Part 55

One of the most comprehensive systems of charitable work had been thus inaugurated and was doing incalculable good, and was receiving praise and gratitude from all classes, when it was announced that the official relations between Spain and the United States, which had been strained for some time, were about to be broken. The American Consul-General announced that he did not think that it was safe for American citizens to remain in Cuba while the excited state of feeling existed, and that he should leave on a certain day, and he advised all Americans in Cuba who wished to go to the States that he would provide transportation for them. The time given for settling affairs and preparing to leave was less than a week, and accordingly there was much excitement and great sacrifices had to be made, which in many cases meant ruin and beggary. Quite a number of the refugees afterward became entirely dependent upon the bounty of the Red Cross at Key West and Tampa, Florida.

When it thus became necessary to decide whether the Red Cross should abandon its work in Cuba, Miss Barton called her staff around her (as is her invariable custom in deciding all important matters), and asked for their individual opinions as to the advisability of their leaving, and a full discussion of all the points involved ensued, and a unanimous decision was arrived at. All Spanish officials, national and municipal, had never failed to show the utmost courtesy to all our members, and time after time they had shown their sincerity by repeated acts of kindness, and none of us believed that they were likely to change their attitude toward us. But when it was considered that war was almost inevitable, and that if we remained in Cuba we should be shut up in an enemy's country and unable to communicate with our friends and relatives, who would be daily harrowed by sensational stories, it was decided that we should withdraw when the Consul-General was ready to leave.

When it became known that we were about to leave Miss Barton received some very hearty assurances of regard and protection from high Spanish officials, and many Spanish and Cuban ladies and gentlemen called on her and assured her of their high regard and deep gratitude for all she had done for their suffering people.

ARCHBISHOP OF HAVANA BLESSES LEE ORPHANAGE.

The day before we were to leave Cuba the Archbishop of Havana came to the Lee Orphanage, where quite a number of the best people of the city had assembled, and gave his blessing to the little institution; which was, with those Catholic people, an augury equivalent to a guaranty that the success and protection of the undertaking was fully assured; and, indeed, we learned several months after the war had begun that the Spanish authorities had not only taken the most scrupulous care of this hospital, and all its abundance of provisions with which the Cuban Relief Committee had supplied it, but they had also placed a guard around Miss Barton's residence and had kept it inviolate from all predatorily disposed persons. After the war some of our party visited the residence and the orphanage, and found provisions which had been left at both places were still on hand.

Of course it was to be expected that the hospital, being deprived of the example of the trained Red Cross nurse, with her habits of order and neatness, would naturally retrograde in many ways, and our party therefore was prepared for the many evidences of neglect and disorder that met their eyes on their return visit.

The Central Cuban Relief Committee, of New York, which had been appointed by the President of the United States, had abundant means to maintain this work that had been so successfully inaugurated, and it is greatly deplored that the unfortunate declaration of war prevented the carrying out of all the plans that had been so carefully matured, and which would have saved the lives of thousands of men, women and children who now lie under the sod.

Having made the best possible arrangement for the maintenance of the institutions we had brought into being and had fostered in Havana; and with the saddest regrets that we should have to abandon a work so well begun, we boarded the ship "Olivette" on April 11, and started for the United States. After a great deal of discomfort, caused by the overcrowding of passengers and the heavy seas, we reached Tampa, Fla., on April 13. After a day or two of rest, Miss Barton proceeded to Washington with Drs. Hubbell and Egan, the remainder of the party stopping in Tampa.

There were at that time probably about fifteen hundred Cuban refugees in Tampa and eight or nine hundred in Key West, who were entirely dependent. The Red Cross took upon itself the task of maintaining these poor people, and for a period of seven months its agents provided for them. It should be said, however, that the citizens of both these cities appointed committees and did all they could to relieve the necessities of these large bodies of indigent people.

Early in April it had been decided to charter a steamer in New York and to load her with supplies and send her to different ports in Cuba, where her cargo could be unloaded in such quantities as might be required. Accordingly, the steamer "State of Texas," of about eighteen hundred tons burden, was chartered from Messrs. Mallory & Co., of New York, and notwithstanding the fact that our party had been obliged to leave Havana, and that subsequently war had been declared, the preparations for sailing were kept up, and the steamer was loaded with a cargo of fourteen hundred tons, which embraced a fine assortment of substantials and delicacies, and many household articles, medicines and hospital stores. When she was finally loaded in the latter part of April, the "Texas" sailed for Key West in charge of Dr. J.B. Hubbell, with Captain Frank Young as sailing master, arriving there on the twenty-eighth of that month.

RECEPTION AT TAMPA.

In the meantime, Dr. Jos. Gardner and wife, of Bedford, Ind., had joined our party at Tampa; and soon after Miss Barton, Dr. Egan, Mr. D.L. Cobb and Miss Lucy M. Graves came along, and it was arranged that the entire party was to leave Tampa on the evening of April 28, to go aboard the steamer "State of Texas," at Key West, and remain on her until the army had made a landing in Cuba, when it was expected that we should be able to resume our work there. The day of the evening we were to leave Tampa, Mrs. J.M. Towne, the lady at whose house our party was stopping, gave a reception in honor of Miss Barton, to which General Wade and the army officers who were then stationed there, and many ladies and gentlemen of that fine little city, were invited. It was a most brilliant and enjoyable occasion, the uniforms of the officers and the lovely toilets of the ladies making a picture that will long remain in the memories of those who saw it.

THE RELIEF PARTY RETURNS TO KEY WEST.

On our arrival at Key West, on the afternoon of April 29, we were met by Dr. Hubbell and Mr. C.C. Bangs, who had been sent by the New York committee to assist in our work; and Mr. A. Butler Duncan, a well-known gentleman of New York, and were taken aboard the steamer "State of Texas," where we were welcomed by Captain Young, and where we subsequently passed many pleasant weeks together. A few days later we were joined by Mr. Geo. Kennan, First Vice-President of the American National Red Cross, and his wife.

Key West at that time was a very busy place, the harbor being filled with naval vessels which came in there daily from the Cuban blockading squadron for coal and provisions. Miss Barton immediately paid her respects to Captain Harrington, of the monitor "Puritan," who was the senior commander of the port, and presented her credentials from the State and Navy Departments. Subsequently she placed herself in communication with Commodore Sampson, and stated her desire to reach Cuba at the earliest possible moment.

Many naval officers and citizens of Key West called on Miss Barton daily, and this attention, combined with her enormous correspondence, kept her time fully occupied till late in the night. There was scarcely a day that some accident of more or less severity did not happen to some of the sailors or workmen on the many auxiliary craft that were in the harbor; and the Red Cross doctors were at all times in demand. In order to keep every one in the best preparation for possible contingencies of any kind, everybody on the ship was instructed and drilled in the various phases of his or her particular kind of work; and thus all were kept happily and busily engaged. The doctors inaugurated a series of lectures for the benefits of the nurses and others, and clinics were of frequent occurrence, and every member of the party benefited by the practical knowledge thus attained in bandaging and taking care of various kinds of injuries.

Doctor E. Winfield Egan, of Boston, one of the foremost of our surgeons, effected some wonderful operations here and at Port Tampa, and won the warm friendship of many a poor fellow, who, but for his skillful ministrations would have fared badly. Some of the injured men were so badly hurt that days and weeks elapsed before they were fully recovered, and during the time of their convalescence, they were carefully attended and watched by the Red Cross nurses; and at all times of the day the Red Cross boat, with its well-known flag floating, could be seen going from one transport to another on its errands of mercy.

FEEDING SPANISH PRISONERS.

While we were lying at Key West there was scarcely a day passed that some of our vigilant blockading squadron did not bring in from one to three captured prizes; sometimes large steamships, and from that class through the various grades of shipping down to fishing smacks; and in the course of a couple of weeks there were between thirty and forty of these boats lying at anchor in the harbor, with their crews aboard under guard. Somehow it was forgotten that these poor foreigners must eat to live; or else perhaps somebody thought that somebody else was responsible for this very important matter; be that as it may, they were unprovided for. The boats, of course, had a small amount of provisions aboard when they were captured, and while that lasted all went well; but in a few days their supply was exhausted and calls were made on the United States Marshal, in whose charge the prisoners were, for food. That officer, having no contingent fund on which to draw, was in despair, and came to Miss Barton, who at once reassured him by saying that she would attend to the matter and would provide for all the prisoners until such time as he could get his petition through the departments at Washington. Accordingly several boatloads of provisions were hastily gotten together and taken in tow by a steam launch which landed them alongside of each prize. Miss Barton personally visited these boats, and with the aid of an interpreter she learned the needs of the crews, and not only supplied them with food, but she arranged to take letters from all who wished to communicate with friends and relatives in Spain and elsewhere, and forwarded the letters to their destination.

All governmental relations between Spain and the United States having been broken by the declaration of war, it was necessary, where letters were to go to Spain, to send them to the Red Cross of Portugal, which organization kindly acted as the intermediary friend all through the war. And here I may say that the Red Cross adopted this method wherever there were Spanish prisoners, and through its kind offices thousands of anxious hearts received news of their absent ones who were "held by the enemy."

NEW YORK RED CROSS RELIEF COMMITTEE.

