YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY
19 —
find General Garcia and bring his repre-
sentative to Washington. He describes
the interior of the province of Santiago
as a beautiful, rolling, lime-stone coun-
try, much like the blue grass country in
Kentucky. The harbors on the north
coast are magnificent, the rivers are
navigable, and best of all, the popula-
tion is small.
SPANISH RULE.
He gave a very good idea of Spanish
oppression. Of course, direct revenue
has been a minus quantity for years,
but each successive governor has spent
his. picking in Spain. One = device
which was legal and very effective was
that used to enrich the Church. The
cost of a marriage license for the poor
was fixed at $15, and for the moderate
farmer or tradesman at $300—or in
other words, at figures which are gener-
ally unobtainable. When a Cuban
dies, unless his children can show a
flawless marriage license for their
parents, all the property which they
should inherit goes to the Holy Catho-
lic Church. It owns one-third of Cuba.
Rowan seems to think that when the
Spaniards are gone, it will be best to
give the Cubans time to destroy the
Church and its records, then insure
tranquility by garrisons in the large
towns. The country is so rich and
these people so poor that there will be
a great demand for capital, and with
the capital will come a host of energetic
Americans. If there were only a bridge
to the mainland, the Cubans could be
crowded out just as the Mexicans were
from Texas.
This morning we passed Mole St.
Nicholas, then Cape MHaitien and all
day we have been skirting the grand
mountainous coast of Hayti. General
Miles was surprised to find this morn-
ing that one transport which he sup-
posed was along, is not, while another
of which nothing is known is in the
fleet.
July 23d.—This morning we buried
one of the soldiers who had died of
typhoid fever. The shin left its place
in the squadron, hove to and the chap-
Jain of the regiment went through the
burial service.
THE HEAT.
It is not warmer than usual, but
everyone is beginning to wilt. There
is no let up in the heat. I cannot stand
writing for more than half an hour
and often I wake at night, wringing
wet with perspiration. I spend most of
my time sitting under an electric fan
with something cool to drink, when I
can get the ice.
Captain Paget, R. N., came on board
at Guantanamo. He is a very queer
character. He is very tall and broad
shouldered and active, in a -disjointed
fashion; has a pointed beard, eyes that
do not work the same way, a monocle
which he can twist in every direction,
a very pronounced English accent and
a violent stammer, which mars the
effect of great keenness of observation.
He is most remarkable, however, for
nerve, absolute self-assurance and the
ability to get on in no matter what
crowd he finds himself. He _ has
scarcely any clothes with him, as one of
the newspaper artists at Siboney, who
undertook to carry his equipment on
a horse for him, managed to lose it.
Paget claims to be the only man who
saw the sea fight as well as that in the
trenches on the 3d of July. Last night,
he came into one of the officer’s rooms,
his hat on the back of his head, his
telescope slung over his shoulder, his
glass in his eye, remarked “he would
accept of the officer’s hospitality,”
smoked a package of cigarettes which
he had declined when they were first
offered him, then launched into the most
charming discussion of his observa-
tions on the war.
CAPTAIN PAGET’S OBSERVATIONS.
His standpoint was that of an elder
brother criticising the mistakes of a
very bright young brother. He con-
tinually spoke of “us,” including himself
with Americans as opposed to “the
enemy.”
antagonist. Your landing at Daiqueri
and Siboney was disorderly. The navy
should have had entire control of the
transports on landing. The landing of
troops is part of a naval education. It
can be so managed that not only com-
Said he, “You have had no>
panies, but regiments and even brigades
can be placed upon the beach in forma-
tion, ready for immediate attack upon
the enemy. Many of your transports
refused to come within three miles of
the shore and the difficulties of trans-
porting troops in life-boats and launches
for that distance and landing them
through the surf was tremendous. The
coast is strewn with fragments of shat-
tered boats. Many of your mistakes
are those of the Crimea over again.”
