From Yauco to Las Marias - Karl Stephen Herrman
[Illustration: A Ruined Church along our Line of March.]
[Illustration: A Puerto Rican Laundry.]
It was the custom whenever a peasant died to carry the corpse to the
cemetery in a coffin hired at transient rates, and then, having dumped the
deceased into a shallow grave, to return what is facetiously known as the
"wooden overcoat" to its original owner, for further service. This was bad
enough, considering the danger of infection thus engendered; but much worse
remains behind. It seems that the plot of ground reserved for dead paupers
was very circumscribed. So it had become necessary to bury four or five
bodies in the same hole, the last one in being perhaps no more than six
inches from the light of day. And, as if this state of affairs were not
already sufficiently horrible, we found that the congestion was sometimes
still further relieved by a wholesale emptying of graves, the bones thus
removed being thrown into some adjacent corner above ground, where they lay
undisturbed in the hot sunshine and smelt to heaven. This ghastly practice
was summarily stopped.
* * * * *
If you will take a map of Puerto Rico and cut off the western section by
drawing a line from Guanica through Lares to Camuy, you will see at once
the extent of the territory brought under American control by General
Schwan. The principal towns of this section, in addition to those already
described, are Aguadilla, Maricao, Anasco, Cabo Rojo, Lares, and Las
Marias; but none of these places are important enough to call for detailed
notice, with the possible exception of the first-named. This city,
Aguadilla, while it has a population of only 5,500, is notable as being the
most picturesque town on the entire island. It is the capital and port of
the surrounding district; and, though the climate is hot, it is remarkably
healthful. The site is a stretch of shore facing Mona Channel, between
Cape Borinquen and the Rio Culebrinas. Directly behind rises the steep
green-crested Jaicoa Mountain, its slopes covered with orange, lemon, and
palm trees in bewildering profusion; while half-way to the summit there
gushes forth a fairylike, crystal stream, which flows directly through the
town before emptying into the bay. An antique church and a little fort of
11 guns, called Conception, add to the scenic beauty of the picture, when
viewed from the sea. Tourists will probably spoil this lovely town before
the end of another decade, but at present it is a quivering page of
romance.
[Illustration: On the Road to Lares.]
[Illustration: The Best Outfit in our Wagon Train.]
Of the facilities for transportation in this part of Puerto Rico, it may
be said that they are either extremely good or extremely bad. The former
condition prevails generally in the valleys, and the latter among the hills
toward the interior. There are several interrupted lines of railroad, and
burros are used to a considerable extent by the inland planters; but far
the greater part of communication and carriage is accomplished by way of
the sea.
Labor here, as elsewhere in the tropics, is to be had very cheaply, but is
uncertain, sluggish, and dishonest. A man for plantation work can be hired
for almost nothing a day, but he will not earn even that unless he is
driven at the point of a machete. The local peon desires to toil no longer
than is necessary to obtain the bare wherewithal to fill his belly. Then
he dreams away the remainder of the day, smoking the eternal cigarette;
perhaps rousing himself sufficiently to pick the strings of a guitar in the
cool of the evening--and this, at least, the beggar does well. He is not
at all ambitious to improve his condition, and he will never be any better
than he is to-day. Probably he will be much worse. He will cut throats and
burn haciendas all the gay year round if he is not allowed to gang his ain
gait. We are going to reform him, of course; but--the day will come when
we shall be ashamed to look Spain in the face. In Cuba this man's brothers
were known as "patriots"; which meant that they were soldiers when there
was any work to be done, and laborers when fighting was on hand. In my
opinion, they are vicious beasts.
The cost of living naturally hinges upon the price of labor; and so one
may eat and drink in Puerto Rico for a trifle more than a song. Fruit and
vegetables are cheap and plentiful, though flour is so costly as to be
almost a luxury; while the meats are neither low in price nor good in
quality. Excellent fowls are to be had for very little money. Milk is dear
and dangerous; butter is only known as it appears in cans from Denmark; and
all the other dairy products are of the meanest description. Still, one can
live with pleasure and comfort upon the many peculiarly native articles of
subsistence in common use.
