The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-01
'ANrJ,|U|.A|||| | !. I
..A 5 {: {. i N 1901.
III Carpenter Draws d Picture Of
Sunset Scenc8it1 Days Of Pca;c
Oh Famous Battlefield. 5@
D,E:lR: TIE SURRENDER nee
Commands Fine View Of Lively
5St,.t9.sf - .Fq
DER THE Il: SURRENDER 3 |; ! i TREE
Commands Fine View Of L1v
Country Battleficlds
Being Marked.
BY Frank G. Carpe1lt.r.

4I(Copyrlght, 1906 by Frank GaCarpenter.)
MI SANTIAGO DE CUBA. Sept Boz am
standing beside tile monument on San
L Juan lIill.R 1T Is q beautiful summer
Aevenlng lnStliis peace ycnr OF 1906. Tho
Hsun Is just settling. There IL dot u sound
y Mo be heard. but the singing Or birds and
81 the chirplhg OF Insects. Der there on
4 \ Kettle Hill, UP which Col,nel Theodore
Roosevelt marched With his Rough Riders
4 IN the face Of shot and Shell, n flock OF
white goats Is feeding, Down on The
slope Of San Juan, wlc,r our Infantry
made one OF It's 1ercest .ilargcs, ii dozen
red cows lie chewing tMr ctid. and far
Their over IL. the midst oYthc pain white
horse IS grnzing. The srass about him Is
breast deep. Here or San Juan every
thing is covered VII, green, and, cx-
ceptinz the trenches land the monument
there Is no sign tlht this was one OF
the great battle grounds of our history
since passed away. AS i write the white
Z horse nclgls and away oft.ln the direc-
Il tlop OF I'll cancy hear the lowing OF
I a COW. Looking beyond the white horse,
III ] can sec the San Juan River. 1t Is still
] lined with bushes at Bloody Bend, as it
wns when our soldiers were there under
the 7rc OF the Spanish guns. They were
I'm sight for more than a mile and they
n crossed that plain and were under fire
IFS until they reached the foot OF this hill.
III. which IL so steep mat The Spanish SOL
II dlcrs who lay IN the. trenches could not
y see them. Our men swarined up the
s hill grabbing their enemies Is they climb
ed. and fighting their way ,o5the top.
Marking the Santiago Battlefields
Standing here the greater part OF the
Al Santiago battlcfields are In plain sight.
Away or at the left is El Caney with
Its block house. Below IS the lagoon
Z still filled with water. across which our
soldiers marched. and everywhere ] look
is upon one of the scenes OF that great
fight.
The battlcfelds are being carefully sur
,veycd They ire to be marked and pre-
served In a great national park which
a shall be kept here forever In memory OF
our struggle for Cuba's Independence.
Colonel Webb Hayes has the matter In
charge IN
Understand that he will start where
E General Rates was stationed at the lower
end OF the battle grounds. and place d.
XII the whole line of the engagement a.
road liz to be made over the heighta,
around 10 Kettle Hlllennd thence across
n to San Juan Hill and on to the sur
render tree. It will then 20 on down
y to where Ell Cnney road branches oil
f from that Of San Juan Hill, and thence
along FL Caney road to the Block House,
The Block House Is to be repaired and a
gun will be placed there This road Will
be one hundred and nifty feet wide. It
81 1nj1 =
extend hlong he hills between tho
trenches and be so marked that any
soldier can come here and find Just
where he lay while fighting
The San Juan Monument.
While standing on San Juan Hill, I had
Mr.,J s. Cox, the manager OF the Span
Aish-.AncrIcan Iron Company, who was
with me, take a snap shot OF myself
standing beside the monument. In order
to chow you It's size ] am five feet eight
inches. and comparison between the
top OF my Panama hat and the top OF the
monument will give you the height The
monument is a shaft OF concrete made
on n concrete base, with one great shell
on TOP and shells about the corners Of
tho foundation. Tho inscription upon 1t
reads as follows:
the United States army, who We're killed
n in the assault and capture of this ridge,
July l. 1885, and in the siege OF Santiago,
July to July 16. 1898. War between
Spain and the United States,
San Juan Hill has been lately cleared
OF brush. Tho grass Is growing finely,
and even the trenches are covered win
green.
sA Look at the Surrender Tree.
4 Crossing the fields stopped a while
I under the Surrender Tree. beneath which
General Shafter received from General
Ia Toral the surrender Of Santiago. 1t has
now Il barbed wire fence around It to
keep the vandals from cutting their names
Il in its bark or chipping It for mementoes.
The tree is a magnificent Ceibn, which
rises about forty feet from the ground be-
s fore its branches begin, It is in full leaf,
and great green orchids hang from It's
X limbs and nestle at their roots against
the trunk, It WAS under this tree that.
:. the real end OF the war came. Here was
the first acknowledgment OF Cuba $ In
q dependence and of the absolute defeat
OF Spain,
IA The Surrender Tree, In fact marks the
birth ofSthe Cuban republic. It Is tSe site
d of our beginnings as a world power. 'Tho
AZ United States looked through its branches
and saw that the earth was good and
started out to possess It. slrte that sur
J. render We have held a different rank
among tho nations Our strength has
been appreciated, our flag respected, and
our trade increased. It means much 10
the United States, and It should he re-
garded In this great national park until
the tooth Of time rather than the hand
OF the vandal or travelling relic hunter
brings It to the ground,
II Woods Folly
"A During my stay here have taken a
drive over the road which General Leon
m 4 n I q
Tops Of the mountains in the rear. The
road runs right along the rsFway cross
Ing It FIVE times before it reaches tho
hills, It then winds llp tho mountains
to an altitude Of a thousand feet above
the sea. It Is MS well built as the mill
tary road made by the spaniards across
u Porto Rico, and 1t cost In places, as
much MS ss5, 900 n mile There are cement
drains every few feet. where 1t climbs
" the mountain. and these DINING are "a 81