The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-04-10
ON THE SHERMAN
Ernest Smith, of Seventeenth
Infantry, Writes his
FIRST INTELLIGENCER LETTER
From or tho Ccylon Coast : Interest
ing Description of Life on Board
the Army Transport During the Trip
from New York to Manila : The
Stops at Gibralter and Port Said.
Impressions of the Red Sea.

Several months ago, Ernest G. Smith,
the young Martins Ferry lawyer, who
was holding the position of city solicit
tor at the time, went to Columbus and
enlisted in the Seventeenth Regular In
fnntry. When the Seventeenth was or
dered to Manila to reinforce General
Otis army, the Intelllgencer made ar,
rangements with young Smith to write
for this paper series Of letters from
the Philippines. This morning Is print
ed the first of Sergeant Smiths letters,
descriptive OF the trip on the army
transport, Sherman" from New York
SO far as the coast of Cevlon. The let
ter was mailed at Colombo, Ceylon. It
follows:
From Our Soldier Correspondent.
ON BOARD UNITED STATES
TRANSPORT SHERMAN; OFF THE
COAST OF CEYLON, IN TEE INDIAN
OCEAN. March 7.-LIfe on shipboard,
even II 1t be the busy, overcrowded life
Of an army transport, is one of reverie
and dream. The few newspapers OBJ
tainable may recall the worlds realit-
les; rough weather may bring Its at
tendant Inconvenience, but an hours
sunshine on deck will dispel memories
of the one and unpleasant thoughts Of
the other Tourists who take the trans
atlantic trip merely, rough and un-
pleasant as 1t invariably is, can lay no
c1N trr, hnvipu mn ~
aga. One must enter southern waters
before he can appreciate the fasclna-
tions of the sea-faring man.
When the more quiet seas off the
Portuguese coast permitted matches to
be raised and ports opened on the Sher-
man, hundreds Of storm tossed boys IN
blue tumbled on deck for almost their
first breath of fresh air since losing
sight of New York. BY the time the
| sunny slopes of Spain lay spread like n
| splendid panorama, everyone was In
prime spirits and the regimental band
| gathered its scattered instruments to-
| gether for an Initial. II not q very mu-
steal. tribute to father Neptune. But
Spanish coasts with afi the beauty OF
white walled cities. vine-clad hills, Don
QutnXotic wind mills. and picturesque
estates are not comparable to first
glimpse of the somber cliffs of Africa
which the Mediterranean's entrance af-
fords. What dark scenes the magma
ton conjures up at the mere mention OF
ItAfrica--scenes in which the slave-tra
! der. the more merciful pirate and the
mercenary greed Of nations play a part.
As the channel narrows into the
straits Of Gibraltar q peculiar sensa-
|. ton is enjoyed as the engines slow
down under the lights and hidden guns
OF the mighty Gibraltar sensation OF
relief from the tension to which both
machinery and men have been subject
during the first 1900 miles OF our record
breaking "trip. Gibraltar Is nothing II
not impressive. Its almost impregnable
strength doubtless appeals more to the
military man than even It's isolated
grandeur to the average tourist Sheer
from the water the rock seems to rise
with terraces of batteries apparent to
the glass OF keen observer, rising step
by step TO a height OF nearly $500 feet.
Zig-zag highways cut In the slopes con-
meet these batteries. as do n honey
comb Of underground passages, whose
dark entrances are in contrast with the
| lighter rock. On the western face Of
| the slope, where the ascent Is less
abrupt. the little city of Gibraltar
c!ings. An ancient Moorish wall seems
| the dividing line between what Is
| known as the "old" and the new" cit
! les, n line that has otherwise been OBJ
liberated since the British siege Of 1901.
which left the Moor, Spanlard and
Englishman struggling for CONNER
cial and racial supremacy that seems
| unSliaed as yet. Higher up n dilapida-
ted Moorish castle. now put to practical
use as military prison. bears silent
witness 10 the historic days when Chris
tianitt re-asserted itself after the Moor
fsh invasion and drove the ambitious
| followers of Mahomet forever from the
shores OF southern Europe.
COSMOPOLITAN GIBRALTAR
No continental city can boast more
cosmopolitan lie than this Gibraltar.
The flags of oil nations float in her har-
Dor. even the smallest shops change
your money into the, coin Of any realm
you may mention and no uncouth lam
| guage exists but that someone may DC
| found who understands It.
But Gibraltar offers more to the
roughly treated Atlantic voyager than
the welcome sight OF its scores of flower
| gardens and orange groves. or It's mar
row streets. made picturesque by the
! costumes OF more tribes and nations
| than there are states in the American
republic. The settlement would SAVIOR
but little Of its Spanish ancestry were
not the heavily laden burro omnipres-
cnt. It's hard lot in Gibraltar seems to
be shared about equally by the fleet
footed goat. dusk bringing hundreds
of the latter down from the rocks TO be
MIXED.
The Moorish SEAPORT OF Tangier, Just
across the strait afforