Show i OUR CUBAN LETTER havana cuba march 9 1898 it is beyond the power of pen to portray the change which the red cross has wrought among the suffering in cuba not only in the capital jias has disease and starvation been checked in their wild career but all over the island its beneficent arm has extended A fortnight ago 60 tons of food was sent by boat from the havana warehouses to cienfuegos Clen fuegos twenty five tons will come this week direct from new ark to matanzas also 25 tons to santiago a large amount to carlenus Car lenas and a fair proportion to other places already the destitute in 40 towns and villages are regularly in recel receipt lyt of rations and still the good work goes on from province to province as last fast as lists can cam he be made out and supplies dispatched under the regula regulations tigas necessary to prevent frauds fully people are being fed in habana in matanzas Matan in jaruco haruco and so on in like proportion yet the demand to is as aa great as ever and should the supplies liea cease even for one week starvation and death would resume their awful carnival indefatigable miss barton ably seconded by her aldes aides is working with tire tireless Jess energy going from town to town investigating cases and establishing new stations for the tion of relief while her corps of 0 phay and nurses have their gearu and hands full with the canes of the sick let no one imagine that th tide of suf suffer ferine iner is staid alt that hab haa been accomplished is but as a drop ilk a an ocean of misery day by day new neve wails come up from yet unvisited districts and fresh cases of appalling 1 dae are brought to td light for example yesterday I 1 visited in unofficial capacity capa pity as an I 1 am not a a member of the red cross two villages in the province of habana the first little town called arroyo de narana la is about 20 miles by railway from the capital a most picturesque place bt now mow terribly poor the 1000 frados detained within its borders hy b half as many soldiers have as yet received no aid the second village calabazar Cala bazar to Is even smaller and but with corralled within it and a laree lare e number of span lah ish sold soldiers lers to prey upon the impoverished country like grasshoppers on kansas field such harrowing tales that were told us such pitiful sights as aft we saw it was always the familiar story of people driven by wellers Wey lers or ders from comfortable homes in the country to herd within the fortifications where there was nothing to eat and no work to do one middle arm aged man with tears streaming down we hla furrowed cheeks said that his wife and four children had died of hunger and mi sirie sirle and aad his own fearfully a 61 len feet and emaciated frame tola ft pitiful tale of starvation one young youg woman with a puny baby in her anna and another tugging at her skirt said that her husband owned a small awn L tation four leagues away they were in comfortable circumstances but it happened that her husband wa asa in with feaver when the soldiers soldier e cante and ordered them to instantly leave the place preparing to tire fire the house h t once she begged for atme to bere rere the sick man and and collect some ot of ahr clot clothes hec and the holdi soldiers eft told fold her oaths and jeers aers to be ehte th hastened to obey the IF was carried out aut and nd laid on th ly 11 tire the oe b ohp awe bad back 1 to bring a avay afe st 06 the bomea so sad and eth en 96 06 all was lost the oldest child was then but a week old and the family were ere thrown almost naked upon the world to subsist upon charity as best beat they could the boy in her husbands employ was killed with the machete before her eyes tor for what reason she did not know we say many children without a living relative and in one house a number of old women cowering in the corner like frightened animals their husbands and sons having all been killed we intended to take a coach from arroyo Naranjo de to cal abajar a distance of perhaps one league but the spanish army had appropriated all the horses and there was no alternative but to walk As we were starting the spanish commandant met us a young fellow who happened to be a gentleman and courteously tendered us an escort of soldiers when we declined the honor saying that we felt no fear he politely but firmly forbade us to go without the escort sald said he you dont know what you are undertaking one or two persons might possibly go unmolested but there axe are too many of you our party had been increased by several acquaintances quain at naranjo your correspondent being the only american soldiers were stationed all along the way on to prevent the passing of pax parties ties you will surely be taken for insurrectionists or spies or fired on from the forts farther oft off we saw the philosophy of the shot faun and concluded to accept the escort thereupon the command ante dispatched a message post haste to summon a squad of soldiers and another on the run to notify the little forts alosie the line that we were not to be molested at last we set out a funny cavalcade with two ladles ladies in the center soldiers to the right of us wol soldiers diers to the left of us marching down the middle of the dusty road under the burning sun how feeble and hungry the