From the January 23, 1899 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Havana — General Fitzburgh Lee in command of Havana province, has ordered the men of his corps, at the request of the Chief Surgeon, not to keep human skulls and bones in their tents. The soldiers have been taking skulls and cross bones from the piles near Quemados and Colon Cemeteries, their custom being to rent a grave for a year or so from the managers of the cemetery and then dig up the bones and pile them outside.”