Evening star., 1898-12-17
TRAVELLING WITH HOBSON

| Il happened to be on the same train with
| Lieut.. Hobson when he went over to An
| napolis a few weeks ago." said the Wash
| ington correspondent of a Baltimore news
| paper land, as have known him for a
| number of years, he beckoned me to take
the seat beside him in one of the day
coaches for the ride to Odenton, where he
changed for Annapolis. Quite a number of
the men in the car recognized Hobson. as
did several old ladies travelling in company
and they rubber-necked around in their
seats good deal 10 study the countenance
OF the man who sent the Merrimac to the
bottom Hobson didn't seem to take much
notice of the neckstretching on the part of
the passengers. but when an old lady in the
seat directly in front of US turned herself
deliberately around, and for the space of
good two minutes gazed hard and square
right into his countenance, with the aid of
pince-neZ, which she held with a very
hrm adjustment, he turned to me with an
amused look and said:
I've been thinking lately of growing
beard with the idea of avoiding all this
sort of thing, but, then, the newspapers
nave published all manner of more less
weird portraits of me with beard on, and
so I'm afraid the growing of beard
Wou!dht serve my purpose. While l was
In New York a few days ago / went to
Cyrano de Bergerac," and l bethought me
that II L could only grow a Cyrano nose l
might make out all right for disguise un-
I'll folks forget all about that very much
oVerdone and exaggerated Merrimac bus
mess, which they no doubt will soon
enough. Seriously, / don't think it was
achievement for such a big fuss to be made
about. l had a chance that was ALL and |
took 1t, and I'm very certain that there's
not an officer in the United States navy
VINO wouldn't have welcomed the same op
portunity, and perhaps have performed the
task better than | did The of if c
I've been accused a good deal of having ac-
quired what's known as the big head since
the thing came off, whereas, as a matter of
TACT, I'm just humble, Uriah, as any
man that walks in shoe leather
There are some funny features of an
aftermath sort in connection with the hap
pening down in Santiago harbor. For
ample, I've got a young brother who's a
cadet at the West Point Military Academy.
He's as bashful and retiring a youngster as
you'll meet in a days walk but as he's in
the pieb class at the Point, and, therefore,
legitimate prey for the young fellows in the
higher classes. he has to suffer d good deal
on my account. The members of the top
classes, for instance, are at great pains to
save up all the clippings that refer to me,
and then regularly once every week my shy
brother is made to sit on the top of bar
rel and read all of these clippings aloud to
the assembled cadets, who applaud his lit
tie turn VociferouSly. When he finishes
each clipping he's required to stand upon
the barrel, point to the clipping grandifo-
quently and shout:
"'"Thats my brother" Then he has TO
place one hand on his breast and say, SOL
emnly:
I'm just like him.
OF course, that's all very funny and
laughabie, but it seems PITY the lad has
to make such a monkey of himself on my
account. He writes me in & very gloomy
strain about it, and always winds up his
letters with a postscript with the question,
Say, why did you go Tor to sink that mis-
cradle old tub of a boat?'''
The people the car continued to screw
around in their seats to look at Hobson un
til the train stopped at Odenron and he got
or TO change cars, and when the tram
started on again for Baltimore they kept
right on ScreWlng around to size me up. L
felt perfectly gutless of having done any
thing to warrant all of this attention, but
they continued to gaze at me hard until The
train was almost at he Baltimore station.
Then a huge, farmer-Iooking man, with
hand on him as big as a ham, got up from
his seat few rows ahead of me, paraded
down to where | sat, held out his fist for
me to grasp, and made a 'spooch' for the
benefit of all the rest of the passengers i'll
the car.
"'Podner. he said, L didn't edzactly hev
til nerve t mosey up an interrupt W en-
you was a-taikin' with your brother, much
as [ wanted t grab him by the hand but
you-au will do jes' as well. Jes' let me feel
tn paw of TIL brother of tn man thet pug
ged up tn harbor of Santee-ago
Now concluded the correspondent, I'm
onto ffty-fiVe years Of age, and I'm smooth
faced, red-faced and chubby-faced, and
what hair I've got left is practically white,
and l look just about much like Lieut..
Hobson as l do like Claude Menotte-but
what was the of protesting? The
whole car load walked past me in single
file and asked me to let EN- shake the hand
of Hobson's brother. 1 could only grin and
stand for it, Ii man has so much fun as
L had in the enjoyment of reflected great
ness, what must his pleasure be when he's
the real thing, l wonder?'