Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-07-20


WASHINGTON, July Is, 1898.-The
fall of Santiago will make no differ
ence in President McKinley's plans
for rushing the war to a close, but
should the yellow fever, which has
unfortunately made its appearance
in the vicinity Of Santiago, become
epidemic IN our army, it would
necessarily make q very material diff
ference IN his plans, as it would make
precautions to save the llves of our
amen take precedence over everything
else. There IS no alarm felt by War
department officials over the ap-
.pearance of yellow fever, as it was
expected that 1t would be brought
out OF Santiago by refugees, and the
medical department of the army has
taken every precaution known to
science to prevent it's getting a foot
hold In our army; still, the knoWl-
edge that it is there causes uneasi-
ness.
Admiral Dewey has won another
victory, and has incidentally given
Germany an object lesson of the
danger of meddling in the Philip
pines. The insurgents reported to
Admiral Dewey that the commander
OF the German gunboat Irene had
refused to allow them to attack the
Spanish fort on Grande island, in
Subig bay. Admiral Dewey sent the
cruisers Raleigh and Concord to
Suhig bay with orders to capture the
fort. AS soon as the two cruisers
made their appearance in the bay
the Irene steamed out of it. After
the cruisers bad destroyed the forti-
fcations and the torpedo station
the Spanish garrison Of more than
1,3OO men surrendered. After the
surrender the commander of the
Irene tried to square himself with
Admiral Dewey by telling him that
he had prevented the insurgents at
tacking the tort in the interest of
humanity, and offered to turn over
the refugees that he had taken on
his vessel. Admiral Dewey politely
but CURLY declined to receive them.
The Germans will probably not at
tempt to do any more meddling over
there
One measure that is certain to be
pushed at the next session Of con-
gress is q bill for a cable from the
Pacific coast to Hawaii Since the
annexation Of the islands the need
for a cable has been more pressing
than ever.
French officers are regarded in
Europe as high authority on things
military. Therefore the opinion Of
our army formed by Major de Grand
prey, military attache Of the French
who accompanied General
Skaters army to Cuba and wit
messed some Of the hardest fighting
around Santiago, is worthy of at
tention. He said: Il have the most
complete Arbitration for your men.
They are superb body, and [ sup
pose not throughout the world is
there such a splendid lot Of fighting
men. 1t is the fighting characteristic
Of the men which is most apparent.
They are aggressive, eager for action,
never needing the voice Of an officer
to push them forward. Another
characteristic is the self-re-
lance of each man; what we call the
character Of 'initiative.' 1t is AL
most unknown in European armies,
where every movement, and the
move to meet each action Of the
enemy, await the initiative of an
officer. But with your men they fight
to the front, meeting each emergency
AS it arises, overcoming obstacles by
their own initiative. Such self
reliant fighting men make an eXcep-
impetuOus army, for every
unit contributes IN the irresistible
movement. Besides, the i'm
petuosity of such fighting material
has the effect Of inspiring a morale
the troops, making them feel
that success is assured, and at the
same time carrying disorder and de-
preston 20 the ranks of the enemy"
The people, the plain every day peo-
pie, are not a whit behind the army
and navy in their devotion to the
government. 1t is now cert ain that
no war bonds will be secured by
financial institutions or corpora
lions, although they offered to take
five times the amount Of the issue,
but that the entire 5000, 10000
will be taken by the people This
fact will do much, in the eyes of
Europeans, to demonstrate the
wonderful financial resources Of the
United States. 1t is an exhibition
that could not have been made by
any other country on earth. The
lives of, our young men are freely
placed at the disposal Of the govern
ment, and the dollars Of men, women
and children are just as freely put
into the governments treasury. A
country like that is bound to be in
vincible in war.
Chairman Babcock, of the Repub
lican Congressional committee, is in
Washington, looking after the work
of the committee. which is now being
diligently pushed. The committee
has Just moved into larger quarters.