[Illustration: "Promenade of the Fleas" in Yauco.]
[Illustration: When only One Man gets a Letter.]
Rents are low, but satisfactory houses are seldom to be had when they are
wanted.
There is always room in the hotels of the larger towns; and, until one can
build for himself, a hotel offers a very pleasant substitute--at a slightly
increased expense. Land, for building purposes, or in an unimproved state,
can be leased for a sum that is almost nominal, except in a few highly
favored localities. Purchasers of land are more than likely to find
themselves immediately embroiled in a lawsuit over the title. If no flaw
exists in your title, then it does exist in one that was drawn up a hundred
years ago; and in either case the result is the same--you lose.
Skilled workmen in any branch of industry will not find a good field for
their abilities in Puerto Rico, at least not for a few years to come. If
there were any demand for their services,--which there isn't,--they would
not be able to command anything approaching the standard of wages usual in
the United States.
To the investor, dairy farms, ice-plants, transportation schemes, and
bar-rooms offer tempting possibilities,--I reserve agriculture for separate
consideration,--but it cannot be too forcibly emphasized that plenty of
money, good-health, patience, and a smattering of the Spanish language are
absolutely indispensable requisites to the foreigner trying to do business
on this island.
[Illustration: The "Weary Travellers' Spring," near Anasco.]
[Illustration: A Crude Sugar Mill near Las Marias.]
CHAPTER X
The End of the Campaign
_Arrival of the mail-steamer_--_The soldier-boy and his letters_--_The
greater part of the brigade is quartered in Mayaguez_--_Agriculture
in Puerto Rico_--_Material result of our campaign_--_A farewell
order_--_General Schwan departs for the United States_.
On the 19th of August a steamer came into the harbor, bringing us a mail,
the first we had received since the beginning of July. If the people who
wrote those letters could have seen the happiness they wrought upon their
distant boys, I am sure they would have been surprised and touched. Again
and again we read the simple news of home,--the cat was dead, or little
sister had the mumps, or father had built a new fence around the back
pasture,--and wars and kings and presidents faded into forgetfulness before
the heart to heart talks that had come from over-seas.
I don't suppose there is anybody that knows the value of a letter better
than a soldier does. A few blotted lines from his mother or sister or
sweetheart are meat and drink and fine raiment for his soul. He feels brave
again and good again and--homesick again. He makes life a burden for the
whole camp until he has borrowed or stolen a scrap of paper and a stubby
pencil wherewith to make reply. He sits down in some convenient spot, with
emotion fairly oozing from every pore, and for a solid hour he wrestles
with his tools and vocabulary. The result probably does not altogether
please him. He feels that he has said too much about his lack of socks,
the toughness of his fare, the flatness of his purse. All the love and
tenderness he meant to set down have somehow refused to leave him, even in
description. But he knows he will be massacred if he goes howling for more
paper; and so he sends off what he has written, counting the weary days
until his answer comes. The man who first invented writing was, without
doubt, the greatest man that ever lived.
[Illustration: A very Popular Spot.]
[Illustration: Two Knights and a Pawn.]
On August 25 it was decided to bring all but four companies of the brigade
into quarters at Mayaguez, chiefly because a great deal of sickness had
begun to spring up in the outlying camps. This was accordingly done.
* * * * *
Scientific agriculture and prosperity have long been regarded as almost
synonymous terms in Puerto Rico.
The provincial government established and maintained an experimental
station at Rio Piedras, for the purpose of promoting a technical knowledge
of the native soil-products; and the results of this step have proved
invaluable. The recent director of the station, Senor Fernando Lopez Tuero,
wrote, while in office, several monographs on tropical agriculture; which I
have been at some pains to translate in my search for absolutely reliable
information relating to that subject. Senor Tuero is considered, to be a
high and conservative authority by those of his compatriots who are best
able to judge; and I feel confident that the following estimates are
nearly, if not entirely, correct:--
The chief agricultural products of the island are cotton, rice, cacao,
corn, cocoanuts, pepper, bananas, tobacco, vegetable dyes, coffee, sugar,
pineapples, and vanilla. Of all these I shall only pause to deal here with
the last four.
