and other needful articles running short, the steamer "State of Texas"
was ordered to go to Jamaica to replenish her stores. While in Kingston
we met many refugees from Santiago, among them Mr. Louis Brooks and Mr.
Robt. Douglas, Sr. Both these gentlemen placed their residences in
Santiago at the disposal of Miss Barton; she accepted that of Mr.
Douglas, and we afterwards spent several very happy and comfortable
weeks within its hospitable walls. Mr. Douglas also offered the Red
Cross the use of his warehouses in Santiago which was accepted, and we
are indebted to these gentlemen for many other favors and their kindness
is remembered with gratitude and pleasure.
RELIEF FOR CUBANS, GUANTANAMO BAY.
Commander McCalla of Guantanamo Bay had already made calls upon the Red
Cross for relief supplies for the Cubans in that vicinity, and the
"State of Texas" had made two trips there, leaving five thousand rations
at one time and ten thousand at another. The commander then called for
fifty thousand rations, and we started at once to deliver them. On our
arrival at Playa del Este the commander met us in his steam launch as we
were coming into the harbor, and before we had cast anchor he demanded
to know if we had come from Siboney, and if any of our members had been
ashore there recently. Being answered in the affirmative, he said that
he could not expose the men of his fleet to the risk of taking yellow
fever from us, and ordered our ship to turn about and leave at once.
While we were lying at Siboney Messrs. Elwell and Warner were kept busy
with a crew of from fifty to seventy-five Cuban soldiers, in landing
supplies from the steamer; and the work they did and the success they
achieved calls for the highest praise, for it was accomplished under the
most adverse conditions and with most inadequate facilities.
At the near-by village of Firmeza were thousands of Cuban refugees and
residents, who were in abject need and many were sick and dying. Through
the energetic efforts of the above named gentlemen and Dr. J.B. Hubbell
all these people were fed and clothed, in addition to many more who came
into Siboney.
EXODUS FROM SANTIAGO.
During the siege of Santiago General Shafter sent word to General Toral,
the Spanish Commander, that unless the city was surrendered within
twenty-four hours, he should bombard it. Notice was given to the
citizens of that place, and the surrender was refused. An exodus of
non-combatants, men, women and children, hurriedly took place; it was
said there were thirty thousand of them, and they fled to the country to
the north and east, some twenty thousand crowding into the little
village of El Caney which normally has not over five hundred
inhabitants.
The city of Santiago at that time was in a destitute condition, several
people having already starved to death, and there was consequently
little or no provisions for the people to take away. So this vast horde
of hungry wretches overwhelmed the little country places that they come
to, and the suffering that ensued was something frightful.
The officers at General Shafter's headquarters notified Miss Barton of
the conditions at El Caney, and she immediately sent Mr. Elwell there to
form a citizens' committee to assist in distributing the food that was
to follow as quickly as we could get transportation to carry it. Every
horse, mule, vehicle of any kind that could be borrowed, begged or
hired, was impressed into the service, and tons of supplies were taken
there at the earliest possible moment. For about two weeks the Red Cross
force worked night and day in relieving this place. Mr. C. C. Bangs, an
elderly gentleman from Brooklyn, N.Y., who had been sent to the Red
Cross by the New York Cuban Relief Committee, was given charge of the
relief supplies at El Caney, and he remained there until the surrender
of Santiago, when the city people returned to their homes, faithfully
working as cook and dispenser from sixteen to eighteen hours a day. The
hard work, lack of sleep, and poor sanitary conditions, were too hard a
strain on him and he came to us at Santiago sick and very much broken.
He was attacked by the calentura and removed to a hospital where in a
few days he died. He was buried by the Red Cross in the Santiago
cemetery, his funeral being attended by the members of that body.
THE RELIEF EXPEDITION ENTERS SANTIAGO.
The surrender of Santiago having been arranged to take place at ten
o'clock on the morning of July 17, and Miss Barton being anxious to get
to that city at the earliest moment, knowing full well the terrible
conditions that existed there, the steamer "State of Texas" steamed
down from Siboney that day to the entrance of Santiago Bay. Miss Barton
sent word to Admiral Sampson that she was ready to go in to the city
whenever he was ready to have her; and he answered that he would send
her a pilot to take her ship in as soon as the channel was made safe by
the removal of torpedos that had been planted by the Spaniards.
