Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / Jan. 26, 1899, edition 1 / Page 1
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D mocra BOONK WATAUGA COUNTY, N. C THUliSDAY, JAK U Alt Y 2(U899. tfO. IV. VOL. XI. 1 LETTER OF INTEREST. 1. 1. lowe, Secretary to Mejor Oener al Bate, of Ciraruego, Cuba, Writes. Special Correspondence. Cienfuegos, Cuba. Jan. 8. Believing that the good peo ple of Wntauga and Mitchell would appreciate some news from this quarter of t h e globe, I frtin will devote n few moments of my Uncle's timp to what I consider in the light, of both a pleasure and a duty. Not unexpected were the or ders from the War Depart ment as they came during the Christmas holidays to the Division Headquarters a t Macon, (la., and gladly were they received as the boys Were .all anxious to go to Cu ba. Tuesday, Dec. 27th, every thing ready for the journey. At 2 p. m., all on board the cars bound for Charleston, S. C, pn route for Cienfuegos, Cuba. W?Jnesdiy, Deo. 28th, ar rived in Charleston, and after remaining in town all day, Went, aboard the U. S. Trans port. Minnevvaska. It was the Trans-Atlantic liner, Persia, and was bought by the gov ernment at the beginning of the war, and converted into a transport. It is 492 feet long, and is the most sub stantial transport in the ser vice. Thursday, Dec. 29th. All is hurry and bustle on board the vessel. Stevedores load ing ship with every conceive- m able thing necessary lor a campaign in a toreign coun try; quartermaster'ssupplies hospital scorns, private bag gage for the officers, provis ions for the soldiers, guns and equipments, horses, mul es, wagons, ect., aggregating many million pounds, and all oit one ship. Its capac ity seems iuexhaustib'e. The 6th Ohio Volunteers . joined Division Headquarters at this point and are to ac company the movement. Major General .1. C. Bates, nnd staff are on board, den. Bates is to be the xMilitary Governor of the Province of Santa Clara. Weather very fine. Friday morning, Dec. 30t.h. The irorning broke clear and briaht. wPh slight wind from the east. During the night a case of pneumonia develop ed on board. Private Char les P. Dritrgs, 2nd Ohiol Vol unteers. He was spnt a share. A pieHseley 7 a. m., could feel a slight movement of the vensel. At 7:15. under a lull head of steam she is making out to sea. At 7:45 we are passing Fort Sump tor. The garrison are cheer ing. The wind is increasing, and the ship is going out ' across the bar. The shores of America are lessening in the distance. The last thing that we saw this morning was the Ions: rocky bar at the entrance to Charleston harbor. The land has long siuce disappeared. The sea is before us, the wide waste Seal At 1:30 a squall struck us iron our gtar-board quarter. causing a slight heaving o the vessel. As far as the eye can Bee the white caps are glistening in the sun-light, making a picture of surpass ing loveliness. Great schools of porpoise are sporting in the water a-lor.g side the ship, and occasionally the flying fish rise out of the wa ter and skim a-long above the water for quite a distance. Two ships sighted this af ternoon. Ship sailing (lead against the wind. Saturday, Dec. 81st. ltain fell this morningat4:30. The wind is blowing dead a head, causing the ship to heave. Some of the soldiers are suf faring with sea -sickness. This is our second day out, and as some of the knowiug ones say, about 400 miles from our starting place. There a re sixteen stewardesses from the Hospila' on board, going to Cuba to nurse the siek sold iers, if any are so unfortunate as to get sick. They are all nice appearing girls, and de serve great credit for their lives of self-sacrifice. They are nearly all catholic. The weather is as warm as sum mer. For the last two nights I have slept on deck with only one blanket. Sunday morning, Jan. 1st. Early this morning we sight ed the Island of San Salva dor. It is said to be the first land that was trod by the foot of white men in the west ern world. It lies low, and is as green as a garden. There is a light house on the upper extremity. There were sever al residences in sight; we were 8 or 10 miles away. At one o'clock we passed Crooked Island. It belongs to Great Britian. In a splen did grove of palms, is a light house. Agreatmanj islands dot this sea. Our course is south o f east. About five o'cIock, just as night was falling, we passed a light house on ickland island, and it was visible for two hours from the stern of the ship, We are miking about 14 knots an hour. A knot is a nautical 1erm, nnd is about VI miles. We are now enter ingthe Windward Passage. The wind is increasing and a slight rain falling. In the surge a long the side of the vessel, gleam beautiful phos phorescent lights called by sailors St. Elmo's fire. The same kind of lights were .ob servable, as the history shows, during the voyages o Columbus in these same wa ters during his first voyage. Monday, Jan. 2nd. At 2 a. m., we passed Cape Macey Light, the most eastern end ot Cuba. At daylight we are in sight of land on our star board quarter. Can see moun tains apparently 20 miles a- way. They are covered with clouds, indicating that they must be at least 1,500 or 2, 000 feet in height. At. 8 we changed our course to west. We are in the Carribean Sea. At 10 we came in sight of the iron pier where Gen. Shafter landed his first troops before the battle of Santiago. A bout two miles and a half further on is'Siboney. The balance of the troops were landed