The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 47, September 30, 1897 A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls

Excerpt

It is said that the Sultan of Turkey has at last made up his mind to do something for the Armenians, and has ordered that a commission visit the villages that have suffered from the massacres, and make a careful note of the schools, churches, and monasteries which have been destroyed.

This Royal Commission is composed of two Mussulmans, three Armenians, and one Greek.

It is to start immediately, and the Sultan has ordered that a careful note of all the damage done shall be taken, and a full report rendered to him. It is his intention to reconstruct every building that has been destroyed.

In addition to this, he intends to erect orphan asylums for the children whose parents were killed during the massacres.

If this report is really true it will greatly rejoice Europe as well as the unfortunate people it is intended to benefit, for the impossibility of making the Sultan do anything for the Armenians has been worrying the various European governments considerably.

There is nothing new to tell about the peace negotiations.

England insists that the Turks shall leave Thessaly, and it seems as if the other Powers were willing to agree with her. The Sultan has thus far raised no new objections, and it looks as if peace would be concluded within a very short time.

The Cubans are rejoicing over the news which we have to tell you this week.

They have won a great victory which is of the utmost importance to their cause.

Under the leadership of Gen. Calixto Garcia, the insurgents have taken Victoria de las Tunas, a large town in the province of Santiago de Cuba.

This town was considered one of the great Spanish strongholds in Eastern Cuba. At the beginning of the present revolution it was freshly fortified, and at the time of its capture was defended by seven forts, which were armed with first-class guns.

It was garrisoned by a force of three hundred soldiers, but after a fight which lasted three days, the commander surrendered.

The loss of this town was such a severe blow, that the moment the bad news reached Spain a Cabinet Council was called, to discuss the situation. It was decided that the Spanish cause must be upheld at all hazards, and that fresh troops must immediately be sent to Cuba, to strike some decisive blow which shall offset the triumph of the Cubans.

The capture of this town is of great value to the Cubans for several reasons, one of which is that it breaks the strength of Spain in Eastern Cuba.

We have told you before that this part of the island is now known as Free Cuba, that the insurgent government controls it, and that there are no Spanish troops marching through it, ravaging it or laying it waste. What soldiers Spain still keeps in this part of the island are shut up in a few large and important towns.

These towns are, however, more of a burden than a profit to the Government, for the Spaniards dare not venture out into the surrounding country, the Cubans being too strong for them.

They are thus practically besieged; their supplies have to be sent to them from Havana, and they are entirely dependent on the main army for support.

For months past the great object of the Cuban troops in Eastern Cuba has been to waylay the baggage-trains carrying these supplies. Again and again they have been attacked, the guard slaughtered, and the provisions captured....