It is a comfort to me as I write to know that his skillful hand is now on the keys that have for such weary months locked in the untold agonies of the terrible dens in western Cuba, designated, for the lack of some more appropriate term, as "hospitals." REPORT BY E. WINFIELD EGAN, M.D. The first official word of the Port Royal Relief Field, ambiguously called the Sea Island Relief Field, came to Dr. J.B. Hubbell, the general field agent of the American National Red Cross, with whom it was my privilege to be at Indianapolis, attending the annual reunion of the Grand Army, where, for the first time in the history of that organization, the Red Cross of Geneva took its place upon the arms of the surgeons, the ambulances and the tents which were regularly distributed along the line of march. Twenty-four hours found us en route to Beaufort, S.C., which was to be the headquarters of the American National Red Cross, through its year of effort to take care of 30,000 human beings living upon the islands, known as the "Sea Island" or Old Port Royal group, as they were called during the war, lying off the coast of South Carolina, between Charleston and Savannah, and which had been devastated by that memorable cyclone of August 27, 1893. I reported to the president, at headquarters, for duty the twenty-eighth day of September, 1893. Upon arrival I found the president and field secretary quartered in an unused club house, using parts of billiard tables for dining purposes, desks made of dry goods boxes, crude furniture made in a day and nicely upholstered with manila paper--in short, it was camping out indoors. The local relief committee was still in charge, Miss Barton and her staff meeting with them by invitation as an advisory board. The Red Cross headquarters was the scene of busy census takers; men from every part of the field were constantly coming and going, bringing reports of the number of people, their condition, the condition of their homes and their needs. Their reports were being carefully indexed and entered upon one great book for future reference, a record of the greatest relief field America has ever known. October 2, came my "marching orders" which were, "Take charge of the warehouse and stores, make an inventory of them, disperse these men and rid this city of the demoralizing influence of idle people." The doors were closed and preparations for an inventory begun. The manner of distribution previous to November 2, though performed by willing workers, was not, could not be, that systematic distribution which comes only after years of experience. The warehouse had to be cleaned, partitioned, shelved and made ready for the repacking, separating heavy from light goods, and getting ready for receiving and shipping. The inventory showed not enough food to keep ten families two weeks.