The evening times., 1898-07-14
THE WOMAN
"SPEGlHL" !"
She Was alone Among Mer
Correspondents at Tampa.
They PitieS Her. But She Asked No
Favors-si.c simply Went Ahend
and "Scooped" Them.

EVERYTHING was all wrong. the spanish
feet for which we had been waiting Tor
a fortnight, had suddenly materiahzeu
one moment at Santiago de Cuba, only 10
fade away the next into the. immensitie3
of the Atlantic Ocean. 1t had clear
two days start. going in an unascerta'n-
ed direction, at rate OF speed Two o'
three knots an hour faster than Samp-
soon. Suddenly came a New Yorker into
the circle. his eyes glistening with eager
ness to impart information.
Say, boys he said briskly. wake up!
Hold on to the phone now tight while l
tell you something! Have you heard the
news?"
Not the Spanish fleet, is it?' the big
captain asked. as jumped up eagerly.
"Oh, come off your bike, your lamps
out" said the newcomer contemptuously;
"the Spanish fleets lost in the forest.
What Is it. them" we asked fiercely.
II got lady war correspondent" he
said triumphantly. land l guess that
takes me pot; We looked fncrdulous.
Its true, sure he said. 'She came on
the train this morning from Washington
with full hand of papers from the War
Department. and 1 tell you she's going
through with the outfit"
A lady war correspondent. The idea
was too comic. We could not believe 1t.
But he led us over to the hotel register
| and showed us her signature. written IN
! the quick scrawl of the ready writer.
lady war correspondent! We looked
at one another in doubt and Indignation
After all, we said. there were limits to
g Af,rIr, ia
| kind of newspaper proprietor was 1t.
| anyhow, who would send a tenderly nur-
tured lady around amid the hardships
| and rigors, the bullets, and the yellow
| fever germs of Cuban war? For her
| own sake" said the experienced war cor
| respondent, solemnly, this thing ought
| to be stopped right now." For her own
| sake'-the unnecessary use of the phrase
rather betrayed us. For at the back of
| our minds, as we lay back on the cush-
ioned lounges. slipping ice water. there
| was a feeling which We did not care to
| recognize, that We had a right to be a
| little indignant for our own sakes-
At the midday meal we met the lady
| war correspondents aG.nealthy, young
| ish lady. with a quiet. self-reliant man
ner and an alert. intelligent. enterpris-ng
| look.
And So" We said. with just proper
touch of patronage mixed with our polite
| ness "you are thinking of going along
| to Cuba with us?'
"Oh. yes''-this in a matter-of-fact,
| quite decided sort of way. and with the
| prettiest touch of the Irish brogue-she
| was going wherever the army went. go
| ing to see whatever there was to be seen,
| and TO hear whatever tune the band play
| ed. That il they would let her. That
| was it, would they let her go? To our
| thinking the idea was absurd. but We
| did not quite say so. 81 know what you
think" she said: you think it Is ridicul-
! Gus. my being here: you are laughing at
my wanting togs: that's the worst of be-
| ing a woman. But just let me tell you.
| I'm going through to Cuba, and not all
| the old generals In the old army are 60
| ing to stop me. / beat them in Washing
| ton. and I'll beat them here. whatever
| they say
She told US how she had acted as spe-
| cial correspondent FOR her paper at the
! jubilee. and had published her articles in
book form. how she had been on many
| special missions in various parts of the
| world, had always had to contend with
the almost insuperable difficulty of not
| being a man. but had always succeeded
| in surmountipg 1t. She could not stop
| longer to talk to us now. she said, as she
| must go up and look at one of the camps
| SO as to get another article away by the
| evening mail
| In the evening when we had recovered
| from our siesta. we saw the lady war
| correspondent again. Sne came in out of
the sunshine little dusty about the
| boots and confessing to feeling little
| tired. but she came down from her room
| soon afterward looking as fresh and cool
as watermelon. She had been round
| the camp. she said. 1t was very difficult
| for her, being a woman. to get informa-
Lrs1
things she thought she would be able to
make a story for her paper.
"Of course" she said diffidently, II
can't do things like you boys, who kr.ssG
so much and have so much experience.
/ just have to be contented with little
odds and ends. such a woman would
notice. l couldn't see any OF the drill
ing. it was such hard walking through
that burning sand. and / haven't a horse
yet: but / happened on little story. 1t
wouldn't have been worth your notice,
but 1 have to make the best of little
| things. There's a chambermaid in the
hotel here whose husband is in the State
| regiment up there. and she has come
down here so as to be near him. Poor
woman! / felt sorry for her. 1 met
/ her there not far from the camp, cry
ing. She had not told her husband that
she was here. and she was afraid to go
into the camp Dy nerSel1, so L went with
her to look for him.
"They are such descent, respectable
people. and he seems such n nice. WELL
| educated young fellow. But he was out
| of work. and there was no food in the
! house; so he enlisted in desperation, and
| she, being so fond of him. took this sit
| uation to be near him. ! thought he was
going to faint when he saw her: 1t was
| quite little scene. Poor fellow: he was
| so anxious about their little baby. He
wanted to desert, you know. but what
was there for them to do? He had no
work to go to. and was only just recov-
ering from an illness. Anyhow. it made
a silly little story for me-nothing in the
grand style. such as you boys write.
but just the poor womans side of the
war don't you see? And after all. even
war has its woman's side. hasn't it?''
In the evening. after supper. when the
band was playing on the veranda, and
the customary conversations was in full
swing We observed that the lady war
| correspondent knew everybody worth
knowing in about a quarter of an hour.
We had introduced her to one or two
staff officers at first. In little while
she was introducing us to generals and
colonels. She talked to the Cuban Ia
dies. and casually informed us that she
had got an interesting statement of the
personal experiences of one of them.
which she thought would throw a good
deal of light on the Cuban question. We
heard her talking to the Cubans-she was
chattering away in fluent Spanish. There
was French family with the Cubans.
We heard her talking with them in
French. Before the evening was out she