"Pa says that if you Americans had attacked Havana when you declared war it would have surrendered in five hours, but that it is now fortified so that it is strong as Gibraltar. You know, they built a great big railroad upon sticks, in front of the forts, and took cars of sand and dumped them down, so that they have a mound in front of all the forts about thirty feet wide and ten feet high. I went over the fortifications yesterday, and I saw fifteen of those immense 12-inch guns. They say they can shoot twelve miles. We have got 50,000 troops here in Havana, and 60,000 in the provinces, and some 40,000 volunteers. These are all veterans, and all the generals say that it would take an army of 200,000 to beat us. The coast is all supplied with telephone and telegraph wires, so that any time your boats attempt to land we can have a big force there in a couple of hours to drive them off. Part of Cervera's fleet is in Santiago. There is so much mystery about this! Whether the admiral is there or not, no one seems to know. The rest of the fleet, some fifteen vessels, is somewhere down in the Antilles, and Captain-General Blanco says they are going to attack your coast in about three weeks.
"The Alfonso XII. has been turned into a hospital ship, and all her guns have been taken out of her. You know she is the boat that was anchored opposite the Maine and had in her the pneumatic torpedoes. They say a man named Arjona had something to do with the blowing up of the Maine, but I guess it was Weyler's orders. . . .
"The whole city is divided up into sections on what they call the 'Humanity Committee's plan.' They find out who are in sympathy with the Cubans or with the United States; and in case Havana is bombarded all these people are going to be thrown into Cabanas or shot. The people are such fools they think nothing is known about what they are doing."
We told you in a recent number about the unsuccessful result of the attempt to land an expedition in Cuba; this result was largely due, no doubt, to the fact that the Spaniards were advised in advance, through Spanish spies in this country, of the intended departure of the expedition. On May 31st, the steamer Florida returned to Key West, after having successfully landed an important expedition on the island. This time they succeeded in taking their departure without it being known to any one. The expedition, consisting of about four hundred men, with a pack-train and a large quantity of arms and ammunition, sailed for Guantanamo on the night of May 21st. The expedition was under command of Colonel Lacret, with whom was Captain J. A. Dorst, of the United States army. The men were equipped with canvas uniforms furnished by the Government, and had rations sufficient for fifteen days after landing; the pack-train consisted of seventy-five mules and twenty-five horses; the expedition landed on the coast of Cuba, Thursday morning, May 26th. The Florida, escorted by the gunboat Osceola, drew up close to the shore, and first landed scouts to ascertain if all was clear; these scouts were met by a band of 1,500 insurgents, under Captains Vereira and Rojas. There was absolutely no interruption to the unloading of the Florida, as no sign of a Spaniard was seen. This is the largest expedition which has ever been landed in Cuba in aid of the insurgents.
There is a very interesting account of the origin of the Red Cross Society in The Churchman. About forty years ago, M. Henry Dimont, a native of Switzerland, having witnessed the unnecessary suffering of the wounded, from lack of care, at the battle of Solferino, was so much impressed that he published a book, pointing out the necessity of forming a corporation of nurses to work in the cause of humanity in time of war, regardless of nationality of the injured, and who should be permitted to aid the wounded on the battle-field, under the protection of a flag which should be recognized as neutral.
So much interest was taken in the idea that the outcome was a convention held at Geneva in 1864, which was attended by representatives from sixteen of the great nations of the world, who signed an agreement that they would protect members of the association when caring for the wounded on the field of battle. The society adopted for its colors the Swiss cross, as a compliment to its birthplace; they, however, reversed the colors, and the flag is therefore a red cross on a white field, and is the only military hospital flag of civilized warfare; it protects persons from molestation who work under the emblem performing services in aid of the wounded. Great care is used in granting permission to persons to wear this emblem; and in order that it shall not be taken advantage of to spy in the enemies' camp, private marks are added to prevent imitation. The headquarters of the International Committee is at Geneva; the president of the society is M. Gustav Moynier.
In 1882, Miss Clara Barton was delegated by the President of the United States to represent this country at the Congress of the Red Cross Committee, and was made a member of the International Board of Managers when the United States signed the international treaty.
It was decided that the work of the Red Cross Society should not be confined to times of war, but that in case of disasters and calamities, which were always to be apprehended, the organization was to provide aid. During the past seventeen years the American Red Cross Society has served in fifteen disasters and famines, and Russians, Armenians, and Cubans have received aid from this society.