The Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, June 16, 1898, Image 3

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HOW THE AMERICAN AND BRITISH SOLDIERS ONCE BRAVELY STORMED AND TOOK THE FAMOUS MORRO CASTLE I MEDALS FOR DEWEYS MEN
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THE STRATEGY BOARD
Ex Fijjhtiiifr Men Who Direct the
Movements of Ships
Admirals Dewey and Sampson with
Commodores Schley and Watson do the
fighting but there are four men in
Washington who tell them what they
shail do and when These are the
members of the Board of Strategy who
have charge of the conduct of the war
on sea and so far as possible direct
the battles leaving only the details to
the fleet commanders Each man on
the board has seen a good deal of real
nervice and can fight as well as any
man in the navy Aside from this they
are well skilled in the science of war
and are able to plan battles with al
most mathematical certainty The
members of the board are Rear Ad
miral Montgomery Sicard Captains A
T Mahan A S Crowniushield and A
S Barker all experts
Rear Admiral Sicard was born in
183G graduated from the Naval Acad
emy in 1SG1 and was a first lieutenant
during the war He fought in the
West at Forts Jackson and St Philip
and Yicksburg Like Dewey he was at
Fort Fisher Since the war he has had
charge of important stations the last
mTTw
TIJE STRATEGY BOARD
Sicard Mahan
Crowniushield Barker
being the command of the North At
lantic Squadron at Key West from
which he was released in April owing
to ill health Sampson being placed in
command Capt Mahan saw service
during one year of the civil war He is
an expert in naval affairs and has al
ways held important land positions
Capt Crowninshield is a native of New
York and graduated front the NavaL
Academy in 1SG3 bis first service being
on the steam sloop Ticonderoga with
the North Atlantic blockading squad
ron He participated in both attacks
on Fort Fisher He reached his present
grade of captain in 1S94 and preceded
Capt Sigsbee in the command of the
Maine He has lately been a member
of the Naval Advisory Board Capt
Barker was at the Naval Academy
when the war broke out but was or
dered into active service on the frigate
Mississippi and took part in the cap
ture of New Orleans and the fight at
Tort nudson when the Mississippi was
lost He commanded the Enterprise in
1SS3 SG when a line of deep sea sound
ings was run across the Atlantic and
Indian Oceans and from New Zealand
to the Straits of Magellan He was the
first man in America touse guns load
ed with dynamite
Military1 Justice
Old Judge Dole an early settler of
Pike in the county of Wyoming New
York was a military man in his early
days having to quote his own words
-fit the Britishers in the war of 1S12
And be carried his habits of military
discipline into the management of bis
farm
One hot summer day his hired men
five or sis in number decided to take a
nap after their luncheon of doughnuts
and pie instead of setting to work
agala ft haymaking They selected one
of their number to act as sentinel and
Keep watch for the old judge and the
rest of them stretched themselves at
full length in the shade of a big tree
Unfortunately or fortunately the
also yielded to the desire for
hunJieiv and at the eud of ten minuter
was last asleep at his post
Just five minutes later the judge ap
peared to see how the work was go t
ing on and he saw at once the state
of affairs From the sentinels posi
tion the judge -knew what duty the
man had been expected to perform and
without waiting for any explanaton
ho proceeded to administer a sound
drubbing with his stick
When he had sufficiently admonished
the sentinel the old judge let him go
saying There I guess thatll learn
you not to sleep on your post And
without taking the least notice of the
other sleepers the disciplinarian
marched off perfectly satisfied
UNIFORMS IN AFRICA
The Natives Show a ILove of Soldiers
Cast off Garments
In the course of my travels in
South Africa I have been greatly
struck by the fondness of the natives
for gaudy apparel particularly uni
forms These are the cast off uni
forms of the various regiments that
have been stationed In the country
from time to time Here at Durban
one can see every day scores of na
tives dressed in most ludicrous fash
ion partially clothed in military ap
parel the coats usually having all the
buttons stripes and the like complete
You will see a ragged unkempt Kaf
fir leading a team of oxen wearing
a much soiled scarlet tunic or a dark
blue tunic with tattered yellow braid
or gold lace and woefully dirty or
else a stable jacket out at elbows with
the yellow braid or gold wire lines
probably round his waist no shoes
stockings or head gear and merely a
cloth round his loins or at least a
