Mississippi, a battle took place on the Atlantic coast which marked the
beginning of a new era in naval warfare, the end of wooden war-ships
and the use of iron vessels. The Confederates captured a United
States vessel, the Merrimac, removed its masts, covered it with iron,
and fitted it with an iron prow. This iron-clad vessel attacked and
destroyed several Union vessels. It was attacked by the Monitor, an
iron-covered vessel designed by Captain John Ericsson and commanded by
Lieutenant Worden. It carried larger guns than had ever before been
used on a vessel. A fierce battle was fought in which neither of the
iron-clads was seriously injured, and the Merrimac finally withdrew.
Leaving the Mississippi squadron in charge of Porter, who was also
a rear-admiral now, Farragut went to the Atlantic coast. As soon as
vessels could be refitted, he set forth in the summer of 1864 to
capture Mobile, an important seaport of the South. With twenty-four
war-ships and four iron-clads he entered Mobile Bay which was commanded
by two strong forts. In order to overlook the fleet and direct its
action, the admiral stationed himself in the rigging of his vessel,
despite the protests of his men against his occupying a place of such
danger. A submarine mine sunk one of his vessels with almost its entire
crew; at this disaster the vessel which was leading the fleet stopped.
Admiral Farragut ordered his own vessel, the Hartford, “full speed”
in the van and led the way into the bay. The entire Confederate fleet
was destroyed, and the forts were taken in a few days, thus giving the
Federals control of the Gulf. Of the battle of Mobile Bay Farragut
said, “It was one of the hardest-earned victories of my life, and the
most desperate battle I ever fought since the days of the Essex.”
While Farragut was in the Gulf making ready to attack Mobile, in June,
1864, a brilliant naval battle was fought off the coast of France. This
was between the Federal Kearsarge, commanded by Captain Winslow, and
the Confederate Alabama under Captain Semmes. After an hour’s desperate
battle, the Alabama was sunk.
A few months later, occurred one of the most daring deeds of the war.
The Confederate vessel, the Albemarle, was destroyed at night by a
torpedo from a little boat commanded by Lieutenant Cushing. Lieutenant
Cushing had volunteered for the service, fully recognizing the danger
to which he would be exposed. His boat was sunk, and only he and one of
the crew escaped by swimming.
Clara Barton
The President of the American Red Cross Society
War at best brings with it terrible suffering, hardship and sickness,
wounds and death. Gratitude is due those who labor to alleviate
such sufferings. Among these, women have ever been foremost. During
the Crimean War in Europe, Florence Nightingale and other noble
Englishwomen went to the Crimea to nurse the sick and wounded soldiers.
In our War between the States a few years later, similar services
were rendered by many self-sacrificing women, both North and South.
Two great organizations, the Sanitary Commission and the Christian
Commission, were formed in the North to collect supplies and forward
them to the needy and suffering soldiers. Mary Livermore, who was at
the head of the Sanitary Commission, wrote an interesting account of
its work.
While these were busy at home, other women were at work in the
hospitals and on the battle-fields, caring for sick and wounded
soldiers. One of these nurses was Dorothea Dix. During the war, she was
a superintendent of hospital nurses; after the war, she devoted herself
to improving the conditions of prison life.
Another hospital nurse was Clara Barton, afterwards so prominently
identified with the Red Cross movement. She was born in Massachusetts
in 1830. In young womanhood she taught several years, then she secured
a clerkship in Washington. At the beginning of the War between the
States, she resigned her position to work in army-hospitals, where she
was called “an angel of mercy.”
After the war, broken down in health, she went abroad. In Europe
she became interested in the work of the Red Cross societies, which
were doing a noble work and had already secured the co-operation of
twenty-two nations. These organizations were due to the efforts of a
Swiss gentleman who in 1859 visited the field of Solferino where, in
a battle between the Austrians and the French, thousands of soldiers
were killed and thousands were wounded. The medical aid at hand was
pitifully inadequate; the sight of the sufferings of the wounded
soldiers led this Swiss to plan the formation of societies for the
relief of wounded soldiers. Such a society was formed at Geneva in
1864, and a badge, a red cross on a white ground, was adopted which was
to be worn by those in its service.
By the efforts of Miss Barton, in 1881 the United States co-operated in
this work. A Red Cross society was formed of which Miss Barton became
president. In 1896 its members helped in the relief of the Armenians;
they did noble work in the Spanish-American War in 1898, and in the
Boer War the next year.
The work of the Red Cross society is not limited to the relief of the
victims of war. In times of calamity and disaster, it takes speedy
relief to those stricken by flood, famine, or pestilence. During
the floods of 1884, Miss Barton in a relief-boat traveled thousands
of miles up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, distributing
food, clothing, and supplies. The Johnstown flood of 1889 left four
thousand people dead and twenty thousand homeless. The Red Cross
Society hastened to the relief of the sufferers. For five months its
agents worked amid scenes of want and distress, distributing over two
hundred thousand dollars’ worth of food, clothes, furniture, and other
supplies. They did similar work at the great flood of Galveston in
1900, and are always ready to extend a helping hand where it is needed.
George B. Dewey
George Dewey, the third admiral of the United States navy, was born
in Vermont, December 26, 1837. He was descended from a Puritan who
emigrated to Massachusetts about 1633. As a boy, George Dewey was
mischievous and daring and not fond of study. His father, however,
realizing the importance of education, kept him at school and insisted
on his applying himself.
He entered the Naval Academy when he was seventeen and was graduated
in 1858, fifth in his large class. His first active service was in
Farragut’s attack on New Orleans, and here he showed courage and
coolness under fire.
In attempting to pass Port Hudson, his ship, the Mississippi, was
riddled with shot and shell. Then it was run ashore and set on fire
by Captain Smith and Dewey to prevent its falling into the hands of
the Confederates. In his official report of this affair, Captain
Smith said, “I consider that I should be neglecting a most important
duty should I omit to mention the coolness of my executive officer,
Mr. Dewey, and the steady, fearless, and gallant manner in which the
officers and men of the Mississippi defended her, and the orderly and
quiet manner in which she was abandoned after being thirty-five minutes
aground, under the fire of the enemy’s batteries.”
After the war Farragut said to Dewey’s father, “Your son George is a
worthy and brave officer and some day will make his mark.”
It was long, however, before the opportunity came for him to do so.
Meanwhile he went quietly on, performing the duties of his profession.
For two years after the War between the States, he was instructor
in the Naval Academy. In 1884 he was promoted captain and in 1897
commodore. He was now sixty years old, and while he was recognized as a
brave and able officer, the prospect seemed that he would be retired at
sixty-two, according to the rules of the navy, without gaining special
fame.
But this was not to be the case. His opportunity was to come, and
because he was ready for it, he was to attain a fame equal to that won
by any other naval commander of his country. In January, 1898, he was
ordered to take command of the Asiatic squadron; that spring while he
was on Pacific waters, war was declared between the United States and
Spain.
Cuba, one of its first discoveries, had remained subject to Spain while
one after another of her New World possessions slipped from her grasp.
Instead of ruling the colony wisely, Spain governed it with severity
and injustice. The oppressed people made more than one effort to gain
freedom. One attempt after another was unsuccessful, but in 1895 there
broke out a rebellion so desperate that the Spaniards were not able
to suppress it. The cruel General Weyler was put in command of the
army in Cuba. In order to keep the natives from taking part in the
insurrection, he formed what were called “concentration camps;” towns
were surrounded by barbed wire fences and the inclosures were guarded
by Spanish soldiers; in these were confined men, women, and children.
Foul water, lack of food, and lack of proper sanitary regulations
killed thousands in these camps. Through the Red Cross Society, the
Americans sent food and supplies to the sufferers.
When our Consul in Havana reported that many Americans were among the
starving sufferers, the United States protested; finally, Weyler was
recalled and the American prisoners and the helpless natives were
released.
In the winter of 1898 the Maine, an American battleship commanded by
Captain Sigsbee, was in Havana harbor on a friendly visit. On the
fifteenth of February, it was blown up by a submarine mine and two
hundred and sixty-six Americans were killed. No one could find out who
put the mine there nor who exploded it. This incident excited such
indignation in America that Congress authorized President McKinley to
use the army and navy to force Spain to give up Cuba. This caused Spain
to declare war against the United States.
The war with Spain began, April 21, 1898. Three days later, orders
were cabled to Dewey, who was at Hong Kong, China: “Proceed at once
to the Philippine Islands. Commence operations, particularly against
the Spanish fleet. You must capture or destroy the vessels. Use utmost
endeavor.”
