New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-29
LIE MN AND TIE HOUR.

THE MAN AND THE HOUR
The annals Of the Republic, in peace or war I
show no more splendid and Significant greeting
than that with which the Nation welcomes NJ" 4
miral Dewey his gallant men and the war "o'"
shin in which they have won r'noWn ms -
rs II should he: for the great deed AT Maii" DAY
was not simply the destruction OF hoS'le iolV''
and the Admiral is not the fortultouS VICTOR III
dav. The laurelS Of many leader OF the p"S'
have wiihercd in the searching sunlight OF I"'e'
years. and history. looking backward WIFI u"-
cloudod gaze has found the haw ID many "
triumph but the brilliant and daring N"''o'
whom we greet has no such fate to lear
Neither expert nor extended investigation -
nocdod TO show the difficulty and the danger OF
fhc task set Admiral Dewey hy his ORDERS 10
.cantnre or destroy the Spanish feet in the
Fast His force was five thousand miles from
ite home base with all accessible ports closed
against II for supply or reftting IN the event OF
disoster. This for a steam heet-indeed. for
large sea force Of any character was without
rarallcl in the history of war II is true that
Nelson crossed and recrosScd the Atlantic III
nursnit Of Vfleneuve. but there were friendly
home ports for the English Admiral al pom enuS
Of bis RIM and the ships of that day. with their
while in this age Of mechanism fleet without
facilities for supply and ropnir becomes Wi'nih
loss Than a month Of active work In war
Gathering of inert and defencclesS hulks AGAIN
If was known that the shores Of Manila haY
were defended by land batteries having SOME
modorn cnns. and il was said rs well that It's
waters were adequately mined It has hecon'e
practically an axiom Of naval war that an A.
flo ,
ironclade is mavailng. Al Fort Sumter alone
during two hundred and eighty days OF s'eauY
or dcsultory assault. there were fired in VAIN
| moro than forty-SiX thousand pro)ecules by the
most powcrful fleet Of its time. and all later
commandments tell the same story AS 10 the
mines while the automobile torpedo has yet to
score in battle against ships in motion. the sta
tionarv type or mine. has a long and tragic
! history Al Mobile Bay Farragut saw one OF
Lie Monitors bearing the chivalrC Drayton. SINK
lilo O. sounding lead from contact with a mine.
ond +, was over a fortunately impotent mine
/ fold that uttering his historic oath, he charged
~ tbe head of his halting column. Furthermore
! Dewey knew that an attack in Manila bay ui
fercd widely from an engagement on the open
sea In tie former the advantage lay wholly
with the defence. since occasional shadows
!
waters whose firing range in every section
should he instantly known 10 the enemy Anu
finally. If should be remembered that more than
q generation before there had died away the
ccho Of the last gun fred in action 10y the lnited
| states: that Dewoys squadron. hoth as 10 ShlpS
and men. was wholly untried in war, and that
lis commander was man of threeScore years
an age when caution dominates rather than
daring
II * not strange that many European critics
sco,,tcd the idea of the American Admlrals sue
cess and that even British experts feared fa'l-
IRE If the Spanish defence were even fairly
efficient Dewey could expect at best. II was SAID
only A qualified victory, with the loss OF some
vessels and with an apparently nSolublc prob
lem confronting him in the maintenance OF u
crinpled fleet before an unconquered port until
.,nnort from another hemisphere could reach
hin, Neither adverse criticism nor his lack oil
friendly ports nor the shore batteries and mined
u.otors Of Manila made The Admiral falter
Like tho heroic Richard Chancellor OF early ARC
tic history. his noble determination was, Either
"to hiring that 10 pass which was intended or
. "lse ia die The death" and there IS no more
eulendd figure in all naval annals than mat ol
tho ADMIRAL gray haired but with the hre oil
} vouth leading in the darkness his silent shlp'
, mast the guns of COrregidOr. over waters IRON
which, for all he knew. volcanic death mgh
I leap. 10 face al dawn the Spanish ieet ana iah'
, defenceS. His unqualified and unparalleled sue
cess In the action of that May morning was Ou
e the dur. Of his tirrleSS care in organ'Zatoh' o
. his intrepid spirit and OF his calm and unfailinI
n skill in Battle The man and the hour were
: uobly met
: But this was not all There We're yet 10 pas
Pc many weeks Of waiting before reinforcement
II came weeks Of wearing watchfulneNs OF hour
4 IL danger as the slender and now i'll equipped
e squadron faced not only the unconqner"d cliy
T. with its troops and batteries. but the scarccl
Y ,eiled hostility which, perhaps from some ms
I. understanding, was shown 10y foreign for
Dr. ahoat Throughout this trying period the Al
10 mlral so bore himself as 10 win the still s,ronge
admiration OF his countrymen. With steadfas
% courage he held the cowed city beneath hi
e., guns: with tact and diplomacy he restrained th
r. insurgent forces which surrounded 1t. with cou
IN teouS hut unyieldng front he met and val
re pushed the spectre of foreign Interference Wit
r. glove of velvet but grip Of steel he graSpe
he and guarded all that he had won
~ Admiral Dewey has not merely added ne
,d territory To the United States. He has opene
or for ii a broad pathway Of commercial expansio
al 10 the uttermost island of the Pacific and Il
RS vast Asian littora beyond: and his great dee
nd Of arms has been flashing illumination r
y. other nations Of a truth which the rust Of
at long peace had obscured thar the lnit'
Mt States. while abhorrng war for wars sax
re would yet strike. swiftly and terribly. WHIT
nc need came Less for IFS new lands than for Il
m. added lnstre which he has given the America
III | name the Nation may we'll shower lis highe
ief honors upon him The Olympia will find ILL
MS trious harborase In history with Nelson's VI