Coffee and sugar are regarded by the Puerto Ricans as their most valuable
crops. The first takes six years to come into full bearing, and during this
time will cost an expense of about 162 pesos an acre, with a return in the
last year of 86 pesos an acre,--a net deficit for the full period of 76
pesos. Afterward the expense should be about 66 pesos an acre, and the
return 90 pesos. Sugar requires a heavy investment at the start. A
plantation of 250 acres, together with the necessary buildings and
machinery, will call for about 52,500 pesos. The total cost of a crop, from
beginning to end, should be 152 pesos an acre, and the return about 170.
A pineapple plantation, for the investor of limited means, ought to prove
profitable and encouraging. The first year of cultivation will produce a
crop, at a final cost of 40 pesos an acre, including the land-rent. The
return is put down at 200 pesos, leaving a gorgeous net profit of 160
pesos. It would seem perhaps that under such circumstances it is odd that
there is not a more general raising of this fruit by the local planters;
but the reason for an apparent neglect of a golden opportunity lies in
the difficulties heretofore encountered in finding swift and adequate
transportation from field to market. With this handicap removed there is
little doubt that pineapple-growing will become a tempting industry.
The vanilla bean, however, is king-pin of the list in the claim of profit
to be derived from its culture. It is said that the yearly cost of raising
the crop will be 94 pesos an acre, chiefly for manure and irrigation. And
the annual return for every acre is figured at 652 pesos,--a net profit
that is fairly dazzling.
While all these details--which I have digressed so many times to give--do
not properly form a part of the story of our campaign, yet it is by
no means unusual for one who has put his hand into a grab-bag to look
carefully and well at the prize withdrawn. And that is what I have been
doing.
The material result of General Schwan's campaign may be briefly summarized
thus: He marched his command ninety-two miles in eight days; fought two
successful engagements; expelled the Spanish forces from the entire western
part of Puerto Rico; captured and occupied nine towns; and took 362
prisoners, including Colonel Villeneuve, a lieutenant-colonel, and four
other regular officers. In addition he seized 450 stands of arms, 145,000
rounds of ammunition, and ten thousand dollars in silver coin. His loss was
1 killed and 16 wounded against a total of 20 killed and 50 wounded on the
side of the enemy.
On August 27 the general issued a farewell order to his brigade, from which
I briefly quote:--
"On relinquishing his command to return to the United States, the
brigadier-general commanding desires to congratulate, and to return his
heartfelt thanks to, the officers and soldiers of the regular brigade for
their achievements and excellent conduct during the last eighteen days....
Our troops have continued to hold their advanced positions and outposts
until now, when, peace being assured, all but a small fraction have been
brought to comparatively comfortable barracks near this city. The hardships
endured on the march and at these outposts have been great.... But these
hardships have been cheerfully borne by officers and men. Not a murmur has
been heard, despite the fact that nearly one-fourth of the strength of most
organizations is on sick-report, their ailments being directly caused by
the exposure incident to this campaign.
"Less than three weeks have been occupied by the campaign, yet a bond of
sympathy between officers and soldiers has been established that years of
peace could not have engendered."
On the following morning, accompanied by Lieutenant G.T. Summerlin, his
aide-de-camp, General Schwan left Mayaguez for Ponce, where he boarded the
transport "Chester," and returned to the United States.
The campaign of the Independent Regular Brigade was thus brought to an
official end.
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF BRIGADIER-GENERAL SCHWAN.
Theodore Schwan was born in Germany, July 9, 1841. He received his earlier
education in the preparatory schools of his native land, but came to the
United States when he was about sixteen years old. He enlisted as a
private in the Tenth Infantry on June 12, 1857; and served successfully
as corporal, sergeant, first sergeant, and quartermaster-sergeant until
October 31, 1863, when he received his commission. He was made a first
lieutenant, Tenth Infantry, April 9, 1864; regimental quartermaster in
December, 1864; a captain, March 14, 1866; a major, Eleventh Infantry,
and assistant adjutant-general, July 6, 1886; a lieutenant-colonel and
assistant adjutant-general, February 19, 1897; a colonel and assistant
adjutant-general, May 18, 1898. Two weeks before his last promotion in
the regular army he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and in
accordance with the Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1899, he will retain
that rank until July 1, 1901. He was brevetted several times during the
War of the Rebellion, and his whole military career, covering a period of
forty-two years, is absolutely devoid of blemish.