Accordingly about 4.30 in the afternoon a Cuban pilot came aboard the
"Texas" from the flagship "New York" and we were soon on our way to
Santiago, where we arrived just before sundown. We came to anchor just
off the main wharf and Messrs. Elwell and Warner went ashore to make
arrangements for warehouse room and to engage men to unload the ship on
the morrow.
Early the next morning the "Texas" was drawn up beside the principal
wharf and one hundred Cuban stevedores began the work of discharging
her. These poor fellows were a sorry looking crowd of undersized and
half starved men, the effects of their long fast being plainly visible
in their hollow cheeks and thin arms and legs. Many women and children
were on the wharf ready to sweep up any stray bits of meal or beans that
might escape from leaky sacks or boxes.
As the stores came from the ship they were loaded on hand cars and
rolled to the land end of the wharf, where they were placed under a
large shed and a guard of soldiers was placed over them to keep back the
hungry people and dogs who hung around like a pack of famished wolves.
The same plan of distribution that we had so successfully pursued in
Havana was adopted in Santiago, and with the aid of such splendid men as
Mr. William Ramsden, son of the English Consul; Mr. Robert Mason,
Chinese Consul and vice British Consul; and Mr. Michelson, German Vice
Consul, we were soon possessed of full knowledge of the place and in
perfect touch with its best people.
General McKibben, the Military Governor of the city, and many other army
officers and citizens called on Miss Barton, giving her a warm welcome
and offering their assistance in any way they could be of service to
her.
A central committee of citizens was appointed, to whom was deputed the
duty of dividing the city into districts, and of appointing
sub-committees of responsible persons to distribute the supplies to the
needy. All applications for relief from the sub-committees had to be
approved by the general committee, and then brought to the Red Cross
warehouse, where they were filled in bulk and sent back to the district
committees for distribution. In this way all confusion was avoided, and
our headquarters kept comparatively free from crowding.
By steady work and long hours the cargo of the "State of Texas" was
discharged, and she left on her return trip to New York on the fifth day
after her arrival; and we were thus left without any means of
transportation that we could depend upon in any direction, the railroads
being broken, and there being none but government ships in the harbor.
The government not having many delicacies for its sick men, and such as
it had being so hard to get that those in quest of them could hardly get
their orders filled until their patients had died or recovered, it was
only natural that they should come to the Red Cross when they needed
anything of that kind, where it was only necessary to state the need and
write a requisition to be supplied with anything that we had in stock.
That this privilege was appreciated can be attested by hundreds of
chaplains, surgeons and officers; and if it was abused in rare
instances, there is little to complain of when it is remembered how many
lives were thus saved, and how many poor fellows were made comfortable
and happy.
While we were at Santiago we were joined by Mrs. Fanny B. Ward of
Washington, D.C.; Miss Annie M. Fowler of Springfield, Ill., and Miss
Annie Wheeler, of Alabama, a daughter of General Joe Wheeler, the
celebrated and much-liked cavalry leader. All of these ladies did
splendid work in their several fields, and hundreds of soldiers will
gratefully remember their kindly ministrations.
General Shafter, General Wheeler, General McKibben, General Wood,
General Bates and Colonel Roosevelt; Admiral Sampson, Admiral Schley,
Captain Chadwick, and in fact, almost every military and naval officer
with whom we had any business relations, did everything they could for
the Red Cross, and it is our proud satisfaction to feel that we met
their wishes to the extent of our ability, and that the most perfect
reciprocity of good feeling and mutual regard existed.
SPANISH HOSPITALS CARED FOR.
Miss Barton visited all the Spanish hospitals in Santiago and made a
thorough inspection and inquiry into their needs; and subsequently
furnished them with everything required that we had in our stores. The
Spanish Red Cross had no active workers with the Spanish army in Cuba
that we could find, and whatever was done for their soldiers by that
organization must have been done through the officials of the army. It
was said that Spain was well furnished with army hospitals at home, all
of which were carried on by the Red Cross; and that it was the custom,
previous to the breaking out of the Spanish-American War, to send all
invalid soldiers back to Spain to recover.
MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL AND FREE DISPENSARIES.
The municipal hospitals of Santiago were also visited and their inmates
made happy by a plentiful supply of good food and clean clothing.
