The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 36, July 15, 1897 A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls

Excerpt

It is reported from Thessaly that the Turks are ruining the country.

The correspondent who sent the news, having managed to escape the notice of the Turkish officials, claims to have made a personal examination of the state of affairs in the city of Larissa.

He found that all the houses, except those inhabited by Mohammedans, had been stripped of their contents, and he was informed on the best authority that many car-loads of plunder had been sent by the soldiers to the Turkish town of Elassonna.

In Turnavo, another city of Thessaly, the same condition of affairs exists as in Larissa. Here, however, the inhabitants had some warning of the coming of the Turks, and had time to remove many of their valuables before the enemy arrived.

The condition of Thessaly is desperate. The harvests are rotting in the fields. The peasants dare not attempt to gather them in, for fear of the Turkish soldiers, who, under pretence of seeking for arms, beat them unmercifully until they hand over what money or valuables they have.

The governorship of Crete has been offered to Monsieur Droz, the ex-president of Switzerland.

It is said that he has accepted on condition that he is first to be given an opportunity of seeing how he can get along with the Cretans.

The latest report from Cuba is that General Gomez has been wounded, and some say killed.

There was a fight in the province of Puerto Principe, and during the action General Gomez's horse was killed under him and the old soldier wounded.

The whole story comes from the Spanish side, and so the Cubans, before being disturbed by the news, are waiting for it to be confirmed.

The insurgents have been very active during the last few days.

It is reported that they have had the good fortune to intercept a couple of valuable Spanish expeditions, securing in one a prize of $200,000, and in the other $3,000 in cash, $1,700 worth of medicines and two carts laden with provisions.

We are, however, sorry to tell you that the Cubans are beginning to adopt the same cruel methods toward the Spaniards that the Spaniards have been using against them.

A coach full of travellers was journeying with the expedition that carried the medicines and provisions. The Cubans outnumbered the party, and took them all prisoners. A woman and a little child who were of the party were treated kindly and set at liberty, but every Spanish soldier and every man with the expedition was put to death.

If the Cubans continue to practise these cruelties they will lose the strong sympathy which their bravery has so far gained for them.

Many Spanish soldiers are still deserting to the Cuban lines. The deserters say that life is unbearable in the Spanish army. The soldiers are roughly treated, have scarcely anything to eat, and receive their pay in worthless paper money.

One entire battalion mutinied a short while ago, and refused to accept this paper money. The colonel had to give the soldiers his solemn promise that their pay should be given them half in gold and half in silver before they would consent to return to duty.

It is stated that the sum of $50,000,000 is needed for the payment of the soldiers, and that there is little hope of getting it from Spain, because the Rothschilds will not lend the Government any more money unless Spain sacrifices the income of the famous Almaden quicksilver mines for twenty years....