In the autumn of 1881 a final effort was made to gain the agreement of the United States to the stipulations of the convention of Geneva, and assurances were given by President Arthur of his willingness to accede. The President and the Senate subsequently formally recognized the association, and the treaty was signed March 16, 1882. Pending this action by the government, a national society was formed and incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia, bearing the name of the American Association of the Red Cross. By this international treaty the Red Cross society is given peculiar privileges in times of war, and its agents and officers are permitted to carry on their work without hindrance from either of the belligerents, but they are prohibited from having anything, however remote, to do with military or naval operations. They deal exclusively with the means provided to aid the wounded, relieve the suffering, and care for the sick, in all of which the Red Cross agents know neither friend nor foe. In case of a battle the ambulances, surgeons and nurses of the society go upon the field at soon as it is possible for them to do so and carry out the work of mercy that has been undertaken. The American society has been generous in extending its aid to other countries in times of war, and during the Franco-Prussian hostilities in 1870-71 it sent to Paris from its own funds $120,000, while the French branch expended $2,500,000. Even the Spanish branch contributed to the humanitarian work of that war in the sum of $4,000. In the Turko-Russian, the Tunisian, the Tonquin, the Madagascar, the Greeco-Turkish and several other wars the Red Cross has carried on its work of mercy. MISS CLARA BARTON. When the war of the Rebellion begun Miss Clara Barton was a clerk in the Patent Office in Washington. She resigned her position to devote herself to the care of wounded soldiers on the field of battle. In 1864 she was appointed by General Butler "lady in charge" of the hospitals at the front of the Army of the James. In 1865 she was sent to Andersonville, Georgia, to identify and mark the graves of Union soldiers buried there, and in the same year was placed by President Lincoln in charge of the search for the missing men of the Union army, and while engaged in this work she traced out the fate of 30,000 men. In 1873 she inaugurated a movement to secure recognition of the Red Cross society by the United States government, and finally, during the administration of President Arthur, she saw her labors rewarded. She naturally became President of the American branch of the society, which was founded in 1882, and she still holds that honored office. WORK IN CUBA.