THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



THE AMERICAN CAMP AT MATANZAS. 

 Headquarters of the Twenty-eighth Regiment, U. S. Infantry. 



HeadQuartei-s of the 2Sth U. S. Infantry in Matanzas. The 

 building is an old Spanish barracks, later devoted to the Rural 

 Guard and now occupied by the American garrison, Col. Owen 

 J. Sweet commanding. 



Col. Owen J. Sweet, commanding the 28th 

 Regiment, U. S'. Infantry, is cozily quar- 

 tered with his command in an old spacious 

 Spanish barracks in ]vlatanzas. The premi- 

 ses were afterwards occupied by the Rural 

 Guard until the second intervention, when 

 they removed to the equally old Fort San 

 Severino, on Matanzas Harbor, which they 

 still occupy. Every evening at sundown 

 many hundreds of Matanzas citizens with 

 their wives gather to hear the regimental 

 band play and to witness the picturesque 

 closing military exercises of the day. Col. 

 Sweet has kept a sharp eye on sanitary vio- 

 lations in the city, and in many instances has 

 insisted on immediate and drastic reforms 

 where conditions in and around dwellings 

 were unusually unhealthy. The close 

 proximity of cesspool and well, when 

 discovered promptly brought forth or- 

 ders to close the latter and the house- 

 holders forced to install city water. 

 This latter is plentiful and of good 

 quality but the service is unusually 

 costly, the company charging high 

 prices for the accommodation. Col. 

 Sweet has an enviable army record, 

 born in 1845, he saw active service 

 all through the war of the rebellion, 

 and for activity, skill and marked gal- 

 lantry was in 1865 personally thanked 

 on the field by the commanding Ma- 

 jor-General John W. Geary. After 

 the war he was placed in command 

 of different army .posts and in various 

 responsible positions until 1899, when 

 he was ordered to the Philippines and 

 again engaged in active warfare 

 against the Sultan of Jolo. He de- 

 stroyed a nest of Sulu pirates effect- 

 ually wiping out their stronghold and 

 was invalided home in 1901 broken 

 in health. For his services in the 

 Philippine campaign Col. Sweet re- 

 ceived unstinted praise from the press 

 of the United States, and from the 



leading merchants of Jolo. Thoroughly 

 conversant with all details of regimental 

 routing he is thoughtful and solicitous, 

 for the comfort of his men and there- 

 fore deservedly popular. 



Matanzas as a city is very much im- 

 proved, and there is apparent a determi- 

 nation on the part of the progressive 

 business men of the town to improve it 

 still more. A company owning 12 miles 

 o water front on the harbor intends to 

 establish different industries which will 

 afford employment to many. There are 

 city works contemplated, the Santo 

 Theater has been renovated, and the 

 Plaza Libertad will be beautified. 



Colonel Owen J. Sweet, commanding the 2Sth infantry, 

 with headquarters at Matanzas, Cuba. 



