The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-07-22
FAITH OF CAPT. PHILIP
Of the Impressive Scene on the
s Battlaship Off Santiago.

sSII0RsNlU tNOys0D VI Itl0. ~ d600 6uO
Of tho impressive Scene on the
5..$ Battlaship Off Santiago.
4 Portsmouth, N. H., July Is. The New
York Herald's correspondent was fur
nished with the following statement about
Capt. j. Nv. Philip Of the Texas, and his
strong RELIGIOUS faith, by Chaplain Harry
w. Jones Of that battIeship:
wish to make confession that have
implicit faith In God and In the o61cers and
crew OF the Texas, but my faith In yon Ia
secondary cn.y to my faith In God. We
have seen what He has done for US, In AZ
lowing US to achieve 80 great Q victory, and
] want to ask you all, or at least every
man VINO has no scruples, to uncover his
head with me and silently offer word Of
thanks to God for His goodness toward US
NIL. -@s s<%5
This was what Capt. ]. W. Philip said to
his ofticefs and men Immediately after the
great battle OF Santiago de Cubs on Sun.
. It was a beautiful afternoon Gods heay-
ems never looked 50 clear, and the Stars and
stripes never seemed 50 pure as they did
when We lay alongside of the cristobal
Colon, after she had been beached and had
surrendered to us. :H %3sf.t$ .E.
We had been engaged In fierce light to
the death. when these words came from
I the lips OF the same man, who had few
moments before given the various orders
for attack, and / wish to show to the peo-
pie OF my country what kind Of man Capt
have had the honor Of being the chap.
lain OF the Texas since October 10, 1895, so
/ have been with Capt: Philip ever since he
took command last October.
During our first conversation he said:
chaplain, am firm believer In prayer,
and think 1t Is duty we owe God to
have prayers on board ship every evening"
So when Lieutenant Commander Harder
came to us as executive officer, the captain
spoke to me then about having prayers,
and I told him l should be very glad. in
deed. to conduct them every evening at
served ever since.
The men would be marched aft, and Of
fered humble petition for each one, our
always closed with an earnest prayer for
peace. --.
Capt. Philip always spoke about the late
war, and reminded us that the side that
every time; SO 1 was very glad last Sab
bath when saw the Maria Teresa fire the
first shot. a. :... - -.t. a
Often during the weary days on the block
me about prayer and his unfinching faith
In God. One evening, soon after our sec
ond bombardment, we were walking up and
way, it was after the Spanish had killed
him, but / guess they found him very
much alive corpse on Sunday morning dur
ing the fight. Z
He mentioned how his wife had felt about
him, reading the account of his alleged
death as she did In the papers, but he said:
II wrote to Mrs. Philip and said: I am
up Broadway with you, because God is with
us and He Is listening to our prayer"
On another occasion he was called on
board the flagship, together with the com:
war: and went on board at half-past 8
that Sunday morning. The decision was
reached to lombard the forts at 2 o'clock
that afternoon, when Capt. Philip spoke up
''Admiral, this is Sunday; do not think
we should fight today. We may be sorry
If we do" Whereupon, the admiral apollo:
that day. but admitted he had been SO
pressed he had entirely lost track Of the
days, so the battle was deferred until the
next morning, with the result of no damage
to us.
AS captain, he has been most kind to
me, never absent from divine service unless
detained on account of duty, as he was
ample, and the example had its effect. for
my congregations were always very crafty
Ing to me, to have so many men, Protes-
tants ana meet Of TIER own Tree
Jesus always tried to give them. love
Capt. Philip for his manly stand for the
When, after the battle, the buxle sounded
what it was for. The captain did not know
/ was there, ard when I heard what he
said was very. glad he did not.
Mr.. HARDER came to me and said: Chap.
lain: did you ksat what the eapt a41 sa s|,
thing Indeed; to do. and most impressive
s'ffht Vent s'i ID hi the cabin after the captain
had gone there. Holding out my hand to
him, I said captain, I congratulate you,
not alone for your tremendous victory, bnt
for the stand you took after the action"
His countenanee frightened up DIS he re.
piled: why, chaplain., was sure Of It
when went on the bridge. for surely God
has been with us, and 1t has beeh oil Oh
account Of prayer. " ss,, -. ,.,....I 80,
This is glimpse Of one Of the command
ing officers Of the United States navy. You
see what his faith is Let me, one of the
corps of naval chaplaips ask yoq just one
question: "Have you faith to believe? Do
things seem dark for you? Has, sorrow
filed your life? If SO, 80 tell 1t to Jesus
and ali will be Well" and the God who was
with us in the battle Of July 3 will be
with you in all your battles Of life; II god
only have faith to believe. y,
trust this little sketch will help every
have more faith in God. The faith of the
little child is the faith I would recommend
to You ALL
Thanking all of you land ! know there
were many who prayed for the army and
the navy, because by your prayers you
strengthened us when we had to face the
foe. Yours very sincerely.
HARRY w. JONES, U. s. NJ,
=. Chaplain Battleship Texas.