As Dewey sailed from Hong Kong, he signalled to his fleet: “Keep cool
and obey orders.” The night of April the thirtieth the vessels reached
Manila; ignoring the mines and batteries, they steamed in single file
between the forts which guard the wide entrance of the bay. A little
after five o’clock on the morning of May 1, 1898, began the battle of
Manila Bay. The Spanish fleet was commanded by Admiral Montojo, one of
the ablest of the Spanish officers. His fleet and the batteries opened
fire on the Americans. Two submarine mines were exploded; fortunately,
they did no damage and they did not deter Dewey, who had been with
Farragut at the battle of Mobile Bay when the brave admiral sailed over
torpedoes.
Dewey coolly watched the Spanish cannonade for awhile, and then quietly
said to the captain of his flag-ship, the Olympia: “You may fire when
ready, Gridley.” With a shout, “Remember the Maine,” the Americans
fired. Their vessels, single file, passed the Spanish squadron, firing
broadsides with deadly effect. Then they turned and repeated the
maneuver. This was done five times in the course of two hours. The
Spanish ships one after another were sunk, disabled, or blown up. At
half past seven o’clock Commodore Dewey withdrew out of range of the
Spanish batteries, and breakfast was served. He then returned to the
attack and in two hours the Americans completed the destruction of the
Spanish fleet, which was superior to their own in ships, men, and guns.
The Spaniards fought bravely, but they were poor marksmen; they had
two hundred men killed and lost their squadron of twelve vessels. The
Americans did not lose a ship and they had only seven men wounded and
none killed.
Dewey received from Congress a vote of thanks and the rank of
rear-admiral. He remained in charge at Manila till relieved by a
military governor. The war was over then, Spain was defeated, and Cuba
free. There was no further occasion for his services. In 1899 he left
Manila; after a leisurely cruise, in the autumn he reached the United
States, where he was received with enthusiasm.
Andrew Carnegie
The Steel King
The United States has been called “the land of the poor man’s
opportunity.” More than one barefoot boy in it has passed from a
log cabin to the White House. In no other country have there been
such rises from poverty to wealth and position. There is often much
to condemn in the methods by which vast wealth is acquired, but the
task requires ability and talent of a kind, and the careers of these
“captains of industry,” as they are well termed, are regarded with
interest.
A typical man of this class is Andrew Carnegie, who has risen from
extreme poverty to vast wealth. He was born in 1837 in Scotland. His
father, a master weaver, lost work when machines took the place of
hand-looms; he emigrated to the United States when Andrew was a boy
of eleven. Andrew began work when he was twelve as a bobbin-boy in a
cotton factory in Pennsylvania, at weekly wages of a dollar and twenty
cents.
When he was fourteen, he became a telegraph messenger boy and earned
three dollars a week. In his spare time, he learned telegraphy and
became an expert operator.
He was shown a model of a sleeping car of which he was quick to see
the advantages; his first business investment was in a sleeping car
company, and the success of this laid the foundation of his fortune.
Later on, he became interested in iron works of various kinds. He
foresaw that iron bridges would largely take the place of wooden ones.
He formed a company to make the parts for iron bridges. Later, he saw
the superiority of steel over iron. In 1868 he introduced into America
the Bessemer process of making steel. He acquired one after another
seven great iron and steel works; moreover, he acquired coal and iron
fields and railways and steamboats to control transportation.
In 1889 his plant at Homestead was the scene of a strike, one of the
fiercest contests in America between capital and organized labor. A
number of workmen and detectives were killed, and the militia had to be
called out to put down the riot.
In 1899 Carnegie’s interest in different iron and steel plants were
consolidated; in 1902 there was formed the United States Steel
Corporation, a vast trust with a capital of over a billion dollars,
which employs forty thousand people. The year that this trust was
formed Carnegie retired from business: he received for his share in the
trust two hundred and fifty million dollars’ worth of bonds bearing
five per cent. interest, thus securing him an income of about fourteen
million dollars a year. The Steel King, his wife, and daughter, make
their home at Skibo Castle, a magnificent residence in Scotland.
Mr. Carnegie says that a man who has accumulated a great fortune ought
to share it with the people. Among the objects which he considers most
worthy the aid of men of wealth, he names universities, free libraries,
hospitals, public parks, swimming baths, public halls, and church
buildings. His own favorite charity is the aid of public libraries to
which he has given millions of dollars. In 1902 he gave ten million
dollars to found Carnegie Institution in Washington “for promotion of
study and research.”
THE END
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized or underlined text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
Some illustrations have been moved to locations near the text they
represent.