Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-08-11
UNCLE SAM BIDS
CUBA FAREWELL
PREPARATIONS ARE BEING MADE
FOR THE DEPARTURE OF
THE UNITED STATES
TROOPS IN JAN
UARY.

NJ haas Oeen ueHHItely agreed upOn tnaC
the first of January will see the end OF
American occupation in Cuba.
At that time the great transports will
be loaded with our troops and the
soldiers that have dwelt there SO long
will return home, either to be mustered
out or to go to service elsewhere.
For two years and a half they will
have dwelt in the island, mi OF the num-
Der that are entitled to return at least
a fifth will remain, permanently. prefer
ring to live in Cuba ever though another
flag will float over 1t. ass
Many of the soldiers have WoOed sweet
hearts in Cuba and xlave married and
settled there; others have gone In BUSH
ness in a quiet stial others see busl-
ness opportunities and will remain to In
vestigate them. A great number will go
to work as actual laborers. for they see
thar large wages can be obtained by an
intelligent. willing man.
AT first, when the wal was concluded
1t was thought desirable to have the
| American troop remaln upon tine =
land only to protect the Cubans from
, the Spanish sympathizers who were nu-
1nerous enough to occasion some unpieas-
| antness. There were retired Spanish SOL
diers who were willing TO fight a Cuban
at sight; and there We're grandees who
showed sign of abusing the Cubans VINO
| worked for them aIpi who We're in no
condition to defend themselves. !,
IN POOR CONDITION.
| Then came a knowledge OF the actual
| state of the ISLAND. Tales of how the
! streets had not been cleaned for y,l rs
| were told: there were whispered stories
of the awful sanitary condition OF the
houses; there was a weM Authenticated
| report that the bathroom IN
| palace was the only luxury Of this KIND
i'm Havana. And these were but a teW
| of the things told.
Gradually the president and his assoc
ciates came to realize that. II they were
to leave Cuba then. just as It was. tney'
would subject it to a fate worse n
| that which had held it under Spanish
rule. Impoverished. i'll. without any way
of organizing, they would live as des-
pondent creatures, without tine chancS
! or the means of making OF themselves 9
| people emitted to the respect OF tAS
world.
No one saw this palmer than Maxine
! Gomez. He is said, personally, to have
| asked the president to an AM
erican protectorate n 10 nave Joul
! neyed to the United States to beg for ones
! Others also desired American assistance
| Palma among them.
An American protectorate. at that
time, meant much. First of all 1t
meant money, for nothing could ba
ship companies could not be persuaded
to bring their carsoes without pay, nor
could they load them with grain unless
the provision merchants were paid at the
! NlaTIS. 10 nave Inc AlllcIlCdlS LIN
charge meant that grain would arrive:I
that meats would be brought down weM
cooled in ice chests; that canned goods
would be plentiful, and that teas and
spices and all the luxuries so craved bX
the Cuban palate would be forthcom-
ing. Owing to it's long siege the island
itself was barren, scarcely enough being
raised to sustain the planter upon HIS
own farm; and nothing at all for the
TAKING HOLD.
The secretary of war finally decided
to retain American troops upon the
island, and then came the selection OF a
man to the troops and not only
the troops but the island itself. The Sc
lection of General Lorenzo Wood was
finally made and the title of military
governor was bestowed upon him. his
Headquarters We're to be in the city OF
Santiago, and out of the chaos in which
he found the town he was to bring order.
The first month General Wood was
there he came as near despair as so
brave a man could approach. n
streets were filled with refuse; the GEM
eteries lay with their lead unburied; the
people crowded around his door for food
and the farmers stood in their bloou-
stained fields and sighed. There was no
way of beginning, nor a spot at WliicA
to take hold. :.
At This time Mrs. Wood s1gnallzed
herself by establishing a branch OF the
Society for the Prevention OF Cfuelty TO
Animals. Thu way in when sniail 90
nestle animals We're treated toucneu mex
heart and she took steps to relieve them
and place them upon their proper footing
in public estimation.
General Wood raised amounts to res
lieve the suffering and gradually
straightened out matters, the most im-
portant step in which was the appoints
ment of a committee of native CubanS
who understood native conditions.
Gradually roads were restored, houses
painted, streets repaved and law ana
order brought about.
Today Santiago de Cuba is drained; IL
is supplied with rapid transit; in its sub
urbs are factories and, lying all around
the city are splendid plantations where
sugar, coffee, rice and all the fine fruits
and spices of the tropics abound. Amer
lean m~erchants are there with their
money and wherever a capitalist set
ties, there grows up a prosperous suburb
whose people live in comfortable houses
dress neatly and enjoy life.
SOON TO DEPART. !
Time and again it has been expected
that the American troops would With
draw. but, as the years have gone by,
so many things have interfered with the
withdrawal of Americans that they have
fingered on, as loath to depart as the
Cubans We're to allow them to go.
Now the time has been definitely set
for next January. AL the tITu VI lAdS
period the entire plan formulated at the
close of the Spanish wal will have been
carried out. This plan included. first, the
taking of a census: second. the adoption
of municipal elections: third. a constitu-
tienal convention; fourth, the adoption
! of a suitable form of government, and
!; finally, the withdrawal of the American
8, troops.
Splendid men have been in charge OF
. the Cubans during their reconstruction
period. No point has been too small Tor
. Them to consider: nothing too great or