ABSTRACT
The most important activity of the Columbus Cuban League in the first months of 1898 was charitable in character, managing the collection of funds for Cuban relief. This chapter reviews the content of the three Columbus newspapers. The aims are twofold, to indicate what the three reported about Cuban events and to seek evidence of public responses in the period from January to April of 1898. To simplify somewhat, each of the many events will be covered in the following sequence: State Journal, Dispatch, Evening Press. Apart from an evident sympathy for the suffering Cubans and approval of humanitarian aid, there were few indications of demands for more serious American involvement. The memorial meeting for the dead sailors was the first local event reported in 1898 that might be taken as evidence of a public clamor for a stronger American response. But even that gathering can hardly be read as an expression of "mass" demands.