About the middle of May the friends of the Red Cross in New York City, conceived the idea of forming a relief committee for the collection of money and supplies to be used in aiding the soldiers in camp and field. The committee was formed, with some of the richest and most prominent people of the country on its list, and it became necessary for Miss Barton to go to New York to empower the committee with authority to act in the name of the Red Cross. Accordingly the steamer "State of Texas" left Key West and proceeded to Port Tampa, where Miss Barton took train for the North, leaving the remainder of the party on the steamer.

EMERGENCY RELIEF AT PORT TAMPA.

At this time there were several camps at Tampa and Port Tampa, and several thousand troops were preparing for the invasion of Cuba; transports were daily arriving at Port Tampa and were being placed in readiness to carry this vast host to the "Pearl of the Antilles." Those were busy days for everybody, and the Red Cross doctors and nurses were called upon hourly to render service to many victims of injury and disease.

While we were waiting at Port Tampa we were joined by Miss Janet Jennings, of Washington, and Mrs. Trumbull White, of Chicago, both of whom afterward did excellent work in the hospitals at Siboney.

Miss Barton rejoined our party on June 16, being accompanied by Mrs. J. Addison Porter, the wife of the secretary to President McKinley, who went with us on the "State of Texas."

Miss Barton had been the recipient of such assurances on her recent trip to Washington from the heads of the various government departments, that she believed that the Red Cross would receive the most cordial recognition from the army and navy as an auxiliary aid, and would be able to co-operate with them in the utmost harmony. Although the mission of the steamer "State of Texas" was to render relief to the Cuban reconcentrados, it was tacitly understood and believed by all that every possible aid would be extended to the army and navy forces whenever it was necessary or called for.

All of the government transports carrying General Shafter's army had sailed from Port Tampa, bound for Cuba, when, on June 17, the "State of Texas" weighed her anchor and started for Key West, where we arrived on the following afternoon.

It was learned at Key West that the cargo of a captured ship, consisting of South American "tasajo," or jerked beef, was about to be sold by the United States Marshal; and as we knew this was a favorite food of the Cubans, and that we could get all that we needed at a very low figure, Miss Barton decided to take aboard twenty tons of it.

A telegram had been sent from Port Tampa to the Secretary of the Navy, under whose authority the "State of Texas" was then sailing, notifying him that we were going to Key West, where he could communicate with us, and thence on to Cuba, if orders to the contrary were not received.

SAILING FOR CUBA.

On June 20, everything being in readiness, and no orders having been received from the Secretary of the Navy, it was decided to sail and find Sampson's fleet near Santiago de Cuba, where it was generally believed that General Shafter would try to effect a landing; so at 10.15 a.m. we started, taking the westerly course around Cape Antonio. Just as we were about to leave, Mr. W.S. Warner joined our party and afterwards became one of our most useful and valued workers.

After a pleasant but uneventful voyage on the morning of June 25 we arrived off Morro Castle, at the entrance of the Bay of Santiago. The Spanish flag was flying over the land fortifications and Sampson's fleet was stationed in the adjacent waters. Miss Barton sent a representative aboard the flagship "New York," who presented her compliments to Admiral Sampson and asked for orders, or an expression of his wishes regarding the position to be taken by the Red Cross ship. The Admiral sent back word saying that General Shafter's army had disembarked at Daiquiri, a point about twelve miles east of Morro Castle, and he advised Miss Barton to take her ship to Guantanamo Bay, where she would find good anchorage and calm water; and where she would be able to learn more of what was taking place on land, as there was constant communication from there with the invading army. Accordingly we drew away and arrived that evening at Playa del Este, which is about forty miles from Santiago, and situated just inside the mouth of Guantanamo Bay.

Captain McCalla, the naval commander of the port, with several other naval officers came aboard the "Texas" that evening, and warmly welcomed Miss Barton. Among these officers were the captain and medical staff of the United States naval hospital ship "Solace" which was lying at anchor near us, and they extended an invitation to all the members of our party to visit their ship on the following morning. The invitation was accepted, and the next day the launches of the "Solace" came for us, and we passed a couple of very enjoyable hours looking over one of the most complete and handsome ships we had ever seen.

DEPARTURE FOR SIBONEY.

After our return to the "State of Texas" two representatives of New York papers called on Miss Barton, informing her that they had just come in from Siboney, where there was great need of supplies and medical aid. They said that the men who were wounded in the fight between the Rough Riders and the Spaniards on the previous Friday had just been brought in and that they were suffering from the lack of everything in the way of comforts and conveniences. Our steamer was at once headed westward and started within a few minutes for the scene of suffering. A two months' sojourn in tropical waters had enabled the busy little cirripeds to attach themselves in millions to the bottom of our ship, and, in nautical parlance, she was very "foul," and consequently our speed was reduced from a normal of about ten knots an hour to between seven and eight knots, so we did not reach Siboney until after eight o'clock that night.