here, and inarched a cross the table-land, through cbapparal and thorny cacti, to win glorv or the grove in the trenches at El Caney and San Juan hill. We are now in sight of Mdr to Castle, at the entrance of the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, where Admiral Sanp- son and Ceryera ani his fleet bott led u last July. This is also the scene of Lieutenant Hobson's heroic attempt to close up the harbor by sink ing the Merrimac, which on ly met with partial success. li e could riot get a glimpse of the Merrimac, but under the very guns of the Morro, lies the Reina Mercedes .on her star-board side. On the morning of the battle all the Spanish vessels had cleared the harbor except the Beina Mercedes, and at precisely 9:15 the American fleet be gan firing, the Mercedes was sunk before getting out of the harbor. Then began a running sea fight. About 5 miles further on, the Almir ante Oqnendo is lying in a bout fifteen feet of water, and a" little further down, say two or three miles is the once proud Viscaya, lying in a little coye burnt to the wa ter's edge and rusty red, liv ing monuments of the stir ring times of just six months ago. A sad commentary on he pig-hendedness o f the Spanish nation, which led her into the error of goingto war with the greatest nation on earth, and as a conse quence has forever lost con trol of one of fairest portions of God's creation, the ''Gem of the Antilles." All day long we passed lof ty mountains rising abrupt ly from the sea. At 4:20 a small skirt of cloud spread its mantle oa the distant mountain, and a fine gray mist covered the landscape Tlain fell as far out as the ship. At night pale, orange colored lightning flashed on the southern horizon. At 7:30 we passed the light on the southern coast of Cuba. At 9 the light can be plainly seen. It is now nicKenng a bove the waves. At times it seems entirely gone, like a candle burning low in the so-jket, then again it. flares up bright and red like a bale ful star. Now it has gone down for the last time. It does not rc-appear, and we are in the darkness. We are in Manzinillo Bav. Here are the region of the south west tradwinds; the sea is rough and down below, among the horses and mules, the air is stifling hot. Let us sleep Tuesday, Jan. 3rd. wind still blowing, and a choppy sea; air full of flying mist. Wind dyingout toward noon. At 12:35 p. m., n.wing Cien fuegos. A t ooe o clock a flag was run to the masthead and pretty soon the pilot was seen corning in a little white skiff. Up the ladder springs the pilot, takes the ship's wheel and away we go into the narrow harbor. Aftar a- while it opens out and ba comes quite extensive. At 2:40 we dropped anchor, aud are now in the harbor of Ja- gua. On account of shallow water the ship cannot go to the docks. The city is wo miles away, but in fu'l view. It has a good water front, and . but for the shallow water would at some future day be a sea port of considerable import ance. Cienfuegos, (pronounced Thee en fugUs, hteraly means 'a hundred fires") was found ed in 1519, destroyed by a hurricane, and rebuilt in 1825. It is 189 miles south east of the harbor of Havana by railroad, and is united to the main railroad system of the island. It is located on the east side and midway of the harbor of Jagua, which the historian Las, Cases call ed "the most mairniflcent in the world ' it is certainly one of the most beautiful. It is commercially the most lm portant port of entry on the southern ooast. The town lis only about 3 feet above the sea at the water-front, and gradually slopes upward to ((out 75 feet. There is still higher ground, but not yet built up. The site of the town was once a mangrove swamp. The streets are wide, and while they are not paved, are well macadamized, and as hard as a bone. There are many mean, wooden frame houses, and as every where in Cuba the floors are level with the streets. The harbor is first class, and affords safe anchorage to vessel of the largest, class. It is about 11 miles long by from 3 to 5 miles in width. It is entered frorr the south by a narrow channel. It never gets cold here, Frost and snow are unknown. Except m the rainy reason one can sleep the year round in the open air. The climate is de iehtful. On the 4th day of January at 11:30 the auxiliary ciu izor, Mayflower, (Goelet's con verted yacht) lying in the harbor gave a salute of 13 euns in honor of 3en. Bates, and immediately we went a- shore. We got here too late to see the flag-raising, as that occurred the 1st. lam now a-shore. Every thing has a foreign aspect. Went into a Cafe' and had a cup of good coffee, the natives call it "caffae." I am getting on to their language, and they are Very anxious to learn to speak English. Ihey seem surprised to hear us call it English as they call it 'Americano." If you speak to one, and he does not un derstand you, he merely says, "no comprendre;" means he does not comprehend. Gen. Bates' headquarters are situated in what was once a swell hotel. The windows are large, so as to admit plenty of air. The panels in the doors are glass with rich etchings, representing Vari ous Spanish scenes and land scapes. The finer ones snow the shield and coat of arms of Spain. Everything is made of Mahogany wood. Even the docks and railroad tics are of the same material. It seems to be almost indestruct ible. Just across the street from headquarters is the Plaza, or public promenade, where all the pretty girls, and every one else a s to that mattei, go to