ragged pair of breeches
The coolies who are employed here
so largely are just as great offenders
All about the place one sees shops
with large quantities of uniforres dis
played for sale It is not very long
ago that the authorities at home woke
tip to the fact that it was derogatory
to the dignity of the cloth to allow
sandwich men and others to wear cast
off uniforms and thus degrade the
soldiers garb It was bad enough in
all conscience to see the loafers in
England wearing uniforms but far
worse is it to see dirty niggers and
loafing Indians strutting about the
streets partially dressed in our gal
lant soldiers clothes It is an insult
to the whole British army and a
strong representation should be made
to the colony that the wearing of
tary uniforms by civilians should be
discontinued and made a punishable
offense as in England Correspond
ence of the London Graphic
Dinah Might -
The Syracuse Post says that a girl
baby was recently brought to a clergy
man of the city to be baptized The
latter asked the name of the baby
Dinah M the father responded
But what does the M stand f or
interrogated the minister
Well I do not know yet it ail de
pends upon how she turns out
How she turns out Why I do not
understand you said the dominie
Oh if she turns out nice and sweet
and handy about the house like her
mother I shall call her Dinah May
But if she has a fiery temper and dis
plays a bombshell disposition like
mine I shall call her Dinah Might
Making up Horses
Ladies have not got the art of making-up
all to themselves The silvery
hued mane tall and forelock which
contrast so beautifully with the coats
of dark colored horses are produced
by the ttse of peroxide of hydrogen It
is stated that a well known fashion
able New York job master gets in a
five gallon jar of peroxide of hydro
gen every week
Town Without Doctors
A placefor physicians to emigrate
to is the City of Hamah south of Alep
po Though it contains G0000 inhabit
ants among whom diseases of the
eye in particular are rampant there
is not a single physician in the city
Care ior Fresh Colds
Nine cases out of ten of ordinary
colds can be cured in their early stage
by a hot bath and drinking a glass of
hot lemonade immediately before go-
tag Ui Oed
ILLING little space in the histories of England and Spain because of the
F magnitude of the interests involved elsewhere almost forgotten by America
in spite of the bearing of all its contemporary incidents upon the present war
in Cuba the taking of Havana by the British and Colonial troops in 17G2 remains
an almost unexploited episode in the annals of nations Yet it was an event of the
firstimportancein its own day and contains lessons of the first moment It shows
that English speaking troops can take the field with success against double their
number of Spaniards fuly provisioned and strongly entrenched The utter inca
pacity for straightforward pertinacious fighting which both -Napoleon and the Duke
of Wellington found in the Spanish army during the peninsular war was as con
spicuous fifty years before and may rightly be argued as perpetually inherent in
the national character for though the annals of Spain are filled with instances of
individual courage oMheJirst rank demoralization sets in as soon as they come
together in nurnberstheir chief maneuver in the course of a century and a half
being plain running away Yet the fight made by the Spaniards in Havana dur
ing the attack of the British and colonial forces in 17G2 is the one notable in
stance of a prolonged struggle between men who speak English and men who speak
Spanish History may besearched in vain either in the old or new world for a
defense as able inpoint of generalship or as stubborn in resistance
CAPTAIN WILDES COOLNESS
Ordered Cpffep While op the Fighting
Bridge aYManila
If you want to say that any man is
always cool calm and collected say
that he is as cool as Captain Wildes of
the cruiser Boston He is one of the
officers with Deweys fleet at Manila
and all the world is wondering at his
calmness While slowly
steamed into the bay of- Manila while
two opposing storms of projectiles
swept the waters while a man could
not hear himself think in the thunder
of the guns Wildes stood on the Bos
tons bridge watching when the smoke
raised -the deadly accuracy of his gun
ners Wildes was as cool as a cucum
ber but the weather was warm So he
called for a big palm leaf fan and
calm as a woman at the opera fanned
himself
So cool and calm was this Yankee
fighter while the Spanish ships were
sinking under the hail of iron that ho
remembered he had not had his break
fast It speaks well for Wildes that
under the circumstances he bethought
SIPPING COFFEE UNDER FIRE
himself he was hungry If a man has
