The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-01
DEWEY'S ANNIVERSARY.

lie llrSl OIL May is ny CuSlutl IIlON-
ing day. A year ago George Dewey
moved into the Philippines and has &C.
cupied the premises ever since. More
over. he has enabled some thirty thou
sand of his friends and neighbors to
go out and enjoy the climate, scenery,
fruits and natives along with him. He
did not know exactly how long he was
going to live there, when he moved in
but circumstances over which he had
no control made it desirable to take a
long lease of the property. There were
some other things which he had in
most admirable control. There was a
cocky and meddlesome yachting party
from Germany, who imagined they
could nag him till he would be COM
PEELED to give up the house, but he
rounded them UP and sent them about
their business, as if they were but a
parcel of unruly boys out for a lark
on Halloween. Since that time, the
real estate has been added to Uncle
Sans holdings, and now the domestics
and farm hands are out on strike. 1t
takes some little time to set a new
house in order, and the difficulty is
necessarily increased when the help
behaves rusty. They have been rather
badly cut up Of late, and the chances
are that they have had about enough
Of it,
But to go back to that memorable
first of May. When next a list of criti-
cal battles of the world is compiled,
that of Manila bay will have to be in
cluded. 1t may not have been the deci-
sive battle of the Spanish war in the
same sense as the naval fight off San
tiago, where Spain's modern navy was
annihilated. but it contributed to the
same general purpose, and, above all,
it re-established the prestige of the
American navy gave the United States
foothold in Asia and at once raised
this country to the first rank as a
world power. The political and COM
mercial consequences that may flow
from this battle quite battle the imagi-
nation.
Before the squadron set sail from
Hong Kong and Mrs bay, the name
of George Dewey was practically I'M
known outside the service. The peo-
pie as a whole were even unprepared
to believe that the war was actually
to begin 1000 miles from home, at the
very antipodes of Cuba. Still less were
they prepared for the stupendous vic
tory which followed. When first the
news came, garbled and in contradic-
tory form, some were incredulous.
When at length it was as
sured that the American navy had
proved itself worthy of a century's rep
utation for discipline, pluck, seaman
ship and straight shooting; when the
reports came of the appalling losses of
men killed-there was a feeling of sad
ness at the thought of what our own
list of killed and wounded must be.
Then came dispatch saying that not
an American had been killed nor an
American vessel lost; not a ship seri-
wounded. 1t seemed incredible, but it
was true. 1t is difficult to find in his
tory q parallel for such mighty results
achieved at so insignificant a cost.
The popular tendency to exalt Dewey
is no mistaken sentiment. There is
nothing to detract from the glory of all
that he and his officers and men did
and dared. Merely as a military ex-
plot, the sailing over a strange course
into a mined and well-fortified harbor
and reducing the port to utter subjec-
ton. will take its place as one of the
most extraordinary victories ever re-
corded. But this was not Dewey's only
service. AS a diplomat he showed tai
ents of the highest order, measuring to
nicely the demands for tact and per-
suasion and the necessity for holiness
and frmness. There may be other Off
GERS in the navy who, with the same
fine ships and the same captains, could
have won the fight as we'll as he, but
it is by no means equally certain that
another could have handled the per-
picking and [exasperating after-situa-
ton SO sagaeiously and effectively as
he. All honor to George Dewey and
the men who served under him.
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