Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-21
CITY NOT PROGRESSIVE
Santiago Falls Behind Other
Cuban Cities.
THE VIRGINIUS RECALLED
Tablet Marks the Scene of the
Massacre.
'9s BATTLEFIELD NOW A PARK
Railways Building Up Guantanamo at
the Expense of the Older Place
Neglected by Congress.
'9s BATTLEFIELD NOW A PARK
BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald

BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, April &C. 1907.
Santiago has not advanced like other Gu
ban cities since independence 1t is very
much cleaner than it used to be- but there
are no conspicuous improvements Before
the war it was one OF the worst pest holes
in the world, hot bed of yellow fever and
other epidemics, and half buried under the
: filth of ages. Gen. Wood cleaned it up
exterminated microbes and mosquitoes and
MADE it possible for human beings to live
here. Today it is as healthy as any city
in the tropics, although it is the hottest
town in Cuba and has the worst climate
so that ordinary people can live here in
safety and comfort.
The chief objects of interest that have
appeared since the war are a model school
house built by Gen Wood with funds fur
nished by Mr.. Henry l.. Higginson of Bos-
ton on hill overlooking the town and
memorial tablet to commemorate the mas
sacre OF the crew of the steamer Virginius
IN 1858. They are as attractive to visitors
as Hobsons prison and the old opera house
where Adellna Patti made her debut. The
model schOOlhouSe was intended as an OH
ject lesson to the Cubans but it has not
accomplished its mission. Santiago is not
an educational center, and there is very
little to encourage hope of better things
from the coming eneration, although the
first school in America was established
mere i'll 1522 by order of Pope Adrian VI.
The Virginius Massacre.
The Eirginius tragedy. as you remember,
created profound sensation at the time,
and came very near provoking war be-
tween the United States and Spain thirty
years ago. A party of American filibusters
under the command OF Capt Fry were
cruising around Cuba looking for favor
able place to land, when they were over
hauled and captured by d Spanish gun
Eoat. The Nirsinius taken to San
tlago and, on November 1, 1913, forty
members of the crew, including Can't FRY
were shot in cold blood. The British gov
eminent interviewed and prevented the exc
cutloh OF the remainder of the party. who
We're finally surrendered to the United
States. That was the beginning of what
Is known as the ten years war" against
Spanish authority in Cuba, but it was not
until after the evacuation of Santiago and
the occupation of that city by the United
states army that the Cuban patriots could
commemorate the martyrdom of the Vir-
glnlus party. AS soon as possible, however
they erected a tablet on the wall of a
slaughter house. where the execution took
place with this insignificant inscription:
You who pass this place uncover your
nead. rms is consecrated ground. For
thirty years it has been blessed by the
blood of patriots sacrificed in the cause of
freedom
On the summit of San Juan Hill and at
FL Caney granite shafts have been erected
as the inscription reads:
In memory of the officers and men of
the United States army who were killed
In the assault and capture of this ridge,
July to July 16. 1898. War between Spain
and the United States
Santiago Battle Park.
The battlefields are now a public rark
and are reached by an excellent road from
the city in a drive of half an hour or so.
The ceiba tree. beneath which Gen. Toral
sure ndered the city to Gen. Shafter, July
Il, 1898. is protected by an iron railing. so
that Vandals cannot carry it off. The guides
who conduct parties of tourists to the bat
tlefield tell very entertaining stories of the
events which occurred there. They point
out a log on which Cen. Shafter sat when
negotiating the terms of capitulation and
they show the footprints left on the sands
of time by Lieut.. Col Theodore Roosevelt
when he charged up the steep slope to cap
ture the Spanish fortiticatons. Down on
the coast of Peru is another remarkable
phenomenon. From the decks of passing
ships may be seen three enormous impress
sions in the surface Of a rock precisely like
those of a human foot and pious natives
will tell YOU that they mark the place where
the Apostle St. James aiigAtcd when he
came down from Heaven to rescue PiZarro
and his men from a tight place in which
they We're driven by the Incas. If this
story is true the Apostle James, who is the
patron saint of the Spaniards~ must have
had very large foot for the imprints
measure nearly sixty inches. The imprint
left on the slopes of San Juan by the bro
gans of Lieut.. Col. Roosevelt are not SO
mighty, but they are quite as important.
No one who knew the gallant and genial
hat
ceiba tree-''The Tree of Peace"-without
recalling his thoughtfulness in the midst of
tumultuous war for the interest of his con-
stituentS in the eighth district of Alabama
He always carried with him a full list of
the voters of that district and never failed
to send every one of them some remem-
brance every year in the shape of an ag
ricultural report, a congressional directory
or an obituary address. --fter the surrender
he undertook to send each of them leaf
from the tree under which peace was con-
Guided, and he sent out four oderlies with
coffee sacks to gather up the foliage within
a radius of three miles. Those leaves are
now cherished as sacred things in the
eighth congressional district Of Alabama.
Railway Discrimination.
The natives attribute the lack Of progress
at Santiago to the hostility of Sir William
Van Horne who is accused of having
threatened to ruin the city. He is said to
have declared that before he got through
with Santiago Ito rent signs would be
hanging on half the houses and stores in
town. There has been serious incompatI
biity between the empire builder and the
proud hidalgoes from the start. and with
out going into details, or attempting to
judge of the merits of the controversy, it
has been Improbable for both sides Sir
William has built cutoff for his railroad
to the Bay of Nipe, on the north side of
the island, in order to divert trade from
Santiago, and the people of this city are
IL 1l,t 1,4ry -, -,
way.
Sir William also proposes to. build
branch line from the station of Alto Cedro
on his railroad to the port of ManZanillo, on
the south coast of Cuba, which will also
diminish the Importance of Santiago.
The Cuban Eastern Railway Company, of
which Mr. G. V. Sims, formerly of Iowa. is
president and general manager and the
Knickerbocker Trust Company of New
York is the financial hacker, is building sew
eral short lines at the eastern end of the
u