Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1898-07-13
A Letter FROM THE
CITY BY THE SEA.
The Fourth of July Crowd
was a big one.
And II MAS 4 GREAT DAY IN OUR HISTORY
A CANINE WAR UPsETs THE EQUILIBRIUM
OF SOME OF THE CITY oFFIcIALs-ARBI-
TRATIoN HOPED FOR.

The Fourth of July, this year, will be
remembered as the most notable in the
history of the City. | don't mean by
this that there were more people here
than ever before-for that is a debatable
question-but the number was very
large and some place it in excess of pre-
vious years. The day was notable in
more senses than one. The country is
in the midst OF q war with a foreign
nation, and there has been fear among
visitors, and some citizens, that in some
unexpected manner one or more of the
Spanish ships might appear off cur
coast, suddenly, and do us some damage
or 1t least thre aten to. 1t was this
iDdefnable dread that, early in the sea-
although it was groundless it has had
bad effect. When, therefore, our citizens
walked up on the morning of the Fourth
and read the news that Commodore
Schley has sent the whole Spanish fleet
to Davy Jones's Locker, their happiness
was well nigh complete. 1t was all the
had received on land, for the slaughter
of his brave men in trying to carry out
the orders of the Board of Blunderers at
ed person apprehensive of q serious dis
aster to our army in Cuba. 1t was Gen.
Grants complaint, in our great civil
war, that he twas hampered by instruc
tions from Washington" and that
seems to be the difficulty now. Ii any
man knows what ought to be done in
the field it is the commanding general
who has the enemy directly in front of
him, and he ought to be allowed full
authority. If events prove that he is
incapable then remove him and put
some one in his place who will fill the
bill. Until this is done we may expect
b!unders and useless sacrifice of precious
lives. In the Navy things have worked
more to its advantage. Cut off from
direct communication with Washington
an Admiral or a Commodore have had
some chances to put in a few hcks on
their own hook. The result has been
that two-thirds of Spain's navy has
been totally destroyed, and our gunners
and sailors viii soon finish the rest II
they are given an opportunity. | have
full faith to believe that our Army and
Navy are fully equal to the Occa sion,
and that they will soon conquer the
Spanish forces if the "BOard OF Blunder-
ers" will only let them alone. l have
also full faith in that overruling PrOvi-
deDcc that shapes the destinies OF
Nations. What else can believe when |
see whole squadrons of splendidly-bui t
ships sent to the bottom-and only one
men killed in the American navy. Spain's
feet came over here boasting that it
would lombard Boston and ravage
the American coast. Where is it now ?
Every ship is knocked to pieces, twelve
hundred men of their crews were killed
or wounded, and the Spanish Admiral
is prisoner and will probably spend
his summer in fortress overlooking the
City he hoped to lombard. Yes, / be-
lieve this is Providential war destined
to forever end Spanish domination in
the Western hemisphere where it has
blighted everything it touched. War
was bound to come, aud not even Cleve
land and his gang of imbeciles were able
to stop it by do-nothing policy. They
were only able to stave it off until the
following administration. It has al
ways seemed to me that Mckinley iu-
tended at first, following in the footsteps
of the Great American Fraud, but the
righteous indignation of the whole
American people compelled him to
change his course and fall in with popu-
lar sentiment. D,pend upon it might
ier hand than Generals or Presidents is
directing the war, and after the inevi-
table sacrifices and cost that come with
war we shall see the end of the unholy
rule of Spain on this continent.
This is why / say that our latest
Fourth of July is our greatest and best,
because it is measured by events of the
recent past and the immediate future,
and not by any mere record of incoming
or outgoing excursionists. Schley's
destruction of the Spanish feet has
silenced even the worst of our Calamity
howlers, and they now make haste to
declare that they have always main
tained that there was never any danger
from the Spanish ships or Spanish guns,
or torpedoes.
A great dog war is raging here which
knocks the interest in the Cuban war all
to pieces-and threatens to play havoc
with official regulations, and even to
enter into political plans. The princi
pal elements entering into the canine
controversy are dogs, dog-catchers, dog
officials, and the extract of dogs. There
are numerous homeless dogs and Or
phaned dogs roaming about our streets,
and the dogcatcher gently "hies' his
net over them, gives them a free ride to
the dog-pound from whence they are
taken once q week to meet with an
ignominous death. Then the trouble
begins-for it is only dead dogs that
thereafter the stability of our municipal
institutions and causes the city officials
to declare war upon each other. We
have q crematory and into it's fiery NAV
the deceased CANNES must be cast for
cremation. So says the Mayor. Chair
man Sam. Kelley says it is dogs grease,
and not dogs ashes, that the City
should find as q residue. So the man
in charge of the crematory was ordered
to deliver the bodies of the dogs to the
dog-fat renderer instead of casting
them into the fiery furnace-and the
City Treasury was to wax fat to the ex-
tent of $25. Investigation proved, how
ever, that the City Treasury hadn't
"waxed' to the extent of q sinlge penny
when war was declared and hostili-
ties commenced. 1t is said, however,
that the law requires that the money
received from such sources be turned into
the city only once year, and l hear
that the City Solicitor has rendered
decision to that effect. So it seems that
those who thought they 'had'' chair
man Kelley, because he did not turn
the money over the next day, were
reckoning upon false basis. After a
formal declaration of war then it was
that things grew lively. The Mayor and
Chief of Police charged upon the entrench-
ments of the Crematory but were met