Morris tribune., 1899-03-11
FROn r1ANzANILLO TO BAYAMO.
Letter from James rlcCusker, 4tb u.
S.V., on Experiences iu Cuba.

The following letter relating ex-
periences in Cuba written by Private
James McCusker, Co. B., 4th q. S. v,
stationed at Manzanillo, Cuba, has
been received by his cousin here,
Miss Annie Kane, daughter of Martin
Kane. Mr.. Kane has kindly handed
| it to The TRIBUNE:
Manzanillo. Cuba,
February I, 1889.
You ask me to tell you all about Cuba
| Well that would take a very long time,
tor there is more on this island to tell
| about. and so many strange and pitiful
! sIgl to to see, that it would take good
| long while to write, that is to tell of them
| all. But will give you brief sketch as
TAR as | am posted and what have ex-
perienced myself. In the first place will
| give you the list of places my company
| has visited. On November 9Th, we re-
| ce1Ved orders to move inland So miles to
| place called Bayamo. When we heard
| the news, we rejoiced, for we were getting
tired of Manzanillo and had heard so
| much about Bayamo that we longed to
| see it. The journey there was a very
| rough one and our boys suffered much
hardship as we were compelled to sleep
wherever night overlook US, and the
| thought of the poisonous insects which
was on our minds at all times and which
| we all knew the island was full of, such
| as scorpions, centipedes and tarantulas,
| made it very hard for us to sleep.
Our rations were brought overland with
us and were carried in OK carts. not like
the OK carts you see around.your home,
but.much different in size and the way
the oxen are yoked. Each cart was drawn
by six oxen and instead of having the |
yoke rest on the neck of the OK like they |
do at home, it is fastened to the horns of |
the OK by stouts cords made of palm |
that grows here. To look at these oxen /
harnessed up in this way makes it very
pitiful sight and think it would not be |
allowed in the states.
On our way to Bayano we passed I
through the towns of Blaneyquisal, 81
cano, Dacanwanda, Baqueran, Sofia Haci1
enda, De Quita Buey, Babatuaba Malay,
Ell Rio Perufero and Bayamo, most of
these being ruined by Spaniards in this |
war. There is one popularity about Bay-l
amo and that is that it was the starting |
point of the ten years war of the island |
and helped in the last war great deal. 1
It is the home and headquarters of Gener ]
al Babi and all his troops and is one of the |
oldest towns of Cuba, having several old, |
historic buildings. The grandson of !
Charles " erected tower in the Campus |
300 or 400 years ago and the old cathedral |
is 400 years old. There has not been a |
mass said in it for 70 years, nor the bells |
have never chirned in that time for any
special occasion until last New Years eve !
when, about dozen of us stole up into
the tower and at twelve o'clock rang the |
old year out and the new year in and ever |
since then the people of the town are ring
ing them at al times. You would think |
in their life. Il
We stayed in Bayamo two months and
were very glad TO return for as bad as
Manzanillo was, it was worse. We were
compel1e1 to live ON governmen emit rations,
not being able to buy anything in the
town as the people did not have anything |
ito eat themselves. We used to give out
every 30 days to the poor 10000 rat1ons,
when say to the poor do not mean only
few, bat, nearly ALL for in fact the y are
nearly all starving to death, those that
have anything generally keep it for them
selves as they are selfish lot of people.
always looking out for number one and
not caring if their next-door neighbor is
starving to death.
When we went to Baya1nO it took us
five days to make the trip as it was right
at the close of the rainy season and the
ground was very soft so that it was hard
to wheel the carts through and at times
we were obliged to unload them in order
to get them out of the holes. This did not
happen only once or twice but as many as1
two dozen times, which made the journey
very hard for all of as. We were more
pleased to receive the news to return to
than we were to stay at Bay
ano. We made the trip back in two days
and our rations and knapsacks were sent
on government wagons as the road back
was in good condition.
We are now stationedson hill overlook
of the bay. We are able to get good
breeze from the ocean, which is about the
only thing we do get good, for the govern
ment rations are something terrible. Our
bill of fare CONSISTS only of fried salt
one and a small one at that, a little boiled
rice, black coffee without milk, no one
here knows what milk is like and butter
Is at premium. Ihave seen them make
gallons of coffee out of
one half pound of coffee, which every
pie knows is not one fourth enough,
the sugar is not worth naming as they
put in so little.
This cannot be blamed on the cook or
the company quarternaster as they have
nothing to do with the giving of rations;
it must be blamed to the higher officials
It is very hard to get good cook in the
army that will stick up for what is coming
to him and one that can make a tasty
dish once in while, We have good
one who kicks and quits work if he don't
get enough for the men to eat, which he
has done several times. .