The times., 1898-04-25
SAILORS SAD WIVES.
Where Preparations for HUstiiitie'
Cause the Greatest Alarm.


Cause the Greatest Alarm.
A considerable portion of the population
of Washington is composed of the families
of army and navy officers, and just now
this community is profoundly agitated
with apprehension concerning the war
The wives and families of many of the
officers who have been ordered to the
fighting squadrons who do not live perma-
nently in Washington have come here for
sympathetic surroundings, and are filling
up the hotels and boarding houses. The
| mediums of communication between these
| families and the War and Navy Depart
| ments are the army and navy relief as
sociations. These are benevolent societies
which have no official character, but have
an official sanction, and are in charge of
| retired officers, who make it their bust
! ness TO look after the necessities of the
! families of comrades who are in active
service. They have headquarters in the
Army and Navy Building, and insure the
| lives of the members of this association.
| When an officer is killed an assessment
| is made upon all the members, which is
| paid by the paymaster and deducted from
| their salaries. When an officer goes TO sea
| he assigns a certain portion of his pay to
! his family who receive ii through the reg
ular paymaster. If there is any trouble
the matter is looked after by the sec
retary or other officers of the associa-
/ ton. They also keep a record of the ad-
dress of the families of navy and army of
ficers so that they can reach them
! promptly whenever necessary.
| The close personal interest which this
community has in the war has had a
gloomy effect on Washington society, for
on every side one encounters weeping
wives and fearful daughters, who eagerly
discuss plans and probabilities and anx-
| iously await information from the source
| of power and authority concerning the
| movements of the army and fleets and
| the probabilities of a conflict
| At the same time these brave women
take a pride and interest in the hopes and
ambitions of their husbands who have
gone to sea TO win glory for themselves,
! as well as freedom for the people of Cuba.
| They have been assured Individually
| over and over again that their husbands
| and sons are not in the slightest danger
| that 1t is impossible for the SpaniardS tc
| capture or destroy or even injure the
! ships of our feet. One family here has
| contributed two oflicers-a father and a
| son-in-law-to Capt. SIMPSONS squadron
and the wife of the younger officer was
talking to a vOluble admiral on the retired
list the other day on the all-prevailing
topic
do you think the Dolphin will be il
danger" she inquired.
'If she were hit by a shell or a sho
from one of those Spanish cruisers yol
would never know what became of her,
replied the admiral, uougntlessly.
| Goodness gracious!" exclaimed tn,
bride Tom wrote me tnat all the ships
in the Spanish navy could fire at the
Dolphin all day and would never hur
her a bit"
The admiral appreciated the situation
and replied: The Dolphin, eh? Why, o
course not, they never would hit her,
and the trustful woman went off witt
renewed confidence.
But sometimes this comforting i.
overdone. The wife of the commando
of one of the merchantmen that had beer
converted into cruiser has been goini
round with fearful eyes for several days
while her friends in and out of the nav.
have been trying to brace up her cOur
age and assure her that her HUSBAND
could not be in any danger. They ttnall.
told her that his ship was not likely L
see any fighting at all; that it probabl
would be used exclusively for coast de
| fense, and of course the Spanish fleet
would never get far enough west t.
give them any employment. 1t was al
most certain her friends told her, tina
her husband would not get within SCUM
Of the shooting. This made her very in
dignant and she started for the Nav,
| Department to demand of Capt. Crown
inshied, chief of the bureau of navi
cation. who makes the assignments o
officers To ships, that her husband shou
have as good a chance as the rest of tn
navy to fight the Spaniards.