alleged guards looked boys in their teens in their blue cotton suits and straw hats if it came to a conflict with fists every one of us could have vanquished half a dolfen of the dispirited fellows but each was a walking arsenal with gun and knife and machete arriving at cala bazar the chains stretched across the i highway which served as a deadline dead line for the were removed the sentinels in the forts saluted as we passed and the escort straggled back on the weary way to naranjo later on returning by train to habana we learned the wisdom of the com man dantes precaution there had been skirmishing that day within a league of the town last visited the spaniards had not come oft off victorious and consequently were in unusually vicious moods and the lives of a party of af strangers cubans headed toward the recent scene of action would not have been worth much As it was we murmurs about american spies my harmless notebook came near getting us into serious trouble as it was sus pic pl cloned toned to contain a plan of the spanish fortifications fortunately the camera was left at home that day and for the first time in my life I 1 blessed my inability as an artist for otherwise I 1 I 1 should have been sketching some of those picturesque forts had such a picture been found upon me it Is doubtful if I 1 would now be writing this letter k los fossos that den of death in habana abana fl where a few weeks ago the were dying at the rate of a day has been trams transformed formed into ajo A tolerable leMble decent hospital thanks to the red cross paint soap and water have bave been without stint convenience have been added adde dand and physicians and nurses are in dally atten attendance dauee one who visits the place by day to Is profoundly fou nIly impressed by the improvement but eternal vigilance is the price of it or rather eternal scrubbing los loa fossos to la the general sleeping place for the whole of the army of beggars mostly dos doe who swarm the streets of havana by day seeking what they may devour at nightfall they drag themselves back with all their sores filth and infirmities to the only shelter they know soup is dispensed and they lie down and wait for another day of beggary then the pencil is worthy the pencil of dore wrapped in their rags and tatters some almost naked men women and children lie ae in long rows on the floor in the courtyard courtyard yard under the carts wherever a human body can find room many of them axe are orphaned children here and there a solitary little wretch alone in the weary world or a bevy of fatherless f and motherless brothers and sisters clinging to one another for protection tec tion but los fossos is infinitely better than it used to be since all are now tolerably sure cure of comet hing to eat at least once a day through the bounty of the united states formerly it was the morning task of the charitable to go about among the melancholy heaps of humanity and pick out the dead from the living taking dead children from the mothers arms or finding perhaps a dead mother with crying children crawling over her ae ars yes yea we shed shed them and they continue to flow day after af ter day but works are more to the purpose these poor souls demand sympathy and more than that they need substantial aid the red cross society continues to have more or less trouble with the spanish authorizes auth orites in cuba unexpected obstacles are constantly popping up like banquot ghost and delays are the order of the hour just now there is a kick in the custom house over an insignificant box of toys which would be regular godsend god send in the new orphanage it if the waifs waife could only get hold of them although spam spain subscribed to the treaty of geneva long before the united states came into the fold she has never expected the american amendment the terms of her treaty providing only for sick and wounded soldiers in time of war if it were riot not tor for the worlds opinion it to is doubtful it if she would admit the american red cross at all into her island colony since the cubans are about the only ones to be bene fitted for the orphanage just established miss barton leased a commodious house in a quiet suburb of havana a beautiful old fashioned casa with large airy rooms and ample grounds the once luxurious home ofa of a titled spaniard all was ready for the reception of seventy five orphans when the first hitch occurred unfortunately we had been speaking of it as the childrens because naturally rally all the stara ing waits are ailing just as the children were about to be moved in the alcaldi decided that it was against the law to establish a hospital outside of certain limits but after a few weeks delay the necessary papers were made out under the name of an asylum and things proceeded exactly as had been first intended only thirty five children between one and six years of age are there at present all full orphans mostly taken from los fossos many are too feeble from long continued hunger to sit up and a number of them will probably die when they first entered the stately portals and saw the marble floors and beautiful frescoes of the old time palace their delight and astonishment was unbounded said one girl esta el clelo Is it heaven the work of preparing them for foil their new home was a tedious