The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-04-28

Duty OIL tnS Loyal nome bOfk6r0s
The discussion of the affairs of the United
States, Cuba and Spain is a splendid edu-
catonal opportunity for the L.HW. No
one can complain that it is not a live topic.
Besides it's intense personal interest to us
who have seen our battleShip destroyed
and our faithful sailors killed and wounded,
there are hundreds of phases of history,
economy, constitutional rights, geography,
strategy, mechanics, sentiment, all opened
up 10 one who intelIigentIy- reads the
rapers and magazines that TEEN with in
formation on all these points.
The hundreds. of maps being published
nd spread under Our eyes make it in
cvtable that we should learn little
geography. Sketches of our naval heroes
and accounts OF victories won by our ships
force US to at least take glimpses into the
past.
While we all waited impatiently for some
decision to bring the matter to a form,
constitutional lawyers, Senators, Repre-
sentatives and wise folks generally were
discussing the meaning of the constitution,
getting right down to the ground work of
our Government over the question whether
or not the President of the United States
has the right to declare the Independence
of Cuba. tits most interesting point, and
involves deep thought as to the meaning
OF our Government and it's Departments.
As to what shall be done with Cuba, its
resources, it's sufferings, it's defense, these
involve matters of political economy that
deserve attention.
The new battleships and guns, their
marvellous mechanism, is a matter of
lively interest now in their day of trial.
So to the L.H.W. we say, learn this
chapter of our history by heart, learn what
it means to us, to Ciba, to Spain, to the
sd Tors. officers, and soldiers; then as the
years go by anA6 again and again this
Ieriod of our h;st6ty comes up for discus
sion and reference tI7ev will be authorities
o the subject because they lived in the
midst of it and studied its every phase.
In wsshirst.n Now.
Washington is feeling this affair keenly,
intense enthusiasm prevails, and many a
strange lips that WislKIlim well because he
is in readiness 1910 fight for or Flag.
" Dixie" and Yankee Doodle" are heard
from every band, and one is az welcome as
the other, and everyone is glad of both
The wires and mothefS and Swe ethearts OF
the men Who harss gone forth in the ships
or with the troopssare haltcrnately unhappy
and triumphant that their loved ones are
the ones to do sbhtrIe. FLAGS fly every
where and the unusually quiet streets are.
crowded with people wac watch the bulle-
tin boards AMI the hmlitia us it drills and
marches every night.-E. p. McEiroy.
Dry Tortugas.
While everybody has read of Dry Tortu-
gas, it may be of interest to know exactly
where these keys are situated, and their
value to the United S ates. The Tortugas
are a group Of 10 small, low islands, partly
covered with mangrove bushes. They be-
long to Monroe County, Fla, and are stu
ated over 10 miles west of the Florida
Keys proper.
On the southwesternmost island, called
Loygerhead Key, stands "A brick lighthouse.
1 20 feet high. There is also a smaller light
for Dry Tortugas Harbor. This lighthouse
stands inside Fort Jefferson, an important
ratification on Garken Key. Fort Jeffer-
son IS an hexagonal casemated work, de-
signed to command the harbOr lying in
this group of Keys. 1t was commenced in
1916, and when the last war broke out was
near completion. 1t is a half mile around
lnclosing 13 acres, and having three tiers of
guns, numbering in all over 500
The Dry TOrtugas served as place of
IN rTiSonment for persons under sentence
Of court-niartiai during the late civil war.
At one time there were about one thousand |
prisoners and fifteen hundred troops on this |
sand bank Of 10 acres.
Several criminals concerned in the con-
'piracy by which President Lincoln was /
murdered were confined here
The fort O-day is literally a hollow mock
ry. One shot from any first-claSS cruiser |
you'd, in all probability, crush in an i'm
nense caSemate.
East Key is celebrated for the Spanish
old laden galieOn viii ch was wrecked here
n the 18th century. The lighthouse keeper !
t Garden Key found, it is said, $50 goo in
old.
The word Tortugas (Spanish) means tur-
e, and refers to these animals, which fire. !