The Red Cross opened a free dispensary where Drs. Gills, Carbonel,
Solloso and Zuniga attended many hundred of the sick poor and dispensed
medicine and delicacies to all needing them. These faithful doctors also
visited the sick in their homes wherever they could find them, and did a
great deal of good work.
An expedition was sent inland some seventy miles to Holguin, and the
needs of all the intervening communities were carefully investigated.
Miss Barton and several members of her staff also went to San Luis, and
made arrangements with some of the most prominent citizens of that place
to take charge of a large quantity of stores; and word was sent to all
the adjacent country for forty miles on each side, notifying the people
that all who were in need of help could receive supplies by coming to
San Luis.
Dr. Hubbell went to Baracoa and Sagua de Tanamo before the Spanish
soldiers and the inhabitants of those places had learned of General
Toral's surrender; and he was obliged to go in under a flag of truce and
was not generally believed when he told the people that the Province was
then under the domination of the Americans. But they were in such
straits of sickness and hunger that they gladly accepted the medicine
and food that he proffered them.
There was at both Siboney and Santiago a great congestion of government
steamers, causing much confusion and consequent delay in getting
commissary and quartermaster stores ashore. The government, of course,
had charge of everything, including wharves and lighters; and as we were
unable to command these facilities several shipments of goods sent to
the Red Cross at Santiago were never allowed to land there and were
returned to the United States. They were not needed, however, as we had
an ample supply for all the demands that were then made upon us. At the
suggestion of Mr. D. L. Cobb of the Red Cross, a large schooner was
chartered and loaded with Kennebec ice and sent to Santiago in tow, by
the "Ice Auxiliary" of New York. Certainly no other of the many methods
of relief that had been suggested, was more welcome or acceptable to the
suffering heroes of Santiago. No single article that was sent to the
soldiers gave one quarter the satisfaction to them that was given by
this cooling and comforting necessity. Owing to the lack of facilities
for landing, as stated above, we were unable to get the ice ashore to
deliver to the hospitals; but as transports, loaded with sick and
wounded soldiers were leaving almost daily for the States, we notified
the captains of all those steamers that they could have all the ice they
might need, and as they could easily run alongside the schooner and take
it aboard they all availed themselves of the privilege until the cargo
was exhausted.
When the schooner that had brought the ice to Cuba was discharged, she
was towed alongside the transport "Port Victor," that had on board some
seven hundred tons of Red Cross supplies, which it was impossible to
land, and they were taken aboard the schooner and subsequently sent to
Gibara on the northern coast.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ICE.
The following is summary of orders (for ice) upon which the cargo of the
"Mary E. Morse" was delivered:
Tons.
August 1, Captain J.H. Dizer, S.S. "Berkshire" 7
2, Captain P.H. Hanlon, S.S. "Grand Duchess" 30
1, Captain J.F. Lewis, S.S. "Mattewan" 8
1, Captain Downs, S.S. "Orizaba" 10
1, Captain Googins, S.S. "Gate City" 15
3, Captain ----, S.S. "Fanita" 5
2, Captain J.H. Byrne, S.S. "Mexico" 20
3, Swift & Co.'s representative 50
5, Captain ----, S.S. "Olivette" 20
4, Mr. Douglass 2
5, Captain ----, S.S. "Mattewan" 6
1, Captain McIntosh, S.S. "Vigilancia" 15
5, Captain ----, S.S. "Tarpon" 10
6, Captain Brickley, S.S. "Port Victor" 50
10, Captain Brickley, S.S. "Port Victor" 100
8, Captain Paul Konow, S.S. "Arnrum" 1
9, Captain ----, S.S. "Grand Duchess" 50
8, Captain Genis (Spanish), S.S. "Alicante" 7
9, Captain A.T. Anderson, S.S. "Marie" 1
9, Captain J. Hanlon, S.S. "Mortero" 6
9, Captain J.H. Dizer, S.S. "Berkshire" 3
5, Captain A.S. Johnston, S.S. "San Juan" 5
9, Captain ----, S.S. "Olivette" 20
9, Captain Charles A. Furlong, S.S. "Catinia" 15
11, Captain S. Layland, S.S. "Mobile" 25
11, Captain ----, S.S. "Vigilancia" 50
12, Captain ----, S.S. "Arcadia" 15
2, Captain John Evans, S.S. "Specialist" 7
13, Captain ----, S.S. "City of Macon" 10
8, Swift & Co.'s representative 40
1, Captain Kimball, S.S. "Louisiana" 12
10, Captain Antonio, "Alemani," "Isla Luzon" 7
