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(The Charleston Mercury for September 12, 1861) Our readers will be pleased to see that the Captain-General of Cuba, acting on the authority of the Proclamation of the Queen of Spain, has declared that vessels, occupied in legitimate commerce, proceeding from ports of the Southern Confederate States of America, shall be entered and cleared under the Confederate States flag, and shall be duly protected by the authorities of the Island; and further, that foreign Consuls be notified that no interference on their part can be tolerated.

It will also be gratifying to learn that the Spanish Consul at Charleston, Senor Moncada, will, in a day or two, clear a vessel from this port as from the Confederate States.

As this passage from The Situation, a recurring feature in The New York Herald throughout the war that brought readers bits of news and information that did not warrant a complete article, shows, both the US Government and the Confederacy considered control of the slant and tone of news reaching citizens an important part of a successful strategy.

In the August 23, 1861 issue, the paper shared this information with its readers:

The (Federal) government has inaugurated a vigorous crusade against Northern journals whose articles favor the treasonable practices of the Southern rebels. The New York Daily News was seized by the United States Marshal in Philadelphia yesterday, and its transit to the South and West totally cut off. The same official also took possession of the office of the Christian Observer, which has been deprecating what it calls the present war.

The authorities at the South appear to be exercising a like supervision over those Northern papers which do not represent the views of the rebels. A committee is established at Nashville, Tennessee, which takes hold of all bundles of Northern papers and prohibits their going further South, unless the tone of their articles and news suits their peculiar ideas.

This is done no doubt for the purpose of keeping the Southern people in ignorance of the true feeling of the North, and the real objects of the war, and enabling the rebel leaders to circulate the most atrocious falsehoods concerning the spirit and the conduct of the Union army, which we are credibly informed they do not hesitate to do, in order to keep up a feeling of bitter hostility to the United States government and the people of the North.

Dr. Anna Howard Shaw makes the following stirring appeal to the women of America. These words have a special meaning in the days we celebrate our independence.

We ask the native born American women to consider the principles for which the American commonwealth stands, the magnitude and the daring of these principles, and, because of that very daring, the dancer which lies in the effort to put into effect the American ideal. We ask them to consider the courage and energy of the American women of the Revolution, who supported their husbands and sons in casting off conventional ties, and the need of help to American men today In fighting, by means of the ballot, internal disasters more formidable to this country than military foes from without.

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Whether or not the Federal Suffrage Amendment is ratified by a sufficient number of the States in time to permit the women of every State to vote in the next Presidential campaign, there will be 15,492,751 women eligible to vote in 1920. Leaders of women in this country are endeavoring to increase the number to 29,000,000, by securing the ratification of the Federal Amendment by thirty-six States within the next few month.

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(Frank Leslies Weekly/July 25, 1907) The automobile has worked a great change in mining in the desert regions of the West. Formerly many mines could not be opened because of their distance from a base of supplies and the difficulty of hauling food by mule-power. Now the automobile is used both for passenger and freight purposes, and it is possible to reach in hours claims that were a little while ago days away from the railroad. It is possible in level districts to make a mile a minute over the sandy wastes, for no speed laws hamper the mining men. It is reported, however, that the friction on the hot sand occasionally melts the cement of the tires.

COMPLAINT is made by some automobilists (chiefly the speed enthusiasts) that the oiled or tarred road, by reason of its dark color, is difficult to follow after nightfall, whereas the light surface of the clay or macadam road is comparatively plain to view, even on rather a dark night. The average automobilist, however, using good lights and maintaining a reasonable speed, should have no great trouble from this cause.