Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-01-21
GUS DEAL IN HAVANA.
Interesting Story For Friends
at Home.
ROUGH TRIP ON THE TRANSPORT.

ROUGH TRIP ON The TRANSPORT.
Strange Sights In Strange Country
The Cubans at Home-How They Dress
so-caIIed Beautiful senoritas Require
Less Paint and More Soap-The Horrors
ola Crowded Troopship.
The following splendily written and
unusually interesting letter is from
Sergeant Augustus Deal, The ENoU1
RER's Second Regiment correspondent
to bis mother, Mrs. NJ. E. Deal, Of
Blacksburg. 1t was sent to The EN-
oUIRER at Sergeant Deals request,
with the explanation that having al
ready written a long letter to his moth
er, he did not then feel inclined to un'
dertake another; but that THE EN-
QUIRER might use such extracts as il
should consider desirable. Such a cap.
ital letter, however, could not be con-
densed to advantage, and, therefore, in
the exercise of the discretion allowed
by this highly talented young soldier
boy, the editor prefers not to under,
take any changes:
"CAMP COLUMBIA"
HAVANA, Cuba, Jan. 12, 1899.
MY DEAREST MOTHER: know that
you are anxious to hear from me and
that should have written to you before
this; but after the horrible trip over
in the overloaded, top.heavy old cat
tleship of transport, and the unnec.
essary confusion and hardship caused
US by the bungling of some of our own
officers, I have felt disposed to do
little else, in my spare moments, than
lie on my cot in the shade and swear
in execrable Spanish at the bordes OF
Cubans (every shade) that are contin'
ually swarming through the camps
selling oranges and "sbigaretty" and
shrewdly trading their stock for what
ever articles of soldiers apparel that
may strike their fancy.
However, my first letter from Cuba,
and my first in the New Year of 1899,
shall be to you; but knowing your
love for the beautiful in nature, l sim
cerely regret that am not able to de.
scribe, or even suggest to you, the
beauties and wonders of this strange
island.
We are encamped now on an old
sugar plantation out in the bills, high
up above and to the west of Havana.
1t is a splendid site, possessing many
natural advantages for a camp, and
commanding q beautiful view of the
city and the ocean. The discipline is
very lenient; the men being allowed
TO go pretty much anywhere they
please, except to Havana, nine miles
away, where strict provost guard is
in charge. To the sea it is only about
three miles, and a great many of the
men have availed themselves of the
opportunity to take surf bath {; but
the beach is rocky and covered with
sharp shells, and proved to be disap-
pointment.
The weather here is charming
neither cold nor warm-with a most
delightful breeze all the time but this
is winter and their dry season, you
know, and I suppose we will all wish
ourselves we'll away from here before
we get away; before the torrid sum-
mer, with its terrific rains, strikes US.
We have already experienced one
rain-a perfect downfall-and we have
been wading in the reddest, stickiest
mud ever since until today, when we
moved our camp to its present site.
The country around here is beauti.
full beyond description the landscapes
glorious. But it is not this that at.
tracts the attention of the men. 1t is
amusing to see them stand in wonder
before a bearing orange or banana
tree, or field of sugar cane, sown
broadcast like wheat, and so thick q
rabbit could hardly get through. The
royal palms, with their extremely tall
and slender columns, of color that
might easily be taken for stone mason
nv, and their cane.like stems at the
top, capped by a tuft of leaves, come
in for a good deal of admiration.
Some of them taper gradually, with
not the slightest variation
from the symmetrical in any direction,
while others beginning small at the bot
tom, bulge to enormous proportions,
symmetrically and gracefully
at the top.
Of the city of Havana I have seen
very little, and of that I am not near
so enthusiastic. If / were to express
in as few words as possible the sensa-
tions that overwhelmed me as pass
ed through it on the day Of our arrival,
and in the order of their Importance,
should say, "filth," decay, children,
inertia and the ancient splendor of the
old fortress.l like houses, with their in
variable iron barred doors and win
dows.
Filth certainly deserves the first
place-in fact the first several places
for it is no e1aggeration to say that the
which are also the sewers,
stink strongly with an odor that was
repugnant. "Decay" was
80 deeply on everything,
both animate and imanimate, both
houses and people, that it is entitled
to second place, although "children"
is a close third. They swarmed
the city singly, in bevies, in
droves; by tens, hundreds and thou
sands, and the strangest, funniest part
to the American soldiers, was that
the majority were entirely naked, and