APPENDIX
I
The following officers received distinguished mention in General Schwan's
reports, for service rendered under fire during the campaign in western
Puerto Rico:--
Lieutenant-Colonel Burke, Eleventh Infantry.
[A] Major Gilbreath, Eleventh Infantry.
Captain P.M.B. Travis, Eleventh Infantry.
Captain R.W. Hoyt, Eleventh Infantry.
Captain A.L. Myer, Eleventh Infantry.
Captain Penrose, Eleventh Infantry.
Captain Macomb, Fifth Cavalry.
Acting Assistant Surgeon Savage.
Lieutenant Odon Gurvoits, Eleventh Infantry.
Lieutenant T.F. Maginnis, Eleventh Infantry.
Lieutenant Alexander, Eleventh Infantry.
Lieutenant Wells, Eleventh Infantry.
Lieutenant W.S. Valentine, Fifth Cavalry.
Lieutenant Rogers F. Gardner, Third Artillery.
[Footnote A: Died of apoplexy on August 22, 1898, while in camp near Las
Marias.]
In addition to those named above, special and valuable efficiency was
displayed by Major E.A. Root, engineer; Major H.H. Benham, ordnance; Major
Egan, brigade-surgeon; Captain Buchanan, Collector-of-the-Port at Mayaguez;
Captain Davison, brigade-quartermaster; Captain Hutcheson, assistant
adjutant-general; and Captain Elkins,[A] Lieutenant Byron, and Lieutenant
Summerlin, aides-de-camp.
[Footnote A: Wounded at battle of Hormigueros.]
II
In connection with the present writer's expressed opinion regarding the
relative practical value of regulars and volunteers in modern warfare, the
following excerpt from the Chicago _Record_ of November 3, 1898, is worth
reading.
Captain Avid Wester, the Swedish officer who accompanied the American army
in Cuba, in order to study the war, has just returned to Sweden. During
his stay in Gothenburg he was interviewed, and he seems now to have a more
sympathetic view of the Americans--the volunteers excepted--than former
reports indicated. Captain Wester greatly praised the treatment he had
received from all the American officers, and the bravery of the Americans
in the regular army. "Of the 18,000 men under the command of General
Shafter," he says, "only 4,000 were volunteers or militiamen; the rest
consisted of regulars, which had had an average service of six years on the
borders of the Indian territory. They were very good and well-disciplined
soldiers, who went into battle with complete disregard of death. The
militia regiments, however, could not be got within range of the Spanish
bullets, and all the stories about the heroism of volunteers are untrue.
The only volunteers who distinguished themselves were the 'rough riders,'
who, in spite of their name, fought on foot, but these men were not a
militia regiment. The troop consisted of cowboys and adventurers, who cared
neither for life nor death, but rushed blindly into battle. Brave fellows
withal." After praising the bravery of the Spaniards and the accuracy of
their fire, Captain Wester expresses the belief that with modern rifles in
use it is of the greatest importance to have well-trained soldiers, who
in the heat of battle retain their coolness and listen to their officers'
directions and commands,--in a word, soldiers who retain good firing
discipline. This, he says, cannot be expected of men with short time of
training, on whom the din of battle often has so paralyzing an effect that
the soldier can neither hear nor see.
III
The question concerning the quality of the beef served as a ration to our
troops during the recent war--in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and aboard the
transports--has already been pretty thoroughly answered, one way or the
other. Yet, though the topic is worn nearly threadbare and admittedly has
nothing in particular to do with General Schwan's campaign, I venture to
make, in this place, a personal contribution to the discussion in the form
of an extract from a letter, written by me from Mayaguez on September 15,
1898.
