ELBERT HUBBARD penned his classic essay, A Message to Garcia" in one hour after a dinnertime discussion with his family. At dinner, Hubbard's son, Bert, claimed that the true hero of a particular Spanish-American war battle was Rowan -- a messenger who braved death by carrying a note behind the lines to Garcia, the leader of the insurgents.

The essay originally ran in Hubbard's magazine, The Philistine, in February, 1899. Inspired by its message, George Daniels of the New York Central Railroad asked permission to reprint and distribute 500,000 copies. Prince Hilakoff, Director of Russian Railways, read one of Daniel's reprints and had it translated into Russian. A Message to Garcia was distributed to every one of his railroad employees.

The Russian military then picked up the ball: each Russian soldier sent to the Japanese front was given a copy. The Japanese found the essay in the possession of the Russian prisoners and subsequently had it translated into Japanese. On an order of the Mikado, a copy was given to each member of the Japanese government. 

Ultimately, forty million copies of A Message To Garcia were published.

Rotarian articles from Wolfgang Ziegler

There is more on this subject, including the author's life, death and involvement with Rotary International at www.messagetogarcia.org

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