The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-09
FRESH FROM THE FIELD.
Mrs. Porter Tells What She Has
Seen of Red Cross Work.


| Mrs John Addison Porter, who has but
| recently returned from Cuba. said to cor
respondent of the Chicago Times-Herald:
"Such bravery as was exhibited by our
men in the battle of Santiago and after 1t
| can never be exceeded in the history Of
| the world. The women Of America may
well be proud of the they have given
| to fight their countrys battles Their valor
| during engagements and the heroic fortltude
with which the wounded bore their suffer-
| ings can never be praised too much. They
| were all heroes, every one of them, and some
of the individual instances were most pa
| For instance. in the First division hos
| pttal there was quite a young fellow, stu
dent from Ann Arbor. who had lost both an
arm and leg. When he was getting over
the first shock of amputation he cheer
| full, and when some one asked him If he
didn't think he had been dealt pretty hard
with, replied:
go, no. I think I've been remarkably
fortunate. never expected to save my life
! And that was the spirit of all the sick
cheerful. and thankful that it was no worse
| with them. The thing that seemed to trouble
the men more than anything else was when
| they had lost an eye or the doctor said the
loss Of sight as much more of calamity
| than the loss Of limb or any other kind Of
wound.
t'All the men in the hospital were eager
| and anxious to hear what was going *
the front and impatient to get back into the
| fray. To see and hear them was baptism
| or PATRIOTISM ana bravery.
In regard to the Red Cross work, Mrs.
Porter said
1.-The people engaged in 1t doing the
! grandest work for humanity. that has ever
front at such time to tend the sick and
wounded. to encounter all the terrible con-
diseases. are doing even more than obeying
the Biblical instruction, Love thy neigh
Dor as myself They are loving their neigh
bors great deal more than themselves:
The self-abnegation exhibited by the Red
! Cross workers Is something almost beyond
! belief unless one has seen it, as have done.
called on. and always ready to answer every
call; Boston physician who has given up
his lucrative practice at home and devoted
most of the time amid miserable accommo-
| dations, to the Red Cross work since the
first of the year, and ,., now is IN the thick
working without cessation.
| 81 know one Red Cross sister who has
worked steadily with the wounded for three
days. suhs:sting on only a cup of coffee,
which she managed to get each morning. They
seem fairly uplifted by the glorious character
! of their work for humanity
| Mrs. Porter was able to accomplish much
| good in assuming an authority whereby in
many instances supplies could be given to
| our men which, through the long drawn out
red-tapism of official etiquet and order, might
| never have reached them
| On the day when there was a susrensicn
Santiago us Mrs Porter Porter rode from siboney
| to within half mile of Santiago on horse
| back. Maj. Wood. in charge of the division
hospital was going ana thinking 1t might
be her last opportunity. urged her to &C ON
| pany him. AS they neared the outposts Of
our troops they met some young soldiers
who stopped and looked so steadfastly at
| Mrs. Porter as to be rather embarrassing
because she fully conscious that she was
not in regulation Fifth avenue riding habit
| At last one of them said:
excuse u.s. madam, for looking so hard
| but we haven't seen woman for four
months. and we never thought one wou come
! this far to see or help U.S.
Mrs. Porter said it was worth gong twice
! the distance and enduring many times the
discomforts to have the men so , pleased Sc, to
! that she could dc for them. She is firm
believer in the theory that an ounce of PEE
Yention is worth a pound of cure.
getting right to the spot where they are
needed and taking their stores along with
| them" she said. "You know. the Red Cross
got food even into Ell Caney to the refugees
before they had any other supplies what
ever
"Our poor men suffered many times from
awful hunger. 1 saw numbers OF them who
would walk way from Santiago into honey
and canned corned beef. and be so thankful
to get it. They never complained about any
| thing.
lone day we passed place where young
| fellow was on guard and one OF our Iarty
comfortable and he replied that he was aid
| he looked comfortable he didn't feel so, be-
| cause he had never had his clothes of since
never had time to get them off. or others to
| put on if they had come of.
| 'Fyery man seemed to vie with his COM
| rade in trying to do the most toiling and
were not actually fighting. 1t made my
| heart overflow to see 1t all.