Our rations [on the transport "Comanche"] consisted of hard tack, coffee,
canned baked-beans, canned tomatoes, and canned "roast beef." Before we
arrived at Key West the baked-beans had all been eaten and the water in the
tanks had gone rotten--we carried no condenser--so that we were reduced to
the rather monotonous diet of tomatoes for breakfast, tomatoes and canned
roast beef for dinner, and tomatoes again for supper; with a full allowance
of coffee and hard tack at all three meals.
Anybody will be able to understand that we were pretty hungry at the end of
the second day. We were thirsty too--I paid as much as fifty cents for a
glass of ice-water from the cabin--but I will skip the mass of details. We
had seen the piles of neat cans, labelled "roast beef," stacked up on the
dock at Port Tampa, and we were impatient for the first mess-call that
made us acquainted with the contents of those cans. I regret that I cannot
adequately describe to you the appearance of the stuff. I will simply say
that it looked filthy, was covered with a sort of slime, and emitted a
nauseous odor. It was very hard to even gaze at it and remain unmoved,
but we did more than that--we tried to eat it. I managed to swallow three
mouthfuls and immediately became wretchedly sick. The example seemed to be
popular.
On the succeeding day we were each given an unopened can of the meat, which
was supposed to last us for twenty-four hours. Most of the men threw their
portions overboard at once; a few packed away the "corpse"--as we already
called it--for purposes of trade with the unsophisticated Cubans; and I
kept my can as a souvenir. I did not, however, keep it long; for, chancing
to drop it upon the deck, the contents exploded with a distinct report,
startling me not a little and covering my person with the debris. At the
time I thought this experience was going to be altogether unique, but I
discovered afterward that the same thing happened in a great many other
instances.
Having abandoned the beef, we were forced to subsist on hard tack and
tomatoes for the rest of the voyage, and hailed with joy our anchorage at
Daiquiri. But we were too previous. During our ten days' stay in Cuba we
found the "corpse" still waiting for us in the mess, and we carried the
ghastly burden along when we finally steamed away for Puerto Rico.
We landed at Guanica on the 25th of July, which meant that we had been
half-starved for twenty-two days. We had forgotten the "Maine" and would
have greeted Weyler himself with a glad sweet smile, had he come bearing in
his hands food fit for a human being. Once more disembarked, we lost sight
of the canned roast beef for good--save at extremely rare intervals while
on the march. We found no difficulty in eating the beef obtained from
Puerto Rican steers, although it was tough and bloodless; and we received
salt pork often enough to furnish variety.
After the cessation of hostilities we began to get American beef instead of
the native article, and, while it was by no means so impossible a food as
its canned cousin, it certainly could not be called delicious. It smelled
badly before it was cooked, was rigid and stringy when served, and had a
rank taste, like--well like nothing else on earth. Our sick-list doubled at
this time.
IV
A list of the killed and wounded on the American side, at the battle near
Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, on the 10th of August, 1898.
_Killed_.
Fred Fenneberg, private in Company "D," Eleventh Infantry.
_Wounded_.
Lieutenant J.C. Byron, Eighth United States Cavalry, R.D.C.
John Bruning, corporal in Light Battery "D," Fifth Artillery.
George Curtis, private in Light Battery "D," Fifth Artillery.
Samuel G. Frye, private in Light Battery "D," Fifth Artillery.
Willard H. Wheeler, sergeant in Company "A," Eleventh Infantry.
Joseph P. Ryan, corporal in Company "A," Eleventh Infantry.
Arthur Sparks, private in Company "C," Eleventh Infantry.
John L. Johnson, corporal in Company "D," Eleventh Infantry.
J.A. Sanders, private in Company "D," Eleventh Infantry.
Harry E. Arrick, private in Company "E," Eleventh Infantry.
Henry Gerrick, private in Company "E," Eleventh Infantry.
Paul F. Mitzkie, private in Company "E," Eleventh Infantry.
William Rossiter, private in Company "G," Eleventh Infantry.
Lemuel P. Cobb, private in Company "I," Eleventh Infantry.
D.J. Graves, private in Company "M," Eleventh Infantry.
Amos Wilkie, corporal in Company "M," Eleventh Infantry.
_Injured_.
Frank Muller, private in Company "E," Eleventh Infantry.
Augustus H. Ryan, private in Company "F," Eleventh Infantry.