The general cargo of the “Clinton” was unloaded at Egmont Key, and as the charter of the vessel expired in a few days, she was hurried away to New Orleans, carrying the forty Red Cross mules in charge of Mr. C.H.H. Cottrell, financial secretary.
Accompanied by Dr. Hubbell, I then proceeded to Tampa to arrange for the shipment of the general cargo of the “Clinton” to that port, where much of it could be used for the Cuban refugees at that place who are being cared for by the Red Cross. The supplies were delivered to Dr. S.S. Partello, field agent at that point, whose efficient service among the Cubans, and in the auxiliary relief work in the army hospitals, has elicited many words of satisfaction and praise.
A few days later Miss Barton and staff, accompanied by General Von Schell, of the Belgium Red Cross, left Tampa for Washington.
Not long after our arrival, word came that the steamer “City of San Antonio” was loading in New York with relief supplies. Mr. J.K. Elwell was assigned by Miss Barton to go to Cuba with this ship in charge of its cargo and I in charge of the medical and hospital supplies.
On the arrival of the ship at Matanzas, the large warehouse owned by Brinkerhoff & Co., was placed at the disposition of the Red Cross. With the large lighters, of which there are many at this port, the vessel was quickly discharged and released.
The governor of Matanzas, Senor Eduardo Diaz, a man pre-eminently fitted for the position of responsibility which he held under the Spanish Government, contributed much of his time and means in furthering the work of relief. Day and night he went about investigating the condition of the people, placed at our disposal every facility, and furnished special trains when needed. He was not only an able and just administrator of public affairs, but a humanitarian as well. Taking him all in all, he was a man among the men of his country.
In Matanzas women and children walked the streets day and night begging. I suggested to the governor that it would be well to have all these poor people collected in institutions where they could be clothed, fed and cared for until they were able to care for themselves. In twenty-four hours after the governor’s order was issued, these people were all housed and being fed from the stores of the “San Antonio.”
At Matanzas we found a dispensary conducted by the Firemen’s Association. It was a model institution, and here 300 to 400 little children were fed every day, but their scanty store of provisions was running out, and so we left with them general food and delicacies and medicines sufficient for three months.
All places in the western provinces were handled after the manner of Matanzas. Twenty-two institutions, including hospitals and asylums, were opened, and the sick, the women and the children, for the first time in many months, were sheltered and made comfortable. The regeneration of the hospital at Jovellanos will serve as an example of the work that had to be done in many of the interior towns. The building itself manifested signs of former prosperity and cleanliness. It was a stately edifice, after the Doric style. The pillars were crumbling and broken, the patio was a pool of mud, the yard in the rear was a laboratory of infectious germs, and all in a filthy condition. A Chinaman lay in what was called the “dead house.” He had died of starvation; so they said. The three coffins which had been repeatedly used to carry the dead to the grave, stood up against the wall. It was a perfect picture of poverty and filth.
The Chinaman lay on a slightly inclined board, with no clothing, covered only by an old blanket. Removing the blanket from his body revealed the fact that the man was not dead, but still breathing. He was at once bathed, removed to a clean bed and given light nutriment at intervals, and the next day was sitting up smiling his appreciation, for he could not speak English at all, and but little Spanish.