Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-12
ECHOES or THE WAR.

one Of the many beautiful testimonials
with which Admiral Dewey has been hon
ored, a magnificent wreath OF laurel
leaves, escaped mention in the dispatches
The wreath. designed by a New York florist
was about three feet in diameter, made OF
eilver laurel leaves. mounted on a base OF
natural pampas grass. The leaf OF the
laurel is not glossy green, but OF pure
silver gray on both sides and dclcately
veined. The leaves have a white metallic
luster and exquisite sof,ness Of tone, and
are Of hardy nature. The three
strcamers of rich satin with which
the wreath was decorated were in
scribed in gold letters, on the white, symbol
of peace, admiral Dewey" on the navy
blue, United states Senate, September 30.
1897" on the red. the badge of courage.
when ready, you may fire, Gridley!"
Notwithstanding the erusve and ofren-
siye assertions of their champions. Rear
Admirals schley and Sampson are not at
loggerheads personally. Both dlned to-
gether in New York during Dewey week,
and appeared to be on friendly terms, When
they met again on the east front OF the
capitol during the presentation ceremonies,
Schley pushed through the crowd on the
stand to where Sampson was standing ex-
tended his hand in the most genial way
and Erasped SIMPSONS hand very heartily,
while Sampson blrshed furious red The
incident attracted very general attention.
Lieutenant Joseph L. Donovan of the
Twenty-frst infantry. who served as lieu
tenant colonel Of the Sixty-n ninth regiment in
the Spanish war, is back from the Philip
pines on crutches as the result of a wounG
n hn 1pft 10 l.,
no amputation until there is no chance for
am thing else, and the doctors hope they
will be able to save the leg
Soldiers disposed to save scme OF their
earnings whilo in the service can bank
their money with Uncle Sam and obtain
per cent interest on their deposits This
applies to enlisted men only. OhiCers a,e
excluded. Last year the government paid
$4,000 interest on the savings of soldiers.
The record of deposits for that period was
remarkable, but 1t is plain high water
mark has not been reached. For the year
ending June 30 last, more than S50O.OOO was
deposited by the troops at Manila alone This
record promises to be eClipsed during the
current year and the army officers would not
be surprised If deposits of soldiers in the
Philippines reached 81 100000
The records of deposits are kept in the
office of the paymaster general, WASHINGTON.
Said clerk engaged on this work: "You
have no idea to what extent this feature of
soldiers deposits has grown. Before the
late war they were almost insignificant but
they have grown with such tremendous
strides that we are away behind, notwth-
standing increased for,e and extra hours
We have just received a paymaster's alb
stract from Manila containing the names OF
almost 1400 depositors, amounting in all to
over $4,000. 1t may seem like fl tion, but
some soldiers are depositing more than
their whcle monthly pay"
This last statement is substantiated by
showing the deposit record of company
cock in the Ninth infantry, in the Philip
pines, whose pay Is s21.6O month, and who
has been depositing not less than $24 every
month during his Philippine service. He also
showed the entry of a single deposit of $l3,-
OOO made by private at West Point a few
months ago, and said that not long ago a
single deposit of $23, 900 was made. Every
now and then heavy deposits are made or
deposits in excess of the depositor's pay, and
naturally considerable conjecture is occas-
ioned. Some attribute them to inheritances
or earnings on the outside while others are
so bold as to insnuate that occasionally the
soldiers engage in games OF chance such
as poker and craps.
In a letter to the st. Louis Globe Demo-
crat, Louis Dodge of Company d, Twenty
third infantry, who accompanied General
Bates to the Sulu island relates an incident
that happened during the conference with
the sultan, and which called forth the diplo-
matte talent of smothering a pointed ques-
tion in a torrent of smooth words 1--WE
said many things" relates Dodge, "to i'm
press the sultan with our power and wealth
and general formdableness, to which he
listened patiently, and then asked simply:
Why, If our possessions were so great
should we come SO far in quest of that which
was hs-one small island?
(Which unexpected question was, | be-
lieYe. not XerY clearly ansMered.n