The Ordway new era., 1918-11-15


pez told me-" The general nodded his
white head. "Well, you'll make good
soldier, and we shall be glad to have
you" He extended his hand. and
o'Rellly took 1t gratefully.
The city of Matanzas was 'pacified."
So ran the boastful bando of the cap
tain general. And this was no eIhg-
geration, us anyone could see from
the number of beggars there. OF all
his military operations. this ''pac!fica-
tlon" of the western towns and prov
tnces was the most conspicuously sue
cessful and the one which gave Vnleri-
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-
don at large, 1t was cured Of treason
It no longer resisted, even weakly. the
law Of Spain The reason was that 1t lay
dying. Weyler's cure was simple, effi-
cncious-lt consisted of determination,
swift and pitiless.
Poverty had been common In Matan-
xas, 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
It became apparent that the govern
ment 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 transpired that the military
fruwned upon everything like organ
lied charity. and in consequence the
newcomers were. perforce. abandoned
to their own devices. These country
people were dumb and terrified at tie
miafortunes which had overtaken
then; they wandered the streets in
aimIess 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-
proachful 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
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 pinched
In limb and face, while their abdomens
bloated hugely. Matanzas became
peopled with a race of grotesquely
misshnpen little folks. gnomes with
young bodies. but with faces old and
dck.
OF course disease became epidemic.
for in the lcaky novels. dirt-foored
and destitute Of any convenience. there
could be no effort at sanitation. Con-
ditions became unspeaknble. The chill
dren died first, then the aged and In
firm. Deaths In the street were not
uncommon; nearly every morning bod
les were found beneath the portales.
Starving creatures crept to the mnr-
ket in the hope Of begging stray bit
of food, and some of them died there.
between the empty stalls. The death
wagons, heavy with their daily freight,
rumbled ceaselessly through the
streets, adding to the giant piles Of
unburled corpses outside the city.
Typhoid. smallpox, yellow fever,
ragged unchecked. The hospitals were
crowded. and even in them the com
monest necessities were lacking. 1t is
believed that men have returned from
the grave. but no one, either Spaniard
or Cuban, hnd ever been known to
return from one Of these pesthouses.
and, In eonseassaes, those who wsre