Correspondence in Time of War
When hostilities are in progress, and the usual means of communication between the belligerent countries are suspended, prisoners of war are enabled to communicate with their homes through the medium of the Red Cross of neutral nations. Thus, for example, during the late Spanish-American war the prisoners on board the prize ships at Key West were, by an arrangement made with the authorities of the United States Government, permitted to write to their friends and relatives. The letters were, of course, first viséd and certified by the American National Red Cross, and those addressed to persons within the Spanish lines were forwarded through the Red Cross of Portugal.