a good appetite he is in good health and
if hes healthy he can fight Feeling
the cravings of his appetite Wildes or
dered a cup of coffee to be served to
him on the bridge One can easily im
agine he hears Wildes order punctuat
ed by orders thus
Id thank you for a cup of coffee
Lieutenant youve got the correct range
and noTtoo much sugar Another
smash like that and the Castellas a
goner
This is probably the first cup of coffee
ever served and consumed on a fighting
bridge duringbattleilGafe a la Wildes
will be a popular drink in Uncle Sams
navy
But Wildes was not the only hungry
man in that fleet during the first part
of the magnificent fight Dewey was
hungry and being kind and thoughtful
he remembered that all his men and all
his officers must be hungry too So
when breakfasttime came Dewey drew
off his fleet and every Yankee on the
fleet- enjoyed his breakfast very much
indeed Having finished breakfast
they went back and finished the Span-
HABITS OF THE FUR SEAL
Sea Animal That Has Many of the
Traits of Sheep
The fur seal is a Jand animal of per
verted tastes who living at sea has
had his paws changed into flippers very
like the long black kid gloves of a
woman His heart liver and kidneys
are exactly the same as those of a
sheep and just as good to eat but his
flesh although just like fat mutton to
look at is rank -and distasteful from
his habit of eating fish The whole
package is put up in a parcel of thick
white fat to keep -the body warm while
from the skin grows a heavy crop of
beautiful brown fur protected with
large flat oil bearing hairs making a
glossy surface which slides through the
water -without friction Perfectly fear
less overflowing with fun a perfect
Utile otitic zIlqzj th
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fur seal is the most delightful of all
wild creatures But altliough they live
at sea the seals being Jieayily clothed
in fat skin fur and hair find thelem
perate latitudes much too warm for
comfort during the summer months
Since they cannot shed their garments
like ourselves they migrate to a sub
arctic climate gathering in immense
multitudes wThere there are fisheries to
support them Their ratiqn is fifty
pounds of cod every day whicjjnfofta
creature the size of a sheep is consider
able
When the little pups appear their
mothers go a fishing to feed them and
likewise teach them to swim The pups
howl with fright when first thrown
into the water Now outside the seal
city with its regular streets and har
ems assemble the young bachelors not
yet grown enough for love or war
Here man steps in driving the poor
bachelors away inland to be clubbed
for their precious fur
How Pullman Was Named
The town of Pullman was not osten
sibly named after the late Mr Pull
man himself The story is that W W
Beman the architect of the town be
ing justly proud of his work went to
the proprietor and asked that it be
named Beman
Umm said the magnate -Pact
is I had thought of calling the place
Pullman from the man who built it
and paid for it However Mr Pull
man added as he observed a look of
disappointment on the architects face
I am not particular Now what do
you say to a compromise Suppose
we take the first syllable of my name
Pull and the second syllable of your
name man There you have it
Pull man Pullman You see that
combines your idea with mine
Mr Pullmans suggestion prevailed
and the name it seems was a com
promise though it is not reported that
Architect Beman was greatly pleased
thereby
Friendly Attention
True friendship has a broadening in
fluence and takes small account of
things which might serve to weaken
the charms of mere acquaintance
Are you habitually lame or is your
limp caused by some temporary trou
ble inquired the lawyer in a case of
assault and battery addressing a wit
ness for the defendant rThe man bore
every indication on his face and per
son of having been in some recent car
tastrophe which the lawyer hoped to
prove was the particular affray then
before the court
Oh Oill be all right in a day or
two said the witness cheerfully It
was jist a friend of mine kicked me the
other evening and Oim a bit stiff in
the jints thats all
Cheating the Government
Sir Francis Cook who married Ten
nessee Claflfn is reported tohave just
divided 10000000 between his two
sons in order to cheat the- chancellor
of the exchequer out of the succession
duty which would have to be paid if
the money were left as an ordinary
legacy British millionaires have
never forgiven Lord Harcourt for in
creasing those duties to a point which
made them an important source of
public revenue Several of them and
among the number the Duke of West
minster have already divided -the bulk
of their personal estate among their
sons and daughters Sir Francis Cook
is reputed vto be worth 20000000
