The age-herald., 1898-09-25
GIRLS OF NEW YORK
 ARE VAR SOUVENIR MAD.
IRE:

I army or navy may be seen upon her belt. Small Spanish coins have been made into sleeve buttons and breast pins and are very pretty.
 While some of the girl souvenir hunt CTS went on board the vessels to get such relics as could be used in decorating their hats and clothing one shrewd little maiden started out with another pur- pose in view. She started to collect relics that had some value, and, judg-
 ing by those she has got together and exhibited, her mission has been suc- cessful one. Hers is one of the finest
 collections in New York
 With a big roll of bills in her pocket
 she went on board the warships as they
 came to the home station from the
 scene of action. She inquired about the
 vessels and the kind of time the men
 had. Then she got down to business
 and wanted to "see" some of the relics.
 The men brought them out, and as the
 different articles were handed to her
 she would ask where the men got them
 In this way she obtained the history of
 the relics, the names of the men who
 got them and where each came from. This adds to the value Of the souvenirs, all of which are interesting.
 The curios are artistically mounted on a panel of highly polished quartered oak, with the name of the article and it's history With one exception all were taken from the Spanish vessels that were destroyed off Santiago harbor by the American fleet on July 3. In the center of the board is an ugly looking machete about three inches wide and two feet in length. The blade has been ground to razor sharpness. It was got F,.,, f,ff namo by private of marines who was stationed at Camp McCalla. It looks | the death dealing instrument it is. On l either side of it are mounted several l silver spoons and forks which, from | appearances, have been in hot place. 1 They are burned and twisted out of
 shape. On the back of the spoons is in- ] soriha1 thsz---------S- -~f->- ''a'P eaoy WI l taken from. One of the seamen of the Texas got them from the officers quar- ters of the Almirante Oquendo after that ship had been sunk.
 steel boat hook from the Cristobal Colon adorns one corner of the panel, while the most grewsome trophy is a Mauser bayonet. It was pulled out of the back of an unfortunate sailor whose body was found in the forward turret of the Spanish cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa. It is placed on the panel oppo- site the boat hook. A piece of the pat ent log line of the same ship is on the | board below the machete.
 A common agate iron plate has also l found one of the more prominent places 1 on the panel, and one would wonder why it was placed there. Upon close | inspection it will be easily seen why it was given one of the best places. The | inscription on it reads, Taken from the l United States steamship Merrimac just l before she was sunk in Santiago harbor l by Lieutenant Hobson."
 l Near the plate is queer looking piece l of steel. It is one of the keys to the l Livingston valves" and was used to l sink the Cristobal Colon when the Snan- l iards saw there was no chance Of es- cape. Two small shells from the rapid l fire guns and one of the 1 pOunder shells from the Almirante Oquendo are placed along the bottom of the panel, while the most valuable trophy of the collection is draped on top. It is part of the battlehag of the Spanish cruiser Cristobal Colon. The flag was taken from the ship shortly after she struck her colors by some of the crew of the
 flagship New York The rest of the
 flag was cut up by the men and dis
 tributed. There are also some Spanish
 coin and the inkstand taken from the
 cabin of Captain Eulate of the Vizcaya.
 To add to the value of the battlehag of
 the Colon certificate stating where it
 was got was given to the girl by the
 man who secured the trophy.
 MARY F. JENKINSON.