The Topeka state journal., 1899-09-26

Americans should make so much fuss
over him.
"Oh, just sailing around the world
the officer of the deck may say very
seriously.
1t is a long time to wait for news of
May 1, 1898, but the Italian papers get
few and brief foreign kilograms. AS
so many of the lower classes cannot
read. it would not matter much to
them If they had many and long ones.
The intelligent classes knew of him as
one who had taken part in the war with
Spain, which they think was a war Of
little account, because Spain did not
win They also knew of another Amer
lean admiral, the one who sunk Ger
vera's squadron. They don't remember
that admiraPS name, although they are
certain that they heard it at the time
That single line in the local paper
which pre- announced the admira1S ar
rival yesterday morning led the half a
dozen people who had American flags
to run them up. They were either
Americans or English or were connect
ed with America in a business way. By
them and them alone one might have
known of the event.
I asked the porter of the hotel-the
hotel calls itself Anglo-American-if
the admiral had come yet, and he asked
waiter if he knew anything about an
Admiral Dewey.
Yes said the waiter. Hes the one
the Americans are asking for He's
come all the way from some place call
ed Colombo, in China"
In the winter, when the great hotels
are open and LeghOrn belongs to the
tourists, probably Leghorn would have
been in as much of a futter as the
British ports of the east were over his
coming. The tourists have gone to
Scotland, Switzerland and other places,
which are cooler. and left Leghorn to
heat and to the resorts of the italians
along the beach, where they bathe,
drink wine, listen to music, and ride on
merry -go-rounds much as some people
do at home. They were as much inter
ested in the admiral at first as Coney
Island would be in John Ruskin. The
admiral was perfectly aware that this
was not the season at Leghorn In
fact, it would not be surprising if this
led him to come here. He anchored the
Olympia far outside the breakwater,
where nothing more than her fighting
tops and smokestaclxs can be seen from
the town. The boatmen grinned and
held up the price on the reporters to a
dollar round trip. If too many Amer
leans come there is danger of the sup
ply of boatmen running out. They re-
tire for a week on a single fare.
The two ensigns who had fallen into
the hands of the first boatman to go
out. and who passed me with bicycles
on their way for their run ashore, did
not have to wait on official calls That
is the beauty of being a junior. Poor
Flag Lieutenant Brumby lost two days
leave at Naples because the official
calls strung out to such a length.
If there is anything wrong in the
cabin there is something in the air on
deck which makes you realize it. Be
sides this, I noticed that the admiraI's
barge was still dashed in it's place. and
apparently was not to be taken down
show dog, was not rushing up and
down, looking wistfuIy at the shore
Yes, the admiral is not feeling we'll
and he will not go ashore today" said
the officers of the deck. Or, in the
language of Can't. Lam barfOp tfNOtb-
ing serious, and just off his ration a
little"
1t is the admiraPs weakness to be too
good natured and to think too little of
himself and too much of the comfort
of others. Perhaps those whose din
ners he ate at Naples Will feel a little
guilty when they hear the news, al
though little indiSposition is as like
Iy to happen to an admiral as to any
body else, without any apparent rea-
son. If a touch of illness makes the
Olympia so gloomy, one wonders what
would be the aspect of things if he
were really i'll. This morning the doc
tor took matters into his own hands,
and bade the admiral remain abed until
he was better. That left Captain Lam
berton and Lieutenant Brumby to call
upon the prefect of the department, the
mayor of the city, the general com
manding the troops, and return the call |
of the captain of the port, which they
did, in the company of the consul. W hen |
the admiral is up he will find clean
slate, and he is promised the quietest
week he has had at any port except /
at Hong Kong. That he will be him
self again tomorrow the doctor has no
doubt It was not absolutely neces- /
sary he should go to bed, provided he |
would keep still out OF bed, which is
the hardest thing in the world for the /
admiral to do. The doctor is going to |
take no risks.
FREDERICK PALMER.
TO-, S,ju1a~ Tsaod