13, "Olivette" 10
10, Captain Peters, transport "Miller" 20
16, Captain Aldamis, S.S. "M.D. Villarverde" 5
16, Captain Mir, S.S. "Montevideo" 10
14, Captain Antonia Jascia, S.S. "Isle Pinay" 5
10, Commander Jacobsen, German man-of-war, "Geier" 5
16, Captain ----, S.S. "Berkshire" 10
15, Captain Bie, S.S. "Sewanne" 5
14, Captain Tomaso, S.S. "Latrusgui" 12
15, Captain of S.S. "Burton" indefinite quantity
3, Master steam lighter "Bessie" 1 piece
3, To "Miami" 2 boat loads
6, Representative Swift & Co. 2 cakes
5, Government boat "Sewanne" 1 ton
5, S.S. "Olivette" 1,000 pounds
-----
10
Cargo of "Mary E. Morse" contained 792
Delivery as per above schedule 722
----
Charged to melting, etc. 70
After a five weeks stay in Santiago it became apparent that the
distribution of further general relief was unnecessary and inadvisable,
as the more pressing wants had been supplied, and the presence of the
army, and the returning commercial and industrial prosperity had given
employment to all the available laborers, who were now amply able to
provide for themselves and their families. In these circumstances, it
was decided to restrict the distribution henceforth to such people as
might be vouched for by the various members of the committee as having
no means of support.
IMMENSE STORES IN SANTIAGO.
The Red Cross had at that time in its warehouse at Santiago about eight
hundred tons of stores, and the New York committee was sending more all
the time. The government warehouses and wharves were overcrowded with
quartermaster and commissary stores, although the troops, both sick and
well, were being sent North as fast as steamers could be secured to
carry them. General Wood, the military governor, was devoting all of his
time to the betterment of the general condition of the people; and in
addition to cleaning the streets and yards and disinfecting all foul
spots, he was exercising a general oversight for the moral and physical
welfare of the community.
With all this great abundance of provisions and clothing, and the small
number of needy people that were within reach, and the perfect
arrangements that had been made that no one needing relief should be
overlooked, a longer stay of the full Red Cross staff seemed unwise and
useless; so it was decided that we should go to some other field where
our services could be utilized to better advantage. As a further
precaution, that there might be no possibility of any needy person being
overlooked, Miss Barton appointed a committee of ladies, who should by
house to house inspection discover and report to the general committee
any cases of suffering that might escape notice otherwise.
[Illustration: SIBONEY
Mrs. Lesser Sister Bettina in Yard of Fever Hospital.
"Discharged Cured" from Red Cross Hospital
Red Cross Hospital.
Ambulance unloading at Surgical Hospital.
Street Scene in Front of Hospital.
Surgical Hospital.]
[Illustration: SANTIAGO
View from the Miss Barton's Room Orphan Asylum on the
Hill. Santiago bay at the Right.
Court and Fountain in American Red Cross Nurses--
Santiago.
Stone Stairway to Rear of Old Market Place Which is on
High Walled Terrace.
Back Yard of Mr Douglas's Hoouse. Miss Barton's Home in
Santiago.]
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY FURNISHES TRANSPORTATION.
Having heard that the port of Havana was open, it was natural that our
party should be eager to return there and take up the work that we had
been compelled to relinquish during the previous spring. The only means
of transportation that was at our disposal to use in reaching Havana was
the schooner "Mary E. Morse," and as she had been already destined for
another port, and was withal so slow that she would not have served our
requirements, we had no other recourse than to appeal to the
government. Miss Barton accordingly telegraphed President McKinley,
asking for the use of a transport, and he promptly placed at her
disposal the Morgan Line steamer "Clinton," which was then in the
government service. Within the following four days we loaded the
"Clinton" with thirty-four mules that had been sent to us by one of the
Red Cross auxiliary committees of New York, and about three hundred tons
of general stores, which we hoped would serve as a starter in the
distribution at Havana, other supplies having been promised to meet us
at that place.
We sailed away from Santiago on the afternoon of August 21, and after a
pleasant voyage we arrived at Havana on the morning of the twenty-fifth.
