Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1918-08-23
CHAPTER XHl-Continued.

CHAPTER xllI-continued.
~
Vt inferred as much from what Lo-
PEE told me-" The general nodded his
white head. "Well, you'll make a good
soldier, and we shall be glad to have
you" He extended his hand, and
O'Reilly took 1t gratefully.
The city Of Matanzas was "pacifed."
So rah the boastful bando of the cap
tain general. And this was no exag-
Egeration, as anyone could e from
THE number Of beggars there. OF all
his military operations, this "pacifica-
tion" of the western towns and prov
tnces was the most conspicuously sue
cessful and the n which gave Valeri-
ano Weyler the keenest satisfaction ;
for nowhere did the rebellion lift its
head-except, perhaps, among the
ranks Of those disaffected men who hid
In the hills, with nothing above them
but the open sky. AS for the popula-
fion at large, 1t was cured of treason !
ut no longer resisted, even weakly, the
law Of Spain. The reason was that 1t lay
dying. Weyler's cure was simple, eff
cacious-it consisted of determination,
swift and pitiless.
Poverty had been common in Matan-
Eas, even before the war, but now
there were so many beggars in the
city that nobody undertook to count
them. When the refugees began to
pour in by the thousands, and when
1T became apparent that the govern
Iment intended to let them starve, the
better citizens undertook an effort at
relief; but times were hard, food was
scarce, and prices high. Moreover, 1t
soon t%ransplred that the military
drowned upon everything like organ
lied charity, end in consequence the
newcomers were, perforce, abandoned
Ito their own devices. These country
people were dumb and terrified at the
misfOrtunes which had overtaken
them /; they wandered the streets in
aimless bewilderment, fearful Of what
blow might next befall. They were
not used to begging, and therefore
they did not often implore aims; but
all day long they asked for work, for
bread, that their little ones might live
Work, however, was even scarcer than
food, and the time soon came when
they crouched upon curbs and door
steps, hopeless, beaten, silently re-
tproachful Of those more fortunate
than they. Their eyes grew big and
hollow; their outstretched hands grew
gaunt and skinny. The sound of weep
ing women and fretting babies be
came a common thing to hear.
Dogs and cats became choice articles
J OF diet, until they disappeared. The
government did supply one quality Of
food, however; at intervals, 1t distrib
uted yucca roots. But these were
starchy and almost indigestible. From
eating them the children grew pinchet
In limb and face, while their abdomens
bloated hugely. Matanzas became
peopled with a race Of g%rotesquely
, misshapen little folks, gnomes witt
young bodies, but with faces old ant
sick.
OF course disease became epidemic
/ for In the leaky novels, dirt-flooret
\ and destitute of any convenience, there
could be no effort at sanitation. Con
J ditions became unspeakable. The chill
dren died first, then the aged and IN
firm. Deaths in the street were no
! uncommon; nearly every morning bod
les were found beneath the portales
/ Starving creatures crept to the mar
/ ket in the hope OF begging a stray bi
of food, and some of them died there
between the empty stalls. The dealt
! wagons, heavy with their daily freight
rumbled' ceaselessly through tn,
streets. adding to the giant piles o
unbur.ed corpses outside the city.
Typhoid, smallpox, yellow fever
/ ragged unchecked. The hospitals wer
crowded, and even In them the com
\ monest necessities were lacking. 1t 1
| believed that men have returned iron
the grave, but no one, either Spaniar,
,or Cuban, had ever been known t
return from n Of these pesthouses
! esd, IN consequence. those who yer,