I do not know whether Paget really
said the words ascribed to him after
the charge of San Juan, but it would
have been entirely characteristic of him.
When the French and German attaches
were jumping up and down with excite-
ment, over the tremendous exploit of
troops capturing entrenchments with-
out artillery, Paget turned to them and
said: “Gentlemen, this is a great day
for Anglo-Saxons. There hasn’t been
such a charge since that of Balaklava.”
Paget’s uncle took a prominent part in
that charge.
PAGET ON TORPEDO BOATS.
Paget is very bitter against the misuse
of torpedo boats, not only on the part
of the Spaniards, but also of ourselves—
sending these frail, unprotected craft in
to cut cables, do gunboat service, and
attack batteries or fortifications. He
said, “I suppose your newspapers will
infer from this war that torpedo boats
are useless. England is building them
at the rate of one a week. Had you
been blockading Germans, instead of
Spaniards, your ships would not have
dared to have lain closer than ten miles
from the entrance at night. If they had,
they would have been blown up by
torpedo boats. The Spaniards should
have come out at night and have headed
to the eastward. Of course, the reason
they did not was that every night, one
of the American men of war was
stationed close to the entrance of the
harbor, under the guns of the batteries,
with its searchlight and heavy guns
trained on the channel, and with steam
launches without lights, cruising up
toward Cayo Smith. Cervera was
afraid that, if he started out, his first
ship would be sunk in the channel and
then he could never have gotten out.
It was bold tactics on the part of the
American fleet.
“Tf those fellows were going to come
in the daytime, at all, how much more
glorious for them, and interesting for
naval experts would it have been, if only
they had headed directly for the block-
ading vessels and attempted to ram or
torpedo them. Then they could have
at least: gone down with our ships, and
perhaps some of the Spaniards might
have escaped.
“Then you thhave a hideous lot to
learn about coaling. With us, coaling
is ‘all hands,’ paymaster, cook, every-
body. The big ships load 200 tons an
hour. A report must go to the Admir-
alty, and if the time is slower than usual,
they want to know the reason why. At
Guantanamo, when the ships were coal-
ing, they were not working. In a big
war, rapidity of coaling will be all im-
portant.”
He thinks the battle demonstrated the
superiority of the five-inch over the
eight-inch guns. Yesterday the was
standing on the bridge, looking at the
Gloucester, which runs up and down
the fleet as despatch boat.
- A CORSAIR AFFAIR.
“Tt is a geat pity,” said he, “that the
name Corsair should have been changed
to Gloucester. Of course, this whole
expedition is simply a corsair affair.
We have done lots of the same sort of
thing and sympathize entirely with you.
Such expeditions are only wrong when
they don’t succeed.” He seemed to be
thinking of Jameson. “But,” continued
he, “the peculiar advantage which we
Anglo-Saxons have, you and we, is
the manning of our ships and the form-
ing of our regiments with men who
will shoot just as straight and act as
coolly in the heat of a battle as when at
target practice. Had your men shot
wildly at first, the Spaniards ‘on the ships
might have recovered themselves and
done some execution, but you made it
so hot for them that the portholes on
the lee side had to be closed to prevent
their jumping out, and by the way you
should have punished the Captain of the
Colon with a drum-head, court-mar-
tial and death.”
Paget is preparing to go ashore with
the troops at Porto Rico. He says,
“T don’t think there will be any more
fighting at sea. There may be some
ashore. Of course, I have nothing to
do with land operations, but then, I
think there will be some fun.” He has
arrayed thimself in an old shooting
jacket, legigins, and heavy shoes. He
has only one cap, which has a white
cover. That would make an excellent
target for a Mauser bullet.
for a pot of strong tea, soaked the cover
in it and dried it’ in front of an electric
fan. When finished, he surveyed its
color with great satisfaction.
FINDING A YALE VOLUNTEER.
Anchored off Guanica, P. R., July
25.—Yesterday afternoon I overheard
one of the colored sailors saying to
one of our jackies: “There’s a million-
aire in Company M. He is the son of
General Draper, Minister to Italy.”
