Part 56

This grand transformation of the dirty Cuban hospital was watched with great interest by the American officers and men, and when it was finally finished it presented such a noticeable contrast of peace, cleanliness and comfort to the United States Army hospital, where everything was the very opposite, in all its hideousness of neglect, squalor and suffering, that there was a universal grumble in the camp, and men were heard to mutter: "What kind of people are these Red Cross folks that come down here and give the best of everything to the Cubans, and pass by our own boys, who are dying for the want of these very attentions?" When it was explained to them that the Red Cross had first gone to our own hospital and offered all it had to our own army surgeons, and that they had declined assistance, there was an immediate and widespread inquiry, "Why?" and as no answer that would satisfy could be given, and the grumble was becoming more general and forcible all the time, a little later the army surgeons thought best to allay further irritation by a general acceptance of whatever was needed from the Red Cross stores, and any personal assistance that might be offered.

As a result of this change of mind everything that was needful to make the American hospital the equal of the Cuban hospital was gladly given by the Red Cross, and from that time on to the end of the war the army surgeons and the Red Cross worked in perfect harmony and with mutual respect and admiration. A Red Cross hospital was opened at Siboney and immediately filled to its capacity with American soldiers and government employes; and the Red Cross surgeons were given operating tables in the army hospital and on the field, and with the aid of Red Cross nurses rendered splendid service in the bloody days that soon followed.

URGENT CALL FOR HELP AT THE FRONT.

As General Shafter pressed forward with his troops, the fighting became more severe, and his chief surgeon, Colonel Pope, sent word to Miss Barton asking for aid to be sent out to the front. She responded immediately and personally led a party consisting of Mr. George Kennan, Mrs. J. Addison Porter, Dr. and Mrs. Gardner, Dr. E. Winfield Egan, Dr. J.B. Hubbell, and Mr. J.A. McDowell, going forward in army wagons and on foot over a road whose badness could not be exceeded anywhere; and they soon had their tents up and their kettles boiling, and for several days they devoted all their time to relieving the sufferings of the wounded men on the field. They made gruels and soups, and all the delicacies that could be prepared with the facilities at hand, and distributed fruits and cooling drinks. These poor wounded soldiers were lying on the field where they were left after their wounds had been dressed; and as there was no food for them to eat except the regular army ration of salt meat, hardtack and coffee, which many of them were unable to swallow, in some instances they had not taken any nourishment for three days, and were nearly starved.

The "rainy season" had just set in and these "martyrs to the cause of Cuban liberty," who were helpless and in many cases without clothing of any kind, were left without protection, except such as could be had from small bushes and trees; and they were subjected daily to alternate "sunshine and shower;" and when it is said that those words are not to be taken in a poetical sense, but that they mean intense heat and deluging rains, the suffering that ensued can be understood. And it may be well to say that in that locality at that time of the year, when the sun sets the cold air from the mountains drops down into the valleys and the nights become uncomfortably chilly before morning.

That the statement of the sufferings of these men may not be thought overdrawn, I shall introduce here an extract from the testimony of Major William Duffield Bell, an army surgeon, as given on this point in his report for the War Department:

The First division of the Fifth Army Corps Hospital was the only one in the field. The surgical force in this hospital was insufficient to meet the demands upon it, and numbers of the wounded lay unattended for twelve and even twenty-four hours on the bare ground before their turn came. There was an insufficient supply of proper food for invalids, due to lack of transportation, though there was no lack of surgical supplies at the hospital, thanks to the energy and business like efforts of Major Wood, chief surgeon of the Division Hospital.

Another great want was the scarcity of clothing and blankets. In many cases soldiers were soaked with rain and stiffened with mud from the trenches, so that their clothes had to be removed before an operation or dressing, and could not be put on again. Men were often taken from the operating table and of necessity in many cases were laid upon the wet ground without shelter, and in the majority of cases without even a blanket, and with little or no nourishment for two awful days until the Red Cross Society, under Miss Barton, appeared on the scene.

With no intention to place the blame for the condition of things existing, it is only just to state that had some officers of the commissary and quartermaster's departments displayed the same zeal and enthusiasm as did Major Wood and his officers and men, such things need not have happened, and the poor sick and wounded sufferers would not have had to feel, as many did, that they were almost forgotten by God and man.

A YELLOW FEVER SCARE.

It is not to be wondered at that in such conditions our soldiers began to fall victims to calentura, a prevalent fever from which very few people there escape, even though surrounded by the best sanitary conditions. The yellow fever scare had taken hold of a part of our soldiers before they left the states; and as there were a great many contract surgeons in the army, who were inexperienced in diagnosing tropical fevers, it was not long before it was reported that the yellow fever had broken out, and considerable demoralization ensued. The Red Cross party which was at the front was requested to return to the steamer; and all the buildings at Siboney, including the hospital, were ordered to be burned "to stop the spread of the fever." Dr. and Mrs. Lesser and Sister Minnie Rogal had already fallen victims to the fever, and were at that time lying in the Red Cross Hospital at Siboney. A temporary fever camp had been started in the hills at the back of Siboney, and they were taken there, accompanied by Sisters Isabelle and Annie both of whom afterward had the fever.

Right here let me say that a Dr. Gray connected with the Medical Department of the Army has been quoted in the papers as saying that the Red Cross was to blame for the outbreak of the yellow fever in Siboney, inasmuch as that organization had opened a hospital in a building that had been condemned, before any army hospital had been opened. It is only necessary to say that the Red Cross Hospital was not opened until over a week after the American and Cuban Army Hospitals had been opened in buildings _that had been previously condemned by army officers_.

Referring to this subject, Major Louis A. La Garde, Surgeon U.S.A., has given this testimony:

The Cubans deceived Dr. Pope, as they had deceived Dr. Guiteras, by telling him that there had been no yellow fever in Siboney. Dr. Guiteras believed this. On one occasion he told me that Siboney didn't look like a yellow fever locality, as the place was hilly and well drained, except in a small section to the northeast of the town, where there was a stream. Dr. Guiteras advised that hospitals be established in houses in Siboney, and he thought there was no danger of infection because of such action.

As I write this report the War Investigating Commission is holding its sessions, and the country is impatiently awaiting its decision as to where the blame rests for the many shortcomings that were developed during the Santiago campaign, I have just been reading the testimony of Dr. Frank Donaldson, Assistant Surgeon of Roosevelt's Rough Riders, in which he remarks:

"My experience is that the reason the Rough Riders fared so well was because we hustled for ourselves."

When Dr. Donaldson arrived in Siboney he immediately came aboard the Red Cross steamer and announced that he was about to join the Rough Riders, and would like some supplies to take out with him. He was given everything that he wanted that we had in our stores; and the next day he came with two more members of his regiment, and after having breakfast with us, made another requisition for an increased amount of good things. These were cheerfully given and, in addition, shoes and underclothing from the private wardrobes of the members of the Red Cross were added, to meet the required needs that could not be filled otherwise, owing to the fact that these things were not in the steamer's cargo.

I esteem it a privilege to be able to testify to the exactness of the doctor's testimony as to his ability and success as a "hustler," and still more to be able to show _where_ he "hustled," which appears to have escaped his memory.

A few days previous to the fever scare our supply of ice, coffee, fruit 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.