New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-30
CREDIT FOR THE oREGOy'S VICTORY.

CREDIT FOX THE OhEuON - 'i'i""''
The war with Spain would scarcely have had
n genuine American flavor If 1t had not evoKed
IT'S full share Of humorous incidents. Or these
the enemy furnished their full quota. With the
tragedy and pathos which attended the lower
inc of the SPANISH standard in this hemisphere
there will be joined always In the minds Oh
Americans the recollection Of the brave but ran
tastic dons. naughty in their rhetoric ana WIG
eyed In their shouting. conducting modern war
fare on principles ard with an equipment COM
parable to those of the famous La Manchan
knight.
The war had but begun when the capture or
the big liner Panama by the pygmy tender Man
grove sent a ripple of laughter over the Con-
tinent Then the first man to reach the crest
Of San Juan Hill appeared, and the grin broad
ened as his numbers grew from single file TO
platoon. company and a regiment. The gun
boat Suwance clearing for action to fight
hattle-shIp: Skaters expedition held up by
"spook" fleet of Spanish warships; the leuten-
ant of Regulars who failed to see why Russla's
military attache should not join in his gratifca-
tion that the war had solidifed the two
branches Of the Anglo-Saxon race-these and
dozens of similar incidents have stirred the
mirth Of people which in far darker days had
found time and inclination to laugh with
Artemus Ward.
Naval officers In Washington are chuckling
quietly over the latest addition to the humorous
history Of the war-the claim advanced by some
of Chief Constructor Hichborn's friends that to
him is due the real credit for the Oregon's pres
cncp at Santiago. and. hence, for her great share
in the victory there. The claim is so bold and
i C1,lo ~xx~fil hnN n
recall his famous saying. There is glory
enough for ALL or there may he left only
enough for the newest acquisition TO the ranks
of the naval heroes. Captain Clark and Chiet
Engineer AIiligan will be stripped of their mis-
taken laurels and the bays will encircle me
brow Of Chief Constructor Hichborn. The
friends Of the constructor assert that the Ore
CONS success was due to- the energy OF one
man. who Just previous TO the war ordered
her in drydock 10 have her bottom "scraped
and sandpapered," thus increasing her speed at
sea- Is II possible that In unguided ignorance
the Nation has been worshipplng a false idol?
II would seem so from this dictum. The real
hero Of the warship, apparently, is not tine
man behind the gun; not even the man before
the furnace fire. but the man in the overalls
who scrapes the sea growth off her bottom.
A slight flaw is developed in the argument
which supports this claim made for the Chief
Constructor-that he has no authority, namely
TO order" any commissioned ship Of the Navy
into dock That is the prerogative of others
He simply sees that her bottom is cleaned when
she gets there. But II is further asserted that
on the occasion Of the battle-ships now famous
docking the Chief Constructor also had bilge
kecls fitted ito render the vessel steady for
gun platform" The Oregon fought off Santiago,
however on summer sea, on whose placid
surface she found no need Of bilge keels. Their
sole effect in fact. was to reduce her speed
and thus delay the surrender Of the Colon.
Scraping a ships bottom and fitting thereon
appliances which-however serviceable at other
tImes-actually retarded her in action seem
scant grounds on which to base claim Tor
transcendent glory, and one, too, at the ex-
pensc of men who. through torrid days and
sitting nights guided and steamed the ship to
her final victory. The man behind the barnacle-
scraper will hardly replace the man behind the
pun and the man behind the stocking shovel as
the real author of Cerveras destruction.