The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-25

Troops From One Point to An
Castle and the Batteries.
Lieut.. George w. Read, member of
Gen. Wade's staff, who was with Gen.
Wade during the sessions of the Amer
lean evacuation commission In Havana,
visited this city on business yesterday
and stopped at the army building long
enough to talk to a reporter for The
| G b e about his travels, experiences
| and observations in the Cuban capital
and several of the neighboring prov
| inCeS.
Gen. Wade,'' said Lieut.. Read, does
not know when he will return to st.
Paul nor anything about his future
| movements He is now a member of
| the Eagan court martial board, and un-
| III his duties in connection with the in
vestigation are completed he will not
| be assigned
Lieut.. Read was quite willing to tell
| about the evacuation commissions
| work in Havana
We arrived at Havana Sept. TO-" he
! said, and left there Jan. TO- so we were
IL Cuba four months When we ar
/ rived in Havana there were zoe, 900
| 81 anish troops, including $4,000 vo1un-
|
city the entire volunteer force had been
d1sbanded and 1880 regular Spanish
soldiers had been repatriated. The bal
! ance were concentrated at MatanZas on
the north coast of Cuba and at Glen
! fuegos on the south coast; the entire
| Island had been turned over to the
| United States, and the American au-
! thcrities We're in charge of the custom
houses and public Offices and buildings
/ throughout the island
All this was accomplished without
| friction. The stories published in this
| country about riots and other disturb
ances We're largely fictions. Everything
| was perfectly quiet, and matters were
| progressing systematically and har-
| moniouSly when we left
The delay in transporting the re-
naming Spanish troops home has been
! due to the inability of the Spanish gov
| eminent to procure Transports The
| total number of transatlantic passen-
i gers IN year is about $4,000, so it will
| be seen that the Spanish government
| has acted in this matter with entire
| good faith. Since we left the island
the troops at Matanzas have embarked.
| so the only Spanish soldiers now on the
! island are those at Cienfuegos
| During the Sittings of the Spanish
American evacuation commissions the
relations between the two bodies were
l
! two commissions was conducted by let
! ter, and joint meetings were held only
| when matters of unusual Importance
! required the attention of both together
| There were but few joint meetings, but
| on such occasions the memb ers of both
! commissions were extremely cordial in
! their intercourse
Capt. Gen. Blanco was in Havana
! for some time after our arrival and he
| impressed all the American commits
sioners as strong, earnest man and a
! thorough soldier. Our relations with
| him were very pleasant. He was al
ways agreeable, and these relations
continued with his successor, Capt
| Gen. Castellanos.
THE ceremony attending the passing
of Cuba from the Spanish to the Amer
lean government was very dramatic
| CaStellanoS was very much affected
but he controlled himself and bore him
| self as a soldier The ceremony was
| held in the throne room of the palace.
At one end of the room stood Castel-
lapos and his staff of Spanish officers
a sad group; at the opposite end stood
| the American commissioners and Gen
| Brooke and his staff. Precisely at u
noon battery manned by American
! soldiers began a salute of tWenty-one
| guns to the Spanish flag, which was
| then f1uttering above the palace. Not a
word was spoken by those in the throne
| rcom but it is easy to imagine the
| feelings of the Spaniards as they lis
| tened to the last salute to their flag.
| When the last gun was fired a detach-
| nlent of troops on the roof of the palace
| slowly hauled down the Spanish stand
! ard. Immediately the American colors
were raised, and as the Stars and
| Stripes reached the masthead a bat
| terry manned by Spaniards saluted
! conclusion of the salutes Gen Castel-
lanoS stepped forward and formally
| surrendered Spanish sovereignty to
| Gen. Wade, the president of the Amer
| lean commission. Gen. Wade accepted
| the island on behalf of the United
States. and then he turned to Gen.
| Brooke and turned the government of
| the island over to him. The speeches
were very brief, and at the end of the
| ceremony Gen. Castellanos shook hands
| with the American commanders and
| with his staff retired from the palace
He went Immediately to the wharf.
| where a transport awaited him. and
embarked for Spain.
when we left the island the Cubans
seemed very tractable, and did not ap-
pear to threaten trouble. Gen. Gomez
was supposed to be with a few troops
a few miles from Havana, but we did
not see him nor hear from him There
were no large DOQ1eS OF CUBAN troops
at any time in the island They were
split up into small bands, as they
could then better subsist There is a
great work ahead for the Americans in
Havana. The city must be put in a
thorough sanitary condition, and much
must be done to make it healthy.
During my stay in Cuba I visited
Matanzas the province of Pinar del
Rio, Santa Clara, and Guanajay, and in
all those places found conditions very
bad. With the exception of the towns
the entire country is in a state of desc
! lation and devastation
In the province of Pinar del Rio
there are number of American troops.
The 202d New York infantry has been
reinforced. with others. It will require
| at least $4,000 American troops to hold
p, Cuba and restore and MAINTAIN order
! in the island, and great care must be
| taken to preserve their health. 1t is
| questionable whether even the greatest
| precautions can prevent them from
contracting fever and disease The
I