The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-06-11

E0NcriS1e1 CondltlO0, Dut lney seem 70 nave
no idea Of sanitation and we usually find a
state of-things that has hurried more VIC
tins 10 the grave than hunger. The frst
move Is always TO take a suitable house,
as Tar removed from the center OF popula-
ton as possible and with as much ground
as can be obtained: to thoroughly scrub,
equip It with cot beds. kitchen utensils and
simple furniture mostly homemade" from
provision. boxesl, and TO prepare the land
Tor Planting. Then the children pass under
the scrubbIng brush. their. cutaneous dis
eases are anointed and in most cases their
hair has 10 be cut short. or shaved, to rid
made clothes are at hand. they are dressed
III clean garments. IL not, they are put to
bed until new dresses and trousers can be
made We bring along plenty OF cotton. cal
leo and denim in the piece, and invariably
the ladies Of the town assist, with their
needles and sewing machines. Being thus
clothed and IN their right mind in a
neat. well-regqated home. with certainty
OF care. protection and enough 10 eat. the
children are put TO work. Books. states and
pencils are provided. classes are organized.
and all are given at least the rudiments
OF education Meanwhile the older girls do
most OF the work OF the house, cooking.
scrubbing. sewing, etc, thus fitting them
Tor usefulness when by and by they go out
into the world 10 maintain themselves; and
the boys attend TO the gardening. Already
the first crops are growing; In a few
months they viii be eating their own po-
tatoes and vegetables, and in two years
tine each Institution ought TO be almost
self-supporting. In every town and village
yet visited. besides the efficient help of the
men. the ladies thereof, young and old. have
organized themselves in clubs 10 assist the
Red Cross work. assuming the care of the
Orphanage after we are gone and going
every day In attachments. turn and turn
about, To instruct and oversee the children.
Thus the good cause becomes a sort Of
boomerang. rebounding to the benefit bf all
engaged IN IL. by rousing the people from
the lethargy born Of sorrow and despair.
CATHOLIC SISTERS BUSY.
Thus. on the same plan. we have estab-
Ished a dozen homes. large and small, be-
sides those before mentioned in these col
umns- At San Nicola, seven leagues from
Guines, on the Matanzas Railway, we COL
lected forty children and supplied them
with al things needful. At San Antonio de
las ~Vegas-where. before the war. was a
prosperous population OF six thousand, aft
erwards increased by the addition Of three
thousand reconcentrados. now reduced to
nineteen hundred, all told-we opened On
orphanage and stayed long enough TO see
II IN good working order. At Jicola. in the
same district. We asylumed fifty orphans,
al under twelve years OF age. At Santo
with twelve acres OF ground. which the
owner plowed and planted: we filled the
mousse with homeless children, saw the Ia
Giles club duly organized, and left them
with an abundant supply OF food and
clothes. At Bejucal, a well-built town of
stone houses and the center of a judicial
district. which formerly had a population
OF ten thousand and now has less than half
that number, we found the sanitary condi-
time civil hospital has only twenty patients
land those all suffering with diseases Incl
dent 70. impoverished blood. from long-con-
have collected most Of the orphans into a
mousse and are caring for them, besides
these dear sisters doing that we did not i
ferfere with them, beyond assisting with
needed food supplies. beds and clothing.
cepticn was afflicted with the itch so badly
<har Its fingers stuck out stiff like stuffed
gloves. and we added to our gift a gallon
or two OF sulphur ointment. with directions
Tor its USE The public park of Bejucal has
a beautiful statue of Justice in the center.
cut from native stone by an artist OF the
Town Cultivation OF the fields Is becoming
general IN this section, the United States
government assisting the people to get upon
their financial feet by furnishing ~rations.
men find work to do, in the fields, or else
where. hard times viii have passed away.
A REDUCED POPULATION.
Batabanao. in the same judicial district,
As the southern port from which one en-
barks for the Isle Of Pines. It is an ex-
ceedingly dirty and comfortless little burg
and so very unhealthy that we decided 70
remove its orphans and distribute them
among the various asylums. rather thar
leave them In that death trap of a place.
otLore the war the port mad a population
of 5000. afterwards increased by several
thousand reconcentrados: and now there are
barely fifteen hundred The neighboring VII.
lage, San Pablo de Bainao, suffered as ter
rbly, its population reduced from 5000 tc
800. or Whereabouts 1t should be remem-
bered that these figures gathered on the
spot in q land where the census is seldom
taken are not given as absolutely accurate
but approximate.
Aguacate is another shady little railway
village. which three years ago had about
four thousand people and now has half tina
number OF the two thousand reconcen-
frados quartered here after Weyler's infa-
NOUS order, nearly all died of starvation
Calabazar, once a favorite watering place
IS reduced to 800; but there is light ahead
Cor tobacco cultivation now furnishes work
Tor the remnant of its citizens. There is
neither ~orphanage nor asylum here; but for.
t~unately few are sick and the orphans car
be cared for elsewhere. Rincon-a desolate
town with an abnormally large graveyard
and only a few hundred living residents
had nifty or more orphans I'm an anaemiC
condition.. with no hospital or other refuge
We supplied the children with all thing
needful until they can be removed to @
less help comes quickly to the adults, the
Dig graveyard will be swallow them all
There Is neither physician nor pharmacy
and the sick whose friends cannot afford tt
send them to San Antonio or Calabazar
are simply left TO die. Later In the same
week we founded a new o~rphanage in Santa
Clara, chief city Of the province of the same
name: assisted another in Cienfuegos, ant
cnother in Sagua la Grande. But those
EANNIE BRIGHAM WARD