Soon after our ship was anchored a boat was lowered and a party of our doctors started for the shore. As the night was dark and there was no wharf nor other landing place, save one small bit of sandy beach which was bounded on each side by precipitous rocky ledges, and no lights other than those of the ships which were anchored safely away from the shore, and the uncertain and misleading flare of an occasional camp fire some distance away from the beach, the landing was a matter of some difficulty and anxiety. A heavy ground swell was running quite high and dashed itself against the rocks with a roar that deafened us; however the officer who was in charge of the boat was an old sailor, who was used to landing in strange places, and by constant "ahoying" to every sign of life on ship or shore, we managed to strike the one soft spot in that vicinity and soon had our boat drawn up on the sand.

By inquiring of several sentinels, we found our way to the army hospital, which was a rough wooden building that had evidently been used for a store or warehouse in more peaceful times. On a veranda in front of the hospital a group of officers was standing, and on our asking for the surgeon in charge, Major Havard stepped forward. Drs. Gardner and Lesser introduced themselves and the other members of the party to Major Havard and formally offered him, in the name of Clara Barton and the Red Cross, the personal services of all our doctors and nurses, and any of our supplies that might be needed. Major Havard very courteously thanked them for their offers and said that he fully appreciated the value of such services, but he thought that he and his assistants would be able to take care of all the sick and wounded that were there at that time; and as for supplies, he knew there was an abundance of them _on the transports_, and he hoped they would be landed the next day. During these speeches our members were looking through the miserable place that bore the name of hospital, and the sights that met us brought tears to our eyes. There were half a dozen cots in a building where there were, perhaps, fifty or sixty patients, the greater number of whom were lying on the floor, some with a blanket under them, but a great many were lying on the bare boards. Sheets, pillows and bedclothes were unknown, and those poor fellows who were not dressed in their uniforms were lying almost naked. There were some wounded men, and others who were sick with fever; and in the dim light of a few lanterns we could see them turning from side to side in their discomfort and agony and hear their moans, and in some cases imprecations against a Government that would so illy provide for such a contingency. One of the nurses(?), a young fellow who sat out on the veranda in his shirt sleeves complacently smoking a cigarette, told us that he couldn't do very much for the boys, as he didn't have anything to do with; besides one nurse couldn't do very much for forty men, all wanting him at the same time, and he thought there ought to be more help. I couldn't help contrasting this good natured but rather indolent chap, who was performing his duty in such a careless and perfunctory manner, with the brave, clean, intelligent and energetic young women whom I knew, who, when on duty, never took a minute's rest, but were constantly busy, and who anticipated every want of a patient; and who by their bright faces and cheerful voices drove away all feelings of despondency and homesickness among the sufferers, and in this way helped them quite as far on the road to recovery as the medicine that the doctors might prescribe.

CUBANS GLADLY ACCEPT ASSISTANCE.

With saddened hearts we turned away and entered the Cuban army hospital near by. This house was better furnished with beds and bedding and other hospital appliances than the place we had just left, as it had been a regular army hospital when the Spaniards were in possession of the place, and they in their quick retreat had left nearly everything intact. So that these patients were in a much better condition. But how dirty it was! And how badly it smelled!

The Surgeon in charge of the Cuban hospital was a very intelligent Cuban who spoke good English, and he welcomed us warmly, and insisted on taking us to see General Calixto Garcia, whose headquarters were near by. That fine old warrior, with his gentlemanly and courtly manners, received us with the greatest cordiality, introducing us to the members of his staff who were present, and in every way made us feel that we were more than welcome. He had no hesitation in accepting any aid we had to offer; said that his men had suffered so terribly during the past three years that he welcomed our coming as a perfect godsend. So it was arranged that the Red Cross should take hold of the Cuban hospital the next day and do what it could to make it healthier and pleasanter; although the surgeons in charge begged that the ladies, _i.e._, the nurses, should not come until the place had been cleaned. But Red Cross nurses are trained in a school that makes the annihilation of dirt its first principle; and early the following morning they appeared with pails, scrubbing brushes, soap, whitewash and disinfectants, and the way in which they went to work elicited the admiration and astonishment of all who saw them. After thoroughly washing and disinfecting the floors, walls and furniture, they took the beds and put them through the same process, and afterwards put new mattresses, pillows and bedding on them. Then the patients were taken in hand, and carefully bathed and put in clean clothing, and then into clean, sweet-smelling beds. The looks and words of gratitude that were given to those little women in blue will always remain a happy recollection to them.