Young Peoples' History of the War with Spain

other countries of the world felt an interest in it, but did not take any part

ery city and town; thousands of men offered to serve in the army-volunteers they were called; and many persons offered to help in other ways

an

ernment of their own, but Spain sent so many soldiers there that they could not get their freedom. They fought bravely, however, but matters kept getting worse and worse, and at last Spain sent a very cruel general to take charge of affairs in the island. His name was Weyler, and he determined to conquer the islanders. After a while he found he could not do it by fighting them, so

e ought not to have such a cruel man at the head of affairs, and after a while Spain sent another general to take his place. This new governor's name was Blanco, and he really tried to help the poor people, but Spain had very little money to send him to buy food for them, and so they went on dying. The sold

ent Mc

ch I will tell you later, sent hundreds of tons of food, medicines and clothing to them. These supplies were distributed by competent persons, and the relief was very great, but very soon some of the Spaniards began to say that the United States had no business to interfere in the affairs of the island, and to stir up the people. The f

Spain that, unless she took her soldiers away from the island and let the people govern themselves, she would help them to become a free

shall I tell you something about the i

the Wes

st Indias, given by Christopher Columbus, who thought that by sailing westward he had reached islands off the shore of India.

in the tropical regions, and the climate is very hot in the lowlands and on the coasts, but is delightful in the high parts all the

, sugar-cane, and cotton; immense forests of mahogany and other valuable trees. This beautiful vegetation makes these lands fair to look upon. Then, too, there are

l trees and foliage, and poisonous insects swarm in every place. Earthquake shocks are oft

Alf

xist. Many of the Indians were sent to Spain and other countries and sold as slaves; the rest were made to work in the mines, and as the Indians had never been used to such work,

dy said, belonged to Spain. Spain owned another large island, Puerto Rico, which we call Porto

egent o

t a Spanish name, but somehow the old name clung to it, and to-day the whole world knows the island by its native Indian name, Cuba. On account of its position, it is often called the "K

ed since then, but her son will be crowned king as soon as he is old enough. The "little king," as he is often called, was twelve years old