We learned on entering the harbor that we were as much in Spanish waters
as we had been during our previous sojourn in Havana, and that there was
no marked change in anything. The same customs' officers whom we had
known before the war boarded our boat, and we were treated with the
old-time courtesy, but there was no let up in the rigid enforcement of
all the requirements of the law; the necessary clearance papers,
manifests, etc., being demanded. As we were on a government transport,
and carrying a cargo intended for charitable distribution, we expected
to be admitted without hindrance or ceremony, but we were disappointed.
We were informed that we should have to pay full duties on our cargo,
which amounted to as much as the original cost of the goods; and that as
we had failed to make a specific manifest of every article we had on
board we must pay a fine of five hundred dollars before we should be
allowed to land our cargo or to leave the harbor.
Miss Barton called upon the Governor of Havana, who received her with
great urbanity, but when she told him the nature of her visit he
insisted that there was no need of aid in that city, that there was no
suffering, that the people were all well fed and had been all through
the blockade. This call was very courteously returned by the general and
staff.
No possible endeavor was omitted that gave any hope of enabling us to
land our cargo, and we brought every influence to bear that we could
command. After a couple of days had elapsed one of the government
officials came aboard our ship and told Miss Barton that the Colonial
Council had held a meeting, and that its members had voted to take the
amount of money needed from some special fund that was available and pay
the duties on the cargo of her ship, _provided she would turn it over
to their agents to distribute_. Finding that there was no likelihood of
any better terms being offered Miss Barton decided that it was useless
to remain longer. Then again, the American Evacuation Commissioners were
expected to arrive in a few days, and it was thought that the presence
of this boatload of Cuban relief might be an embarrassment to them in
dealing with the Spanish commission, and that we had better pay our fine
and quietly withdraw until such time as we might return without
hindrance.
During our stay in Havana hundreds of the best people of that city,
including Spaniards and Cubans, came aboard the "Clinton" and assured
Miss Barton of their warmest friendship and heartiest welcome, and it is
believed that they did their utmost to persuade the officials to allow
Miss Barton to resume her work in Havana. They told the most harrowing
stories of the suffering in and about the city, and they said that with
the exception of some "soup houses," which the government was
ostentatiously supporting, and which gave out to the poor, miserable
sufferers who called for it a small quantity of an alleged soup, in
which there was not enough nourishment to keep a chicken alive, there
was no other distribution of food, and that people were daily dying in
the streets. We knew that this was true, as we all had seen scores of
these people every time we had gone ashore.
On September first we paid our fine of five hundred dollars and arranged
all other matters, so that we were ready to sail at seven o'clock that
evening, and with many regrets, we started for Egmont Key, Florida,
where we knew we would have to go into quarantine, before entering the
United States.
As our ship's charter would expire on September 7 and she ought to be in
New Orleans, where she belonged, on that date, it was decided to unload
her cargo of goods at Egmont Key, and have it transferred from there to
Tampa. The mules were to be left aboard, and taken to New Orleans, where
they had been purchased.
Captain Wertsch and the entire crew of the steamer "Clinton," having
exerted themselves to make all of our party comfortable and happy, and
having succeeded in an eminent degree, Miss Barton was pleased to make
acknowledgment of their courtesy in a letter, a copy of which follows.
ON BOARD STEAMER "CLINTON,"
EN ROUTE HAVANA TO EGMONT KEY, _September 1, 1898_.
CAPT. P.C. WERTSCH, _Steamer "Clinton_:"
DEAR SIR:--As we draw near the end of our voyage on the steamer
"Clinton," I cannot refrain from giving expression to the feeling of
satisfaction and gratitude that all the members of the Red Cross
party entertain for you and your crew. If you have any influence
with the gods of wind and wave, you must certainly have exerted it,
for verily we have been "sailing o'er summer seas" during the past
weeks, and a pleasanter time than we have had could not well be
imagined. It gives me great pleasure to say to you that the uniform
courtesy and consideration that have been shown our people and the
general comfort of the "Clinton" are highly appreciated. We
congratulate the Morgan Line on having such a ship and such a crew.
In saying good-bye, permit me to thank you most heartily for your
many kindnesses and your unfailing courtesy, and to wish you and all
the members of your crew a long life and the best of everything in
it.
Sincerely yours,
CLARA BARTON.
Captain Wertsch replied in the happy manner following:
ON BOARD STEAMER "CLINTON,"
_September 2, 1898_.
MISS CLARA BARTON, _President American National Red Cross_: