Show I 1 kl I 1 8 SKETCHES I 1 i i SHORT STORIES FOR THE VETERANS awo of the batho batue of santiago gea G n grant and a girl saratoga ea jude jade from whom mr grant Reo bati ettes iler her husband porto nico oh ob the soft blue octaves of the southern sea A are re beneath the stars and the moonlight whitens the shining sands tossed upon the corma coral bars bam but the he sentry shivers with righteous leous dread AB he stands in the frowning tower ata measures the time as the light wears on with the wasting of spanish power and the soft blue waves of the southern sea laush la u gh merrily as they feel the ahe throbbing caress of a swift young fleet and the force of its arms of steel but the quivering form of the sentry sways in the grip or of a mighty fear and the frowning granite grows ashen gray As the hurrying morn draws near oh the soft blue waves of the southern are sea flashing with glad white stars I 1 that at are dashing S their luminous purity I 1 oer silver and crimson bars I 1 and the sentry reads on the rising tide j As it lashes the groaning walls the message of angered destiny condemning the pride that falls alls and the soft blue waves of the southern sea shall reach with their kind embrace and wash from the ruins of tyranny forever fever F ever each cruel trace and the sentry gone from his ghastly watch fn an penitent dreams shall see the flowers of freedom en wreathing the isle that is what it seems to be george E bowen in chicago dally daily news I 1 two incidents incident president mckinley a proclamation asking the american people to stay the feeling of exultation over recent victories and reverently bowing before almighty god to give thanks for divine help and pray for speedy peace marks us as a christian nation but no less significant has been the conduct of our officers and soldiers in the field among other incidents showing the christian spirit in the midst of the horrors of battle are two tn 0 so tender and reverent as to be worthy of permanent record when the yellow and red flag on the spanish cruiser almirante Oquendo was pulled down during the destruction of admiral cerveris veras fleet and the americans flushed with conquest were on the point of expressing their triumph in a wild cheer their commander gave the order to his men dont cheer boys the poor fellows are dying and the flag came down in silence I 1 was not this not merely an exhibition of christian magnanimity but in harmony with the gentle consideration inculcated by the great teacher the united states cruiser texas went through the battle exposed to the ene mys mya fiercest fire with only a single wound and without the loss of a man at the close she lay on a still sea alongside the christobal colon the last surrendered spanish ship it was a beautiful afternoon writes chaplain jones gods heavens never looked so clear and the stars and stripes never seemed so pure as they did then the order went out from captain philip all hands to muster the crew hurried to the quarter deck and soon the chief master at al arms reported the last man up from below who could be allowed to leave his station all stood wondering what their commander was going to do the captain uncovered his head and said in a reverent voice 1 I want to make public acknowledgment that I 1 believe in god the father fathe r almighty I 1 want all you officers leers off and men to lift your hats and from your hearts otter offer silent thanks to god every hat came off and every head hea d was bowed not nat a sound was heard to for r nearly two minutes and then with one accord the whole crew broke out with three hearty cheers for their gallant commander bayard tay taylors lors well known line sings the bravest are the kenderest ten derest we mean more than mere physical bravery when we say the bravest i are I 1 the most reverent all the reverent tenderness of these battle incidents thrills us in the thanksgiving proclamation of our president himself a soldier the composition Is one of beau bean ty but higher than th an its literary graze grace is the ma magnanimous spirit in which it rebukes noisy exultation and exhorts to compass compassion ton for the fallen and thanks to the god of 0 hosts who has watched over our cause and brought nearer the success of the right and the attainment of peace in the midst of this war against centuries of human injustice there is a felicity in the fact that in camp and ship and hospital our troops have the best religious accessories of a god fearing nation and that so many of our chief military and naval leaders are men of christian record and character the virtue and piety of ii a warrior lives ilves in rugged surroundings hut but no fighting generation ever had more MOM havelocke Have locks and howards ind and Farra guts thin than ours gum birin Z ia x gunthe spectator of the outlook tells how he be went to sandy hoofe book and saw wa testing of smokeless powder der from one of uncle sams sains big guns a fina Z thirty five lee feet t long weigh alta fl five e tons I 1 its charge la is one hund a and wd pounds more or altes it i aw tta prod pro bettle weighs el il thousand poun pounds di d iii F do execution ati I 1 jr te amt 4 at over axy itty r V thou thoi i 4 3 I 1 I 1 2 il Ss VE F fe 4 i Q r 57 0 1 g Y ig 4 vt 0 gwi arl ir r z 2 F M sand dollars to make ma ice suet such