Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-09-03
WASHINGTON LETTER.
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE. !

EVERYBODY SMILED-No one hal
heard that General Fitzhugh Lee ha.
been put in any dungeons in Washington
for answering with q joke the war de-
partment official notitica ton to him tina
ihe war was over. Perhaps General Lee.
is the only man in the service who could
safely jest with the United States gov
ernment on SO formal an occasion. Gen
eral Lee has certainly earned the right
to shy u small brick of satire at Wash
ington. He was designated by common
consent to be the hero Of the war. the
avenger of the wrongs Of Cuba. the
humber of the naughty Castilian, the
perfect Paladin OF American chivalry
go he was sent, first, to the Tampa Bay
hotel, to sit in the centre of group OF
Cuban girls, and then he was packed Off
to another first-class--or nearly soho
tel in Jacksonville. to fan himself there
through the sweet F!oridian summer
days. Meanwhile, another sOutherner.
General Wheeler was distinguishing
himself in actual campaigning in Cuba.
General Lee was consoled with the i'm
piled promise of commanding cam
coming off. So when he got the word
definitely that his capaign was not COM
ing off. Lee t.. tgraphed to Washington
that his corps had ceased firing. and ev-
erybody smiled amiably. General Lee
has Il sense of humor. He had already
perceived that, though he had at the be-
ginning of the war been the most popu
Var American. he was, at the end of it,
quite lost sight Of For notoriety, he Is
mot to be mentioned on the same day
with Hobson or Cervera. 1t is we'll for
him that he has a sense of humor and IL
able to see the matter in its amusing
aspect. General Shafter, who is now the
nominal hero of Cuba, has no sense OF
humor. There are great many things
that he does which he would not do IL he
had sense of humor. 1t is not likely.
for that reason. that he will appreciate
the amusing and quite innocent carica-
ture of him by Bengough in recent
Harper's Weekly, in which he Is rep
Gesented as driving refractory mule
in his blackboard. If Lee We're as kind
ay caricatured. he would enjoy the thing
as much as anyone else. AS 1t Is, we
all the Harper's Weekly peop'e, includ-
Ing Remington himself, forbidden en-
trance to the lines of the Fifth corps, or
any other command that General Shaf-
ter may ever have. Bengough. by the
way, was already under the ban, as a
New York journal man. But the Jour-
nal or no journal, he Is clever fellow,
and too good hearted naturally to hurt
feelings. There Is one man
in the same cartoon who
has a sense of huinor and who will not
be angry. That Is Lieutenant Miley-
who Is as tall and lean as Shafter is
short and fat If Shafter had had any
sense of humor, he never would have
chosen Lieutenant Miley as his aide.
Every newspaper correspondent and
artist who went to Cuba was profoundly
glad that General Shafter did take Lieu
tenant Mi'ey. He was the alleviation of
the whole headquarters arrangement. He
Is a gentleman, and quite devoid OF ar
rogance. cOncet, suspicion and partiali-
ty. He never lied to anybody, giving
promises to the ear which he meant to
break to the hope. He had no pets. He
u
knew we'll enough whether he could be-
lieve him or not His face and his be-
havior We're as open as the day: but he
had in the conner of his eye CLEAN Of
that sense of humOr which takes the
out of too much sincerity.
In short. Lieutenant Miley was a good
fellow as we'll as careful and circum-
spect officer and most competent and
faithful aide. How large share Of the
credit for the successes of the war be-
longs to him the world may never know.
with the Fifth corps in Cuba to wonder
what in the world the campaign would
have been If the faithful and unsleeping
Miley had not been there.
AN IMPORTANT PROGRAM-One
Of the most important programs ever
formula ted in connection with the build
Of the new navy is being prepared by the
naval board of construction for SUBJ
mission to Secretary Long for incOr-
pOratiOn in his annual report to con-
gress. This program cOntemplates the
at the coming session OF
congress of three first-class battelsh.ps
Of $4,000 tons displacement, three pro-
tected cruisers of 5000 tons displacement,
and six unprotected cruisers Of 25OO tons
iisp! !acement. The cost of these vessels,
II authorized, will be about $32. 00O, 900.
General features of the several classes
Of ships were decided upon in a tenta-
tive way by the board yesterday after
noon, but to ascertain IL they would pro-
1uce excellent sea boats, combining the
heaviest practicable armament and
greatest possible protection, it was de-
to refer the matter to a sub
consisting of Chief Naval
HichbOrn and Engineer-in-
Chief Melville, who will prepare the
necessary plans. The battleships are
10 be at least 1S knots speed, and in all
other respects, except armament and
,oil boiler machinery. they are to be
exact duplicates Of vessels of the Ala
Dama type. Instead of having 13-inch
guns, the ship will be provided with four
l2-inch guns each, in addition to IA g.
nch rapid firing guns. Their armor will
De Of the latest manufacture, but will
be as thick as that which pro-
ects the Alabama class. The armored
cruisers will be improved Brooklyns.
They will have a speed of at least one
<not in excess Of that which the Brook
yn can make. and with as great, IL not
greater steaming radius. with side
,rmOr either six or seven inches thick
ard with main battery of four g.
nch guns, in turrets-twO forward and
aft-and with IL 6-inch rapid firing guns.
The protected cruisers Of 5000 tons will
,s something like the Olympia, but more
Their speed will be greater,
heir protection better. and they will
nave a battery of four S-inch breech-
loading rifles, mounted in turrets, and
a 6-inch rapid firing guns.
Self opening and closing umbrellas