one for the nurses most of the waits had never been properly in their lives all were filthy beyond degree one boy of all ii years had never worn any sort of dar garment ment and 1 many had bad never before felt the touch of soap and warm water JL after all had bad passed under dundei the scrubbing brush and had be baud 6 li shorn of their tangled and populated locks they were arrayed to a garments of various sorts from a bag box of second hand clothing bearud the afan 81 agn of the united states Sta cited cross given a supper of oatmeal oat meal aad afta milk and put to bed about 9 ocl A I 1 went over to look at them it wa sight for angels to see the rows ot neat white cots each with its soot leM sheets and pillows and under the sott soft blanket a 9 sleeping child who had never before known the luxury of a cle cleab bed the beautiful but somewhat dilapidated cherubs on the fre frescoed ed walls seemed to look down with IVRY on the suffering worn cherubs below the fragrance of flowers floated to in through the windows the hallowed benediction of the moon rested all never in its pal days did the old casa of the spanish aristocrat so 0 richly merit the blessings of heaven the new orphanage is under the direct supervision of the well known dr A monae lesser and his wife of york city dr lesser lesaer as everybody knows is the surgeon in chief of law tb red cross hospital at new york tn only one in america I 1 believe wb was founded about four years abow 1 his wife then miss bettina hofker when a young girl this lovely aw lady be gan to nurse the poor in their bobee she found that love for the profession was not the only requirement of nf aft proper nurse and in she ah entered the mount sinai training school fw nurses in two years she was madu grad m adu abed received the prize medal of vf W hs class and immediately resumed resume hw former work mainly through SS her efforts within one month a little and was waa started tor for the establishment dt dc a hospital which quickie developed develop into that most beneficent institution ake new york red cross crose hospital SS ama training school for nurses doca do lesser leaves a large practice at haide h among the wealthy class of ow metropolis and of course his uni un labor of love in cuba to is financial a great loss to him but he is heart t and soul in the work and will remain hew until the orphanage is well under wy every afternoon he receives the BOOT for gratuitous treatment Althou although gb the institution is not yet a week old taley come by scores with all their woes boes and infirmities to await their turn in the consulting room the physicians in havana have ben beell cordially invited to operate cooperate co and meny lend their aid and counsel dr hubell miss bartons longtime long time atme right hand man is of course one of the red cross party also dr E winfield egan a well known young physician of boston who has accompanied no alsa barton on several previous expeditions and two or three other trusted assistants all giving their time and service gratuitously where does the money come from te Is there danger that the supplies alif give our are questions often asked to the latter I 1 can confidently i reply that the bounty will not fall if I 1 know my countrymen as long as pressing need continues As to the large QUO unla of money required a great deal has been contributed from various sources subscriptions started by newspapers funds raised in churches private dona nations etc the christian herald or of new york acting tor or the christi chriatian Chr tatian endeavor has promised to furner a month for six months misa barton herself has a considerable fortune every penny of which Is bonse crated to red cross wok whenever a new calamity requires her ad aad the she telegraphs the associated press that she iri 10 going and starts off at once and funds never rail to flow in ba she to is at the fore in many cases tl the i primary needs of man have had to tee bt supplied tools and materials bovah ii butting UP cabins also clothes bedding cooking utensils in 1 everything soon as she arrives on field she quickly sets to work to organizing orga mizing the men and 96 the ground into working committees her aids know just what auld be done first second third mid ad by their thorough system the most agent t needs of the suffering are provided for in the shortest possible time this accomplished the red cross com lE stays on weeks and months when necessary expending its money treely but judiciously co sus taeng helping the stricken and impoverished ed to begin life over again wo ve better illustration of the methods va ad magnificent bounty ot of the red crem has been afforded than in the A flood after that r horror the first train from the brought miss barton and 60 50 aides mth everything imaginable which ataman beings stripped of their all bould auld require establishing thern themselves selves fe 1 tents tenta they began to give out food A house bouge to house insect ins lon being set V that all ail might be provided so 80 hect and universal was public conice in the society that money and lies iea e came in such quantities that ts had to be erected to receive i the women of johnstown were ht together bowed to the earth Vt sorrow and bereavement and the responsible were formed into charged with |