a gun and ana a hundred and fifty dollars to fire tt it once this was the metho dot dof firing two bags of coarse canvas each perhaps thirty inches long and ten inches in diameter were trundled up to the gun and lifted to the platform I 1 at the breech ten feet above the ground each b bag W contained sixty five pounds ot of smokeless powder each grain of powder is a cylinder two and a halt inches tuch eslon long g and nearly an inch in diameter perforated perforate d lengthwise with seven holes to give the greatest possible combustion surface A pointed projectile three feet long ions and weighing a thousand pounds do was placed in the gun then two bags of powder behind it the breechblock breech block was made fast and spectators were escorted to a platform a hundred feet away the officer blew a shrill and the men scurried out of range the experienced placed their fingers in their ears and the uninitiated imitated them the mizzle of the gun became a maas ot of flame there was a crash of sound halt half a mile seaward a waterspout sprang into the air some seconds later another waterspout appeared a mile nearer spain and a third th ird was seen still later fully three miles out to sea the smokeless powder was thus tested teste tor for the velocity ot of its projectile e and its pressure on the breech ot of the gun the charge of a hundred and thirty tTy pounds was found to to have given a velocity of two thousand one hundred and forty a second about double the speed et ef sound and a pressure of twenty nine thousand eight hundred inch of the t he pounds on an each square breech for a second shot the officer wished to secure a velocity of two thousand thou saAd two hundred and fifty feet a second and so accurate was his calculation and so reliable the forces under his control that after the projectile had ricochet ted its picturesque way for miles to tosea aea the record showed a speed of just three feet a second more than had been planned grant and ft a idt girl the kiss which hobson heroically received from a st louis lady la dy at long beach recalls an incident in which the late general U S grant figured without however sharing the blushing honor just after the close of the civil war general grant with his family went to the union hotel at saratoga springs major william W leland the proprietor of the hotel had been chief commissary on the generals staff he gave a banquet to general grant and his wife many officers who were from the army of the tennessee were present as well as several prominent p eminent omi nent citizens during the dinner the guests were somewhat startled to see a saratoga sarat oga belle advance with gracious grecian bend and ask permission of the general to kiss him there was only conot on there who received the generals salute to that high person he now deferred turning he be said with mrs grants permission mrs grant had as everyone observed a drooping lid she was obliged therefore to throw back her head to get a good look at the audEL audacious cious supplicant cant who now had not only the eyes of all the distinguished company on her but those of the other guests of the hotel aswell as well after an embarrassing pause in which mrs grant had time to consider the offensive charge on her defenseless fen fea seless spouse and fortify herself against the fair enemy she came to his relief and declined to capitulate nothing daunted however and to prove to those present that the american girl has nerve as well as mettle the fair heroine seized the generals hand and said well as you will not kiss me I 1 will shake your hand band and retired with all the honors of war vanquished but not subdued new york mall mail and express two incidents here are two wo incidents of war times which are full of meaning to the thoughtful american in the th e civil war companies of colored tr troops oops on their way to the front were forbidden to march through the principal streets of philadelphia lest they should be stoned by the mob they were going to give their lives tor for their country but they were led through alleys and obscure streets to do it so strong was the prejudice against them in this northern city the washington star published the other day an account of a visit made by one of its reporters to the wounded soldiers at washington barracks two colored soldiers came up op both ot of whom were recovering from wounds the reporter spoke to one of them a bright faced mulatto asking where he had been shot in the charge up san juan hill in july he answered 1 I belong to troop E ninth cavalry the ball entered m my y cheek the artery was cut and was squirting blood I 1 managed mana ed to get back of the firing une line somehow but b tu the doctor said he could do nothing for me just then a hough adough rider luder came an uil he put his thump thumb on my jugular vein and held bela it there two boum hoars two hours and me a negro he sav saved edmy my life then the surgeon a gr geon pt ais s troop came up and sent a surk surgeon eom both the american and english correspondents at Sant santiago lago bore tes al mony to the courage and ancl 0 the colored t troops As ai wadk wrote one cue the blick men in that ranted ranked with the first the change of feeling between n oar cur i white abi laa is surely toa 6 of good senata ai and Chri UI ty 7 I 1 t s 1 7 |