Of course I at once looked up Arthur
Draper, ’97. I would scarcely have
recognized him. He is dressed like the
other soldiers, many of them operatives
in his father’s mills. His hair is cut
close. He has been sleeping on the
deck, living on hard tack and coffee.
He has tasted meat only twice since he
has been on board.
A year ago I was drinking cham-
pagne on a sailing party of his uncle.
I took him to my room, got some cold
beer, gave him a pipe and a bath in
my tub. He would ‘have had a com-
mission, but would not present a letter
from his father to the President. He
has never roughed it at all in his life
before, but takes it all cheerfully and is
very much afraid of letting his comrades
think he places himself above them in
any way. He says that all the men
are thin from lack of food. Draper has
not developed a taste for hard tack.
These Massachusetts men are a fine
lot, despite their lack of confidence in
their volunteer officers.
THE GLOUCESTER RAISING THE FLAG.
Anchored off Guanica, Porto Rico,
July 25th—This morning, when I
went on the bridge at eight o’clock,
the fleet was lying off the coast. The
Gloucester went in and we could see
her running up the narrow Harbor and
firing at the hills, where there were
some Spanish troops. Then, while
General Miles, on the bridge of the
Yale, was promising General Garretson
ELDER SWAN
ON
INSURANCE.
The famous revivalist of Connecticut, of fifty
years ago, conceived of the new fad of
life insurance as a heinous Sin, against
which he thundered from the pulpit or
convention platform. It was to him a
sign of a lack of faith, and one of the
“snares of a perverse generation.” In
one of his sermons he represented John ~
the Baptist as answering the question as
to where he was going, by replying that
he had rested on the Jewish religious
faith for all these years and yet had been
sorely troubled, and he was now going
to Jerusalem to get his life insured.
Elder Swan pictured the horrible effect
on the new religion if any such illustra-
tion of a lack of faith had been allowed:
This incident is interesting as indicating, even
by a false conception of it, the ethical
side of insurance.. As Mr. Woodward
says in his history of “Insurance in
Connecticut,” in quoting this incident:
“Prejudice yielded to enlightened dis-
cussion, and the act condemned by the
good Elder as a sin is now rated one of
the duties.’ There is no question that
most men reckon life insurance as a
duty, and there is also no doubt that it
may be made a very pleasant and attrac-
tive duty. If you doubt this you may
inquire of the
PHOENIX MUTUAL LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY
OF HARTFORD, CONN.
| JONATHAN B. BUNCE, President.
JOHN M. HOLCOMBE, Vice-Pres.
CHARLES H. LAWRENCE, Sec’y.
So he asked —
that the latter should raise the flag on
shore, the Gloucester sent a boat load
of marines up to the village and the
stars and stripes were hoisted by the
navy over the Island. So far, the navy
‘has ‘taken possession of every island
we have attacked.
_ As we draw too much water to get
into the harbor, we are lying outside
with the Massachusetts and the Colum-
bia. At the end of the narrow passage
between the hills which constitutes
the harbor, we can see a very pros-
perous looking village, shaded by palm
trees, among which rise two tall chim-
POYNETTE
Y, “2'o FRONT-HEIGHT-BACK2. |
MRS. M. E. BARTON,
Twelfth Year at
117 Elm Street,
(Opposite north end of Durfee.)
First class table board for students.
Accommodations for fifty men.
Reserved rooms for clubs.
TERMS MODERATE.
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‘‘No, boys; I have not been burning
the midnight oil to get all that material
for my address. I have not spent hun-
dreds for books of reference. I could
not have got these up to date facts and
figures in that way. | f
“T simply send to Romeike for
Press Clippings. cage:
‘Day by day he sent me editorials and
original articles collected from thou-
sands of newspapers and periodicals
which are read in his offices, and I only
had to arrange the material.”
ROMEIKE’S
Press Cutting Bureau
will send you all newspaper clippings
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