Evening star., 1898-08-27
KISSES FOR SCHLEY
The Admiral Stood His Ground
Manfully.
URROUNDED BY HIS ADMIRERS
Army Officers Took Part in the
Demonstration.
A M E M ORA BILE seen

Admiral Schley received a great demon
stration at the Navy Department today
He came TO the department quite early,
and after call upon Acting Secretary AL
| ler he emerged from the main door Of the
Secretary's office. His presence In the
building had become generally known, how
| ever by this tine, and as soon as he ap-
peared cheers rent the air from the clerks
and others who had assembled to catch a
glimpse of the hero of Santiago The Off
GERS and clerks from the Navy, State AMI
War Departments thronged the corridors
leading up to the Navy Department. until
IT was impossible to pass through. They
crowded around the admiral, eagerly reach
ing forward to shake his hand
Lady Clerks Demonstration.
The lady clerks were even more demon
strative, and the admiral was kissed by Old
| and young without discrimination This
was an occasion when Hobson was decided
ly distanced in the kissing branch of the
dc monstratioa. The ladies We'd with each
other in their efforts to kiss the admiral
and he met each of them half way. In sew
eral OF the cases where the ladies were spe-
c1ally young and charming he seemed to be
more than willing. There were so many Of
them. however, and the action was so live
| ly that it was a trying ordeal even for the
| fighting sailor. He stood the ordeal brave
| ly and the ladies voted him '1ovely"
| cynical old bachelor said it was no wonder
! the admiral acquitted himself so well. "as
he was accustomed to facing powder"
Admirers Formed in Line,
The crowd finally became SO great and
demonstrative that it finally became neces.
sary to form in line and pass by the ad-
mlral with a hardshake on the part Of tha
men and kiss on the part of the ladies'
Many prominent army officers took part
Ill the demonstration. The cheering was
almost continuous. The admiral finally es-
caped into private office. but those who
had not seen the naval hero fingered about
the corridors for some time
Admiral SchIey'x Arrival
Rear Admiral Winfield s. schley reached
washington at 4:1O o'clock yesterday after
noon over the Pennsylvania railroad He
was quickly noticed at most of the stations
along the line, and throughout the trip he
was greeted with cheering crowds When
the train pulled into the station here he
found a compact mass of spectators which
filled the building and overiowed out into
the train she'd
The admiral and Mrs. Schley when thew
appeared were greeted with cheers and
SHOUTS OF Hurrah for Schley." EveryDouy
joined In the shouting, and the depot at
taches crowded about the admiral and in
sisted on handshake. AT the gates the
crowd increased, and amid deafening cheers
the admiral and his wife, the former with
nat Off, passed through Two solid lines of
people. lieutenant and squad of police
with difficulty cleared a passaseway to Il
cab which was in waiting. Through a mass
OF vehicles that had been drawn up by Gu
rlous drivers the hanson pulled into Penn
s!lVanla avenue and proceeded directly 10
the Shoreham Hotel. There were erouns of
cheerers all the way, and cdvalcade of
cycustS formed voluntary escort Tn.
auh4irai stayed only few minutes at the
motel, and then drove over to the NAVY De-
partment, where, without any nreIiuin,
rles, he reported directly to Acting Secre-
Iary Allen. The latter accompanied him
over to the White House.
At the White House,
Inc PRESIDENT gave him most cordial
reception. The President thanked the ad-
miral. as he had Admiral Sampson. for the
SUCCESS of that memorable engagement of
| July 3, and took occasion to say that it was
that battle which brought about the sur
render of Santiago. The President than en-
tereu INTO discussion of the work of the
Forto Rican commission to which the ad
! mira has been appointed. He went over
with him the general Instructions whicn
will guide the body ir arranging for the
evacuation of the Spanish from the island
and other work. During most of tne CON
ference, which occupied apout an hour As
slstant Secretary Moore of the Statn De-
partment was present. On leaving the Pres
ident the admiral drove to his hotel
Many of the friends of the Admiral and
Mrs. Schley called during the evening AL
though considerably better he is not vet
Wen, and said last night he expected to
leave here today to visit relatives in Mary
land, which probably will consume several
days. after which he will go to Connecti-
cut to remain until about time to start
for Porto Rico Some ship other than the
brooklyn, he said, would be selected for
| this purpose, as the flagship was about
TO undergo needed repairs.
Destruction of Cervera's Fleet.
The admiral during the evening talked
briefly of some Of the principal incidents Of
| the fight which led to the destruction of
Cervera's squadron. and of some other per-
tinent matters of interest at this time
new features of which he said were re-
curing to him as time passed by. He
said:
TT IS my opinion that the Spanish ad-
mlral might have ESCAPED with possibly
one or two of his ships had he adopted
different tactics in coming out of the har-
bor Had he diverted the course of his
slips, sending some to the east and Others
- Inc west, IL 10 my peilei tLdt ne might
have escaped with one or possibly two of
the vessels. Such a course naturally would
| have compelled US to separate our fleet and
| some of Cervera's ships might have been
| able to reach Havana. The story of the
| naval battle of Santiago has been told in
| SO much detail and SO thoroughly written
| that there is really nothing new left for
me to say about 1t. Standing out promi-
| nently above everything else in that battle
| were the men behind the guns. 1 cannot
| say too much in praise of my men. do
| not believe that the equal of these Amerl-
| cans can be found in any other country of
the world