[Illustration: Portrait.] Governor-General Weyler. When the final rebellion was under way the humane Governor-General Martinez Campos was succeeded by General Weyler, ordered to down the rebellion at all costs. Numberless buildings were burnt and plantations destroyed, the insurgents retaliating in kind. Non-combatants were huddled in concentration camps, where half their number perished. American citizens were imprisoned without trial. One, Dr. Ruiz, died under circumstances occasioning strong suspicions of foul play. President Cleveland, while willing to mediate between Spain and the Cubans, preserved a neutral attitude, refusing to recognize the insurgents even as belligerents, though they possessed all rural Cuba save one province. Only when about to quit office did Mr. Cleveland hint at intervention. Soon after McKinley's accession an anarchist shot Premier Canovas, when Sagasta, his Liberal successor, promised Cuba reform and home rule. Weyler was succeeded by Blanco, who revoked concentration, proclaimed amnesty, and set on foot an autonomist government. Americans were loosed from prison. Clara Barton, of the American Red Cross Society, hastened with supplies to the relief of the wretched reconcentrados, turned loose upon a waste. Spain, too, appropriated a large sum for reconcentrado relief, promising implements, seed, and other means for restoring ruined homes and plantations. [Illustration] Copyright. 1898, by F. C. Hemment. U. S. Battleship Maine Entering the Harbor of Havana, January, 1898. But the iron had entered the Cuban's soul. The belligerents rejected absolutely the offers of autonomy, demanding independence. The "pacificos" were no better off than before, and relations between the United States and Spain grew steadily more strained. Two incidents precipitated a crisis. A letter by the Spanish Minister at Washington, Senor de Lome, was intercepted and published, holding President McKinley up as a time-serving politician. De Lome forestalled recall by resigning; yet his successor, Polo y Bernabe, could not fail to note on arriving in Washington a chill diplomatic atmosphere. [Illustration] Wreck of U. S. Battleship Maine. Photograph by F. C. Hemment. In January, 1898, the United States battleship Maine was on a friendly visit at Havana, where she was received with the greatest courtesy, being taken to her harbor berth by the Spanish government pilot. At 9.40 on the evening of February 15th, the harbor air was rent by a tremendous explosion. Where the Maine had been, only a low shapeless hump was distinguishable. The splendid vessel, with officers and crew on board to the number of 355, had sunk, a wreck. Of the 355, 253 never saw day.