Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-26
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against plain Smith"
well. then, you have got another guess
coming to who is the greatest talker.
responded the man who had mentioned
Youngs name.
Il don't know what your man Young can
do said the newcomer, but 1 have IS to
back my man Smith against him.
Taken" answered the champion of Luz
Glen Young quickly, and the money was
put up in a third mans hands: It was
agreed that nothing should be said either to
Young or t. Smith but it was arranged
that this group of naval officers should
bring them together and quietly allow them
to get started on some topic. The arrange
ments We're all made. The men casually
met. A drink or two passed around,
and some topic introduced with which both
Young and Smith were familiar. The 9TH
ers dropped out. leaned back in their chairs
and smoked their cigars while Smith and
Young talked against each other over the
table. This went on for matter Of two
hours, and each apparently doing his level
best. Finally. Smith brought his fist down
on the table with bang and said: "Lucien
Young, you are the greatest talker in the
navy. I'll quit you right here" The
money was passed over to Young's hacker
and the joke explained amid loud laughter
on the part of those who had perpetrated
1t upon the two takers.
X X !.
The development of trouble in San Do
mlngo. and also some uneasiness in Haiti,
recalls some of the experiences of year
ago by newspaper men who were on board
the dispatch boats carrying the news from
the vicinity of Santiago and filing it at the
first cable station they could find. One of
those correspondents was telling, the other
DAY, about his experience at Mole St.
Nicholas 1t will be remembered that the
dispatches from the Mole were of various
Kinds, ana some of the greatest disasters
which never happened were reported from
that station. This correspondent said that
when he arrived with his dispatch boat at
the Mole he was met by the entire army of
the place and politely informed that they
would take him to the governor No, he
said. he wanted to go to the cable Office as
soon as he could. The reply was that there
was plenty of time. and that he would first
be taken to the governor, and to the gov
ernor he had to go before he could go to
the cable office The army consisted large
ly of brigadier generals, colonies, majors
and captains, in various costumes ranging
from epaulets to bare feet. The CORE
spondent, burning with desire to get his
dispatch off, marched along in the process
sion to the governors palace" The
palace consisted OF story and a half
shanty, with two or three rooms. Into this
the correspondent and the army march
ed, and awaited the coming of the gov
ernor. The governor soon descended from
the half story above in all the grandeur
he possessed Epaulets decorated his
shoulders, bright yellow sashes tin medals
breast Around him was gathered the
army, some of them in costumes of French
grenadiers, with tall pointed caps, or any
thing else that they could get with color
The governor was duly presented to the
correspondent and the correspondent to the
governor. They shook hands. The CORE
spondent expressed his qualification at
being in small capacity the representa-
tive of one of the great republics and was
pleased to meet the representative of
another great republic of the western hem
between the governor and correspondent the
correspondent motioned towards the door,
and one of his servants from the dispatch
boat entered and presented the governor
with a bottle of whisky and a ham and the
correspondent was then free to go to the
cable office and file his dispatch. At diff
ferent ports in Haiti and San Domingo
nearly every visitor of any especial promi-
hence had similar experiences.
x X x
Rear Admiral Hichborn. chief constructor
of the navy, and Chief Clerk Peters of the
Navy Department are very warm friends
They have recently been exchanging Jokes
on each other. The rear admiral started
the fun. The chief clerk was away down in
Maine spending his vacation, and trying to
enjoy himself. The admiral was in Wash
ington hard at work. He took it into his
head that Peters needed some reading mat
ter, and every day there were sent off re-
such document, ten twelve years old
The documents kept getting older and drier
and more useless, and the admiral capped
the climax by sending directory of the
city of Brooklyn for 1858. When Peters re-
turned to the department and Admiral
Hichborn went to Atlantic City to spend his
vacation Peters began sending religious
tracts and literature TO the admiral with
passages marked in pencil giving especial
reference to some of the admrals weak
points. A bat a of this literature was gath
cred up and mailed to the admiral each day
dressed in a different handwriting and
IL. such way as to indicate its Importance
50 that 1t must be opened, even if it was not
all read. Peters declared that Hichborn
was more in need of the documents which
he has been sending than he peters, was
of those which the admiral sent to him.
x y x * X
A disagreeable feature of the occupation
of the Philippines is just now being brought
home to army officers and their families
Quite a large portion of the correspondence
which -Adjutant General Corbin receives at
the present time is from the wives of army
officers, asking about arrangements of
transportation of officers families to the is
lands, and also inquiring when the embargo
against the families of officers instituted
by General Otis. will be withdrawn Short
~ after the occupation of the islands by the
United States. quite number of wives of
the officers went to Manila, but finally Cen
eral Otis issued order and had it promuI-
gated by the War Department here direct
ing that no more officers wives should go
TO the islands. saying that it was an unfit
place FOR women. being unsafe as well as
unhealthy. Meanwhile troops We're con-
tlnualiy being sent TO the islands, especially
the regulars. who We're differed by men
most OF whom had families, who had ac-
companied them heretofore to the various
sarrlsons and military posts where they had
been stationed 1t was very disappointinp
10 the wives of the officers that they should
De compelled TO remain at home while their
husbands were more than 10000 miles away
ana especially as they We're likely to re-
main away for long period. Now efforts
are being made to get General Otis to re-
scind the order, especially about the time
the rainy season will close so that the wo-
men can go across the Pacific. They not
only want the order rescinded, but they al
SO desire transportation on government
transports. Nothing is being done in the
matter, because General Otis has not vet
rescinded his order. and the information
which has been received from him is to the
erect that as soon as the rainy season Is
over the officers will be away at the front
where 1t will be impossible for their wives
10 go. and he is not inclined to revoke the
order. The occupation of the Philippines
II 1t requires large number of troops il
sure to become unpopular with the wives
of army officers.