked
in the Interior Towns.
Seven Thousand Souls Perish From
Starvation Fifteen Miles From
the City of Havana.

Catalina, Cuba, May 6.-After DR.. Hub
bell, the Red Cross field agent, assisted by
three American ladies and a Cuban ply
sician, had been working fortnight in
Guines and Catalina, 1 came over from
Havana to see what progress they had
made.
Guines pronounced Wee-nis) is the
largest town, next to the capital, in Ha-
vana province 1t lies southeast from Ha-
vana city. about forty miles by rail. and
Catalina is fifteen miles beyond. The Uni
ted Railway of Cuba, having grudgingiy
given half-rate transportation to Red
Cross members, took my printed order
for mitad de precio-mitlgation of price
to the .Jefe de la estacion' and paid 81
for half rate to Catalina, receiving there
for three-cornered bit OF pasteboard.
which the accommodating "Jefe" cut
crosswise with a pair of shears from the
regular ticket. Thus little mental arith-
metic will show that full fare for the
short journey in the coin of the country,
minus 20 cents on the dollar exchange, is
$3.50. Rather expensive travelling is this
in Cuba, all things considered. The ram
shackle old cars, discarded years ago from
some ancient road of England or the Uni
| ted States are labeled first, second, and
third class. What the second and third
classes are like may be left to conjecture.
Those of the alleged first" grade are
about like emigrant cars on our Western
railways, except that these furnish no
drinking water to thirsty travellers. or
other convenlences whatever; no train
boys sally through bringing books, fruits,
or gum, and in some eases there Is nc
glass in the windows, only wooden shut
tiers, which, when closed TO keep out dust,
exclude the air as well, TO say nothing OF
the pleasant prospect,
Scenes in the Provinces.
Barring railway discomforts, the journey
TO Catalina is delightful. Leaving Havana
at / p. m, changing ears at Guines, the
train reaches its destination about
o'clock. The face of the country differs
greatly from that seen along the other
branch of the United Railway leading TO
Matanzas and Cienfuegos. The scenery in
this corner of Cuba is not unlike that of
Ohio and Indiana, except for the absence
of cultivated farms and the continual
presence Of royal palms, long lines OF them,
trendiug off in all directions like plumed
soldiers on dress parade. There are elumps
of banana trees, too, their leaves arched
| wide and rows of pink-tinted pineapple
| plants, bristling like clustered bayonets.
Here and there hedges Of yeiiowish-green
I foliage, resembling the Usage orange, re-
| mind one of the great prairie farms OF
| Illinois and fences OF piled-up stones
| speak of thrifty New England. Clear
streams are frequent; corn IS knee-hish in
| a few scattered fields, and the thick. coarse
grass of the meadows raises anew the old
query, why in this land of condensed milk
| and rank imported butter, dairy farms are
| not established.
or course we know that all the cattle
Of the island were killed and eaten during
| the war; but now that peace is restored,
why do not some sensible Americans
awake from their never-to-be-realiZed
| dreams of amassng colossal fortunes in
| Cuba and come down to the simple and
| feasible business of making butter, raising
chickens and cultivating market gardens?
Poultry sells at Havana today at prices
| unheard of in the United States, the small
est and scrawniest fowls bringing from
| $l.50 to SO each. Eggs cost IS crate;
| cows milk, 20 cents quart, and most of
(; the common vegetables are not to be had
for love or money. This valley of Guines
| is one of the richest sections of Cuba,
which formerly sent to the Havana mar
kets onions and boniatas Ia kind Of sweet
potato) to the value of $1,000 600 year,
| to say nothing of its corn and sugar cane.
such brilliant coloring, in the dark red
earth, bright blue sky, and deep green TO-
| liage. 1t is a very paradise of climate,
with soil of unparalleled richness, but des-
olated by wars relentless hand Not
| farm house is left standing, none having
| escaped destruction by one army or the
other Only an occasional hut is seen in
the open country, shaped like an inverted
| v its matched roof and paim-leaf walls
| forming picturesque feature. Ii is worth
| knowing In a commercial sense, that two
crops a year of corn, onions and irish po-
tatoes are grown and marketed. This is
! an absolute certainty independent of any
freaks of the weather. the water-supply be-
| ing regulated by irrigation. They say that
| three crops in a year are possible-but
surely two, in such generous proportions,
| with an uninterrupted succession of yege-
tables, ought to satisfy any reasonable
| man.
Rnvages of War.
There are a great many small stations
along the railway route to Catalina, be-
cause in Cuba's golden days Of rich PLAN
tations roads were built expressly to ac-
commodate the planters, each of whom
| was as a king in his own domain, his casa
and sugar mill being the centre of viii
| lage of serfs. They are now mostly kings
deposed-their fields laid waste, mills and
| houses burned and only the serfs remain
! to beg of passing travellers. Every station
! is thrOnged with mendicants, mostly wo-
men and children, whose pitiful rags and
| emaciated faces accentuate their tales OF
woe. Each village is surrounded by a cor
don of Spanish blockhouses, guarding all
| crossroads and crowning every eminence.
| Larger forts are located near the railway
depots. Every village church is still en-
closed within barricade of stones, hastily
erected when the Spanish army took pos
session. They stabbed their horses inside,
| knocked down the saints and holy altars,
used the belfry for q watch-tower and
| punched holes in the walls through which
| to poke their guns. Such dissertation was
the more remarkable since the Spanish
| army to man, was Roman Catholic,
with the hereditary venefation strong
| within him for so-called sacred things.
| A great many negroes are seen ioung-
ing around the railway stations, most of
them wearing the light cotton uniform and
turned up -in-front straw hat that distin
| guish the Cuban soldiers. "Othel!o's oc-
cupation gone and he handles his beloved
Remington or Mauser-probably stolen
from some dead Spaniard-as If longing for
another Job of the same nature. Each sta
tion Is also the residence of its Jefe,
and affords glimpses of family life TO the
passing traveler-rocking chairs and sew
| ing machines and beruflied beds and SEN
oritas idling behind the windowbars An
other odd thing is that the shabby little
/ depots are provided with the low swinging
doors of stained glass. set in patchwork
| patterns. which form such a distinctive
and highly ornamental feature OF Cuban
casas of the better class-beautiful to look
at. but much too frail. one would think.
Tor everyday hard usage in public places.