The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-10-04
WHO DISCOVERED DEWEY?

WIN UtOOONAuLO OLWLi'
The contention now going on between
the partisans of Mckinley, Long, Proc
for and Roosevelt as to who discovered
Dewey bids fair to rival the famcus
INQUIRY, ''Who Struck Billy Patterson"
A Chicago poet thus takes off the clairn-
ants for the honor of discovery:
Who sent Dewey to Manila?
Il" said Billy Mason,
II sent him chasin'-
| started the war;"
Who gave<hi the order?
T." said Long,
Il sent him to Hongkong,
I gave him the order"
Who got him to go?
Il" said Teddy,
Il got him ready,
told him 20 GO
Who thought of him first?
81" said Proctor,
I'm the doctor
Who diagnosed his case"
Who yelled good-by?
Il" said Bill Jones,
SIN stentorian zones,
l said good-by."
Who saw him start?
Il" said John Smith,
Il saw him with
My little eye.'
But what does it matter
Who sent him away?
He was there and he did it,
That morning in May.
Governor Roosevelt, who imagines
that he and Dewey are the only pb-
bles on the beach, was the early bird
to claim to be the true and only genuine
discoverer of the Vermont hero. He
has told in the magazines of how Dewey
was sent for and why he was chosen
to command the Asiatic Squadron, and
he went down the bay to greet Dewey
before anybody else with the air OF
full proprietorship by right of discov-
cry.
Senator Proctor claims the credit, stat
ing that long before the Spanish war
he suggested Dewey to the President.
and that when he had convinced The
President that Dewey Yas he mar,
Mr.. Mckinley wrote a card for Mr..
Long saying:
Secretary Long: Assign Com
modore Dewey to Asiatic Squadron.
"WM. Mex
Senator Proctor goes ON to say that
when the President had written this
card, he leaned back In his chair and
remarked: Senator, THAT is liked.
All of which sounds so very plausible
as to make one inclined to accept the
Senator as the true and only discover
err
Secretary Long, not disposed t. let
his assistant or a Senator claim the
credit to which he is entitled, comes
forward and declares that he does nor
recall case where it IVES more the
simple act of the department and with
out the exercise of influence on he
part of anybody outside" Secretary
Long goes on to say, Il made
the selection myself. The choice
lay between Commodore Howell
and Dewey. The latter preferred the
Asiatic station; besides, he was thought
to be the better fitted for the command
in case of war. So Howell was given
the European station, and Dewey went
across the Pacific Mr.. Long adds: lit
is true that | did receive a letter from
Senator Proctor telling me what a good
man for the place Dewey was. Just
as / received a letter from Senator
Chandler recommending Howell for
flag command, but Senator Proctor's
letter came after / had made my choice.
That is all there is to the matter
People will be disposed to laugh at
but if they reflect thar after all there
is no difference about ambitions and
jealousies between Senators, Congress
men and Governors and private citizens,
they will not be toe severe on them. lac
man or men who selected Dewey doubt
less acted better than they knew He
was the right man in the right place.
He ''seen his duty" and acquitted him
self like an American, winning re-
noun that puts his name with the i'm
mortals.
Seth Low, referring TO Dewey's re-
eeption in New York, is quoted by the
World as saying, 'Oh, that is nothing
l.nn1trarnd to fh1. ADMINISTRATION there