promenade of an even ing. There are many pretty girls, called here 'Vnoritas" with a roll of the rs under the tongue, A Call for HaaaflMetii!g:. To the Voters of Watauga County: t The undersigned earnestly desiring to reflect the will of the majority of the people of the county in the enactment of h road law, does hereby re spectfully ask that a mass- meeting of the representative men of each township in the county, without regard to party or political affiliations assemble at the court house in Boone on theflrstMonday in February next, to consult together and agree, if possi ble, npon the legislation de sired in that behalt, and by petition, resolution or other wise, instruct ine, as your representative, as to the kind ot road law most desired by the people! and I do hereby earnestly invite correspond ence from the citizens of the county, upon the subject. Respectfully . W. B, CouncIll, Jr. x.. . M Bur .q 'ipr I The senoritas seem pleased when spoken to in their own tonirue by an American. Very few spak English, but seem anxious to learn it. If the houses are not built for benutv, they are at least built for comfort and that, is the main thing iu a hot cli mate. I expected to find the people much poorer than they are, nnd was agreeably surprised at the evidences of former wealth. Prices of everything to eat are very high; for instance eggs are worth 80c. per doz., and a common gauze under shirt sells for 1.50. Let our merchants take heed unto themselves lest they be left. Some of the Cubans are in telligent and fairly well edu cated, and all are extremely friendly to the Americans They seem to appreciate the disinterested friendship of the United States in its efforts to relieve them from an intoler able condition. A great ma nyare anxious for annexa ion, and predict such a state of things in the near future This is destined to be a great country. With more natural advantages, and few er disadvantages than any country I have ever seen in my humble opinion itcannot help being a great country. With the liberties of thecoun try secured the stain of offl cial corruption forever ban ished, and a constitution pro vided for the people of the is land, which will be a benefac tion to all who come within its protection, agriculture, commerce, and education wil go hand in hand being the brides-maids of toil, poverty and wretchedness will disap pear, and in its place wil come peace, happiness and the love of a country. This is quite enough for this time. With kind wishes to all, fiemain Very truly, T. L. Lowe. The PeSnv Mauazixe, New Ynrk. which is the lowesr-Driced nmrrflzine in America. (20 cents a year), and which is owned by the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew.the em Inent American oratof, wants a representative In this Vicinity. It in a cood oDDortuuitv for one of oiir ambitious young men or yoting women, Applications should be addressed to the BuB hckIiTion DepartmenTHEPEN NY MAGAZINE. Temple Court, New YorM'ity, What does It do? It Causes the Oil glandi In the akin to become mora active, Making the hair soft And glossy, precisely as nature Intended. It cleanses the Scalp from dandruff and thus removes one of the great causes of baldness. It makes fi better circu lation in the Scalp and stops II Miv iiu uuui willing uuk I it prevents and it I cms RaMnm (I Ayer'a Hair Vigor will I j surely make hair grow on Dam neaas, proviaea oniy there is any life remain ing in the half bulbs. It restores color to gray or white hair. It does not do this in a moment, as will a hair dye; but In a short time the gray color of age gradually disap pear and the darker colof of youth takes its placet Would you like a copy of our book on the Hair And Scalp? It is free If f flu do not obtain all the baneflti 70U eipeciea ironi ma nio ox ine vigor writ the Doctor about It. LI AHrir.. I1H J. C! ITID Lowell. Mat. PROFESSIONAL. W. B. COUNCILL, Jr. Attorney at Lav. Boone, N. C. W. D. COUNC1LL, M. D. Boone N. U Resident Physician Office on. King Street north of Post Office. B. F. LOV1LL. J. C. FLETCHER. l.dVilL & FLETCHER. A Tl OUNh YS AT LA W, BOONE, N. C. tfSfStwcial attention 2iVeti to the colletion oiciaims WILLIAM U. LOVU.L. ATTORNEY AT LAW. Sutherlands, N. 0. Practices in the IState and Federal courts. Dn. J. M. HOGSHEAD, Cancer Specialist. BANNER'S ELK. N. C, bo Knile No Burning Out, Highest references and ehdots nipntn of nrominenfc bersons suc cessfully treated in Va., Teim. and N. C. Remember that there la no time Too soon to pet rid 01 a cancerous growth no matter linw Kmnll. Examination free. letters answered promptly, and 8atiBta.ction uaranteea. NOTICE. Having qualified as AdminiS trntrix of L. L. Greene, deceased, late of Watauga county, ft. C, this In to uotily all persons hav ing claims ogRlnst the estate of the deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned within twelve months from the date of this no tice or it will be plead in bar of their recovery. All txr6on6iodebt ed to Bald estate will please make immediate payment. Ike. 15, 98 Mattie J. Greene, Adm'x. NOTICE. Having qualiHed ns adminis trator ol Pinkniy Uuderwood deceased, all persons having claims against his estate are no tified to (present the same dui.V authenticated within 12 months Irom the date ol this notice, or it will be plead iu bar of their recoV ery. This Jan. 2, 1899. C. J. Cottuell, Adm'r, .-..- 't t
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 26, 1899, edition 1
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