Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-31
SPRAY OF THE WAR WAVE.

mere is some OF the common, every day
nature in heroes. A Cook is Hobson's
choice.
No matter what other claims may be put
the flagship Brooklyn has the figures and
the wounds to show for her part in the
shell game at Santiago.
A wealthy member OF an Ohio regiment,
who was doing a land office business as a
shaver Of pay checks, has received a cold
shower bath from his colonel by having his
business abolished.
Treason's hideous head is bowed low in
the state Of Dewey. A Vermonter who
knocked a flag off a tree and refused to
pick it up was yanked before court, lib
orally fined and given a warm Fourth of
July lecture.
General Lawton's opinion of the Cubans
does not agree with the reports of corre-
spondents at Santiago. In a letter to a
friend the general says: 1.-THE men shoot
better than any people of Spanish blood I
have ever seen. They are well drilled for
their opportunities"
A Kansas volunteer wrote home the other
day that Uncle Same is feeding his soldiers
"a lot better than the farmers of Kansas
feed their hands," and that the fellows who
do the kicking probably want to make 1t
appear that they ARE plutocrats at home
and had pie all the time
Prescott, Ariz.. is already raising funds
TO erect a suitable monument to the men,
DRY of Captain Buckley O'Neill of the Rough
Riders, who fell at La Quasina. Captain
ONeill was mayor Of Prescott and resigned
as soon as the call for volunteers was Is
sued, and is said to have been the first vol
unteer mustered into the United States
service.
The Washington newspaper colony is soon
to present to General Henry V. Boynton a
real service sword, devoid of much decora-
ton and bearing on its scabbard the in
scription: "Brigadier General Henry V.
B%oynton, United States volunteers, from
his newspaper associates at Washington, D.
c., June, 1895" The sword is OF the finest
steel and the hilt and guard of gold and
silver.
One Of the sailors on the fleet blockading
Havana hooked a shark, which was hauled
on board and dissected. Among other ar
ticles found In the stomach of the shark
was the sleeve of a United States sailors
jacket, with seven service stripes upon it.
1t is supposed the sleeve was worn by one
Of the victims of the battleship Maine, de-
stroyed on the night of February Is, and
that the sailors arm had been blown off
and swallowed by the shark.
Gerald o'Grady's patriotism and nerve
are standard in quality and variety. He is
a member of Roosevelt's regiment and had
a little experience near Santiago which he
relates in a letter to the old folks in New
York. Gerald and a companion were some
distance from camp. His companion was
killed by a Spanish soldier, who was about
to perforate O'Grady, but O'Grady objected,
punched the enemy in the nose and
knocked him silly" Gerald has earned the
right to wear an 20" as big as a tub.
Thirty-three years of peace and distance
from the scene of conflict make difficult a
realization of the horrors of war. At
Bellevue hospital in New York the other
day a pretty young woman in a white linen
frock, with red and blue trimmings, was
inquiring for some one whom she referred
to as Jack. 'Oh, yes, ! know him." said
a wounded private, "and a good many
Spaniards bit the dust in front of his rife"
"oh, dear; you don't mean to say Jack
really killed anybody" exclaimed the girl,
and then as she realized for the first time
the actual meaning Of war her eyes filled
with tears.
The st. Louis Republic publishes a let
ter from an army officer who participated
in the capture OF Santiago which gives a
view of the Cuban soldiers different from
that entertained by correspondents. They
are a picturesque lot" he writes, ragged
and uncouth, but my opinion OF them has
vastly improved. They are a warm-hearted
people, and, from reports, are brave, and
now that they have cartridges and films
are fighting very well. They are not mer-
cenary, either, for | have offered money
for various services rendered and 1t has
uniformly been refused, though pressed upon
them. This is my own experience; others
may have considered them otherwise"