The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1898-09-23
Ghe1emofraf-Sh t
BLOOD WILL TELL.
ANoLo-sAxoN AND LATIN RACE CON-
TRAsTs IN WAR.
New York Mail and Express.

AS Inc smoke vellS lit from the aw-
full battle genes around Santiago, on
e and land, living pictures, eloquent
and dramatic, staId out before the
world; pictures that paint In glowing
hues the instructive ~fer0city OF the
Spanish blood and the instructive
magnanimity Of the American soldier
and sailor. Famed the earth over for
prowcss, 1t hardly need the lessons of
Santiago and La Guasima and Guam
tanam0 to convince the world that
the fighting boys OF Uncle Sam, from
the highest commander to the lowest
private or jack tar, could he even
greater in victory than in battle.
II there Is One thing that will ring
down through history with as loud a
note us the great triumph itself, IL is
the u%nexamplcd generosity and kind.
ness to the foe that came linked with
the deadly strife.
The moment the enemy threw his
hands up and hauled down his flag on
a battered cruiser, every gun on the
A american fleet was silcnccd and i'm
mediate measures were taken to re.
llcve the fallen foe. From start to
finish OF the struggle not one single
instance OF American ferocity can be
found. Any disposition of the crews
to RlOat over the crushed enemy, usu-
ally c0ndoned In times of great excite.
ment, was promptly suppressed as too
inhuman a thing for an American
sailor to indulge in. When the Texas
was raining metal into the OQuend0
from her l2-inch guns one Of her shells
pierced a boiler, and a loud explosion
followed. Up went a shout from the
battleship's crew. Don't cheer, boys!"
at once shouted Capt. Philip from the
bridge, "those poor devils are dying"
And the cheer was smothcred almost
at Its birth. The time for joyful
lungs to work had passed.
That one rcproving lesson which
Philip Numbered to his gallant, vol
canlc crew is worth as much to the
American navy in the forum of the
nineteenth century as the splendid
achievements Of his gallant boys. 1t
was not ferOcity, but thoughtlcssness,
and even this must not tarnish the
humanity and honor OF an American
seaman.
Take another picture. When the
intrepid Wainwright had smashed the
two Spanish torpedo boat d%estroycrs.
In as gallant Il fight as history ever
recorded, his first act was to rush as
slstance to the wounded and sinking
D0ns. In a second the fortunes OF
war changed an enemy into a man, a
crushed and disabled fellow.creature,
appealing mutely for mercy. Among
the scenes OF %desolation that lay
spread before him Wainwright's quick
eye caught sight of a dead Spanish,
officer dashed to the rigging of a dis.
mantlcd and smoking wreck, and a
few Cuban brutes on the shore were
amusing themselves with shooting at
the poor corpse. ''Stop that lring!m
shouted Wainwright through the
mcgaphone, "Or I'll turn the 6.poun-
ders on you" No barbarlty, no desc.
Grafton, no savage atrocities enter In
TO the American sailors war book.
Later on the same courageous vic.
tory turned from lion into lamb, and,
with the spirit OF il true American
cavalier In conflict, extended his hand
the cOurtesles of his private cabin to
the poor old vanQuished Cervera and
his Officers-victory's tribute OF re-
spect and manhood and generosity to
fOeman with human hearts, who had
gone down in the desperate game OF
war. As the details OF that great
battle come drifting In they will add
more and more to the luster Of Amer
lean prowess tempered with chival-
rous kindness TO the enemy.
And now for the contrasts. One of
the Spanish cruisers, Keeling under
the rain OF shell from the Oregon.
pierced, exploding and ready to take
her final plunge TO death, was deserted
by her gunners In a panic Of dcspera.
zion. To cheek the stampede, the
officers, as wildly drew their side arms
and added their own FIRE on the men
TO that OF the foe. Many fell to their
tracks, the story goes, at the hands of
their merciless countrymen. Awful!
"Gl0ri0usly awful" as Archibald
Forbes said of q scene Of horror In
the war Of the Crimca. But fancy
such a bloody tableau as that on the
deck Of an American %battleship!|
How wildly impossible to conceive in
the esprit de corps Of the American
navy.
And there are other sldelights, too,
on the innate ~ferocity of the Latin
race, which Santiago has developed
Spaniards firing on that solemn burial
scene OF our dead at La Guisima, when
the rough rider heroes were consigned
to foreign soil; Spanish guns from the
Notifications firing on the hospital
corps In Its rounds OF mercy, and on
the charity ships OF the Red Cross,
taking relief to the wounded, no mat.
ter under what flag they fought. All
these are part and parcel Of the Span.
ish blood, unconqucrably savage tol