The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-09-30
RELICS OF THE CONFLICT.
Uncle Sam Wants to Make an HispanO-
American Collection,

wars Have Been Preserved, ana bhe
National Museum Proposes to Organi re
an Exhibit in This Case That Will Be
of Real and Permanent Value.
Correspondence of Boston Transcript.
Washington, Sept. 23.-The National
Museum is about to send special agents
to Porto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines
for the purpose of making collections
illustrative of the recent war and of the
present phase of American history. 1t Is
a Iamentable fact that the goyernm emit
possesses scarcely any memorials OF It's
past military struggles, and, save for the
Grant relics contributed by W. ii. Van
derbilt. the Rebellion is practically un-
represented in the great national reposi-
tory of curiosities. Such souvenirs are
too apt to find their way into the hands
of private persons, just as the bell OF the
battleship Maine is said to have passed
into the possession of foreign consul at
Havana. and this sort of thing is what
is happening now.
Uncle Sam is very DESTROYS of securing,
before it is too late, collection OF mem
u
that will possess great historical interest
in days to come. 1t is realized that just
at present this country is passing through
an epoch of it's development which Will
be regarded hereafter as most notable,
and the period ought to be illustrated as
completely as possible by permanent ex'
hibit in the National Museum. This
exhibit will be ethnologio to some ex-
tent, representing the native peoples OF
the Philippines, Cuba and Porto RICO.
The Philippines, of course are specially
rich in such material, being one OF the
least known regions OF the world. Many
of the tribes in the archipelago have new
er seen a white man.
In Porto Rico objects will be gathered,
such as will most suitably present the
picture of the primitive arts of the people.
The disturbance of war has set afioa5
great numbers of heirlooms, which have
been handed down in families for hun
dreds of years, and these things are often
of high value as curiosities. Shut off on
an island, as they have always been, the
Porto Ricans are exceedingly primitive
In some ways, and have advanced along
lines peculiar to themselves. They have
made their own machinery. their own
arms, and their own household utensils.
Examples Of these objects must be OBJ
tanned before they disappear with the
coming influx of American CIVILIZATION
and YANKEES improvements.
The same remarks may be made with
regard to Cuba. AS for the Philippines
one thing that will be done soon is to get
to work with divers in Manila Ray. In
this wav a thousand and one things OF
future historical interest will be recovered
from the Spanish wrecks, which lie in
shallow water, where 1t is easy enough TO
get at their contents. The Navy Depart
inent would have the first right in these
premises, but it will certainly do what
it can to assist the purpose OF the Nation
al Museum. Special requests vii be ao-
dressed to Dewey, Schley and Sampson for
personal souvenirs OF themselyes; IKE.
wise to Hobson. Things are wanted that
will illustrate the victories OF the Yanko-
Spanko war and the men who won them.
Objects of this kind will possess an in
creasing interest as time goes on.
The various appliances used by the
signal service OF the army Will be IN,
cluded in this exhibit; also an effort Will
be made to secure some of the apparatus
used in his attempt to cork the Santiago
bottle. There will be objects of interest
from Cerveras feet, and the Inflated
Maine will not be forgotten. Everything
that will stand as memorial OF the
battles of the recent war will be specially
prized-as, for example, swords, pistols,
machine guns, munitions of all sorts,
shells, and cannon injured or burst. The
typical weapons of the present date will
be shown. Then in the ethnoiogic dis
play there will be included the primitive
arms and equipments of Filipinos and
Cubans. There will be model of the
harbor of Santiago, with SIMPSONS fleet
living in wait outside and the doomed
ships of the Spanish squadron hiding in
side behind the formidable batteries.
1t is earnestly desired to obtain for
this exhibit models acknowledgements
inc the principal types of warships en-
ployed by the United States during the
recent war-say, a battleship, a cruiser
and torpedo boat. Such models are
built by the Construction Bureau OF the
Navy at the ship house in the Washington
navy yard, from the original plans OF the
vessels, costing from $1,000 to $4,000 apiece.
They are on scale of one-fourth OF one
inch to the foot, SO that the mode! Of the
Colum bia, for instance, is exactly nye
feet long. The Navy Department builds
such a model to represent each new class
of its warhips. For example, there will
ordered. Every detail of the great ships is
reproduced in the miniature, down to the
smallest parts of the guns. An eight.inch
gun on this scale is just four inches long.
The little boats and steam launches
carried on the decks are as carefully
made as their originals. Even the battle
hatches-gratings of heavy steel bars-are
reproduced.
The exhibit will embrace models of a
war transport and a hospital ship. There
will be samples of the various kinds OF
gunpowers, which are made in a variety
Of curious shapes. Some smokeless pow
ders look like like sheets of bro wn pa
per, others like strings of india-rub-
Der, and so on. half a pound of each
sort of powder will be shown, and the
most interesting of the samples will be a
charge for one-pounder gun recovered
from the Maine. Submarine mines raked
up in Guantanamo bay. in barnacle-
covered condition, will be Of interest;
likewise Spanish rapid-hre projectile
captured at Cavite. faw relics have
been forwarded to the museum by Rouns-