even after endowing his sons
Artesian Wells in Australia
Artesian wells hare proved success
ful in New South Wales the area
within which underground -waiter is
found extending over 6200 square
miles
Frozen Butterflies
Mountain climbers frequently find
butterflies sfrozen on the snow and so
brittle that they break unless care
fully handled When thawed the but
terflies recover and fly away
JLess than Half Native Born
Of the 1500000 inhabitants of New
York only 700000 are of American
birth
Good- deeds always speak for taem
selves when they call for improve J real
Honorable Decoration Which Mean
a Whole Iot to the Wearer
The medals of honor which Congress
voted to give to the officers and men
who fought under Dewey at Manila
rVhffl2
ure not especially
artistic The medal
itself is not a tiling
of beauty but it
means a lot to the
man who has the
right to wear it
The medal is a
five pointed star
each point ending
in a trefoil On- the
star is a circle of
thirty four stars
there were only
thirty four States
when in 1SG2 the
medal was design-
jiedal of iroxon ed within which is
a representation of America habited
asMmerva her left hand on the fas
ces her right hand holding a shield
and repelling discord A trophy of two
cannons one sword several cannon
balls and an eagle fastens the star to
a ribbon resembling the flag which
joins it to the clasp
This medal of honor corresponds to
the English Victoria cross and the Irou
Cross of Germany and Prussia but it
is a fact that either of the latter is bet
ter known to Americans than the em
blem with which our own country rec
ognizes valor Perhaps one reason for
this is that we are not in the habit of
paying much attention to medals and
decorations in this country Another
may be that we have sometimes ques
tioned the manner in which these med
als have been awarded in times past
Occasionally there has been a suspicion
of the presence of a political pull in
these awards -
Yet in spite of the drawbacks toits
reputation which the delay in award
ing it and the way in which some of its
tvearers have acquired it cause the
medal of honor is an honorable decora
tion and has been won honorably by
most of those who have it Most of
them won it for such feats as capturing
battleflags though one soldier got it
because he was on the guard of honor
over Lincolns coflin The
Maine Regiment received the med
al as a -whole Its time was up and
it volunteered to remain and take part
In the battle of Gettysburg For this
and its bravery at the fight every sur
vivor received the medal
PATRIOTIC REFRESHMENT
ttalian Vender Has a Cannon Loaded
with Ice Cream
This is how an Italian vender in
Southwark draws crowds and sells ice
ream The cannon is made of wood
TON
CANXON LOADED WITH ICE CPEAlf
and contains a churn of cream The
merchant serves the cream from an
opening in the top and pushes the can
non along by grasping the little knob
at the end
A Boys Composition
If a boys composition submitted bjr
a pupil is supposed to be a flight of the
imagination based upon fact there is
no reason why the boys composition
on Christopher Columbus does not meet
the requirements
Columbus was a man who could
make an egg stand on end without
breaking One day the King of Spain
said to htm Can you discover Ameri
ca And Columbus said
Yes if you will give me a shIp1
So the king gavet him a ship and he
started out and sailed and sailed Some
of the men said they didnt believe any
such story and didnt believe there was
any America but pretty soon the pilot
said I see land and then Columbus
said Well then it is America
Then they went ashore and saw a
lot of black men running around and
Lolumbus said Are you niggers
They said Yes you are Columbus
arent you
Columbus said Yes T am and
then they threw up their iands and
said
Oh dear its no use Weve gone
and got discovered at last
Inconvenient for Worshipers
An amusing incident showing Mos
lem devotion is told by George Kennan
in a recent number of the Independent
He was making a trip down the Yolga
River on a small steamer
Religious exercises of some kind are
going on almost constantly Five
times a day a mullah mool lah or
Mohammedan priest used to climb up
on the bridge of our steamer and call
the faithful to prayers
In less than five minutes the whole
hurricane deck would be covered with
the prostrate forms of praying Mos
lems all lying with their heads toward
Mecca the north pole of their religious
faith But the river at times was very
crooked and the followers of the
gMfk deal oi uiZlcuIty U
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keeptajj themblYee accurately adjust
ed with reference to the holy city
Every one of them would take oft
his hat boots and weapons get out his
pocket compass ascertain the direction
of Mecca spread down his prayer rug
and then kneel shut his eyes and b
gin to pray
In the meantime the steamer would
go around a sharp bend in the river
and the next time the worshiper open
ed his eyes he would find himself to
his horror and amazement with his
back to Mecca and his arms stretcfied
out toward the steppes of Siberia
Of course God could not be expected
to pay the least attention to a prayer
that was breathed out fn a northeast
erly direction when It ought to have
been headed southwest by south-half-south
So the disgusted Mohammedan
with a muttered curse upon the crook
ed rivers and the erratic steamers of
the Russian infidel would get up con
sult his pocket compass turn aground1
his rug and begin again on a new
tack keeping one eye open meanwhile
to see that the man at the wheel did
not take an unfair advantage of hinv
and scatter his prayer all over the Rus
sian Empire
Anecdotes of Macready
Mr Sala charged Macready with hav
ing habitually used foul and blasphem
ous language behind the scenes An
apologist hints that Mr Sala may have
been led astray by the fact that in the
last act of Macbeth Macready inva
riably lashed himself into a sort of
fever which he aggravated by using all
sorts of expressions When Mr Phelpa
played Macduff to him for the first
time he was not a little amazed during
the light at the close of the last act to
hear Macready call him a beaSt a
scoundrel a hell born villain a- base
born cur and a devil Full Of resent
ment Phelps hurled back the epithets
with energy and heaped foul names
upon Macready At the close Macrea
dy said
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Thank you Mr PhelpsVtbanfcifyou
Ive never been so well supported
In another play whore it wasneces
sary to enter in a panting fury full of
rage exhibiting the gasping exhaustion
of mad passion Macready used to have
a hired super whom he would-grapple
and shake and curse at- off the
stage so that he could enter naturally
One night the regular super -sent a
substitute who did not quite understand
the business He resented Macreadys
rough treatment which delighted the
comedian who went at his man with
increased vigor The substitute pres
ently let him have It and the pair
fought savagely a good round Ma
cready that night burst upon his audi
ence in a splendid rage
Macready When the substitute
learned the true state of affairs how
ever he bolfed but he was unearthed
for Macready came off after the first
scene gasping
Hum ha Where is he Hum ha
bless me A splendid fellow Pay him
double and let me have him every
night
Modern Longevity
In the seventeenth century the aver
age duration of life was only thirteen
years in the eighteenth twenty In the
present century it is thirty-six- This
great increase in the average length
of human life is not however an in
dication of an increase in the vigor
and vitality of the race but it is rath
er due to the fact that cholera the
black plague and other devastating
scourges which formerly overspread
whole countries at frequent intervals
sometimes several times during cen
tury have been brought more- and
more under control by improved pub
lic sanitation and quarantine The
real test of the vitality of the race is
not the average length of human life
but the proportion of centenarians
The proportion of persons who have
attained great age is without doubt at
the nresent time much less than ever
I before in the history of the worla
War Wa9 Preferable
I have about decided -said Dowl
ing go to Cuba asd join he insnr
gent army
Oh you take my breath away ex
claimed Mrs DowHng Going down
there where you will have to sleep out
on the ground and be eaten up by
snakes and mosquitoes
Yes f
Dont you know you are likely to
-starve to death
I -do
And take yellow fever or cholera
I know
Or may be captured or shot or some
thing
I know that Maria but they wont
bang on the piano after I have gone to
bed nor make me get up after mid
night to look after burglars Atlanta
Constitution
What
Yonra as Ever
are you
thinking
Ethel
I am wondering whether I
sign myself Yours ever or
only to a girl I detest
con
about
should
Thine
-Boston
Tob Slorf
Your elopement didnt eome off
No the wretch asked me to fly with
him and then told me that- Be thought
a horse and buggy would be more com
fortable than a tandem Detroit Free
Press -
Hell Play to Wijj
Going to follow the races again this
year Hoaxley -
Follow Not If I can get ahead of
them
Young man this1 is the thirdrlme
this week you have come to -take my
daugbter sleighriding If youpaycash
for the horses and sleigh - it means
either lunacy or bankruptcy and if you
dont it means that you are a dead
beat -I own the livery stable sir
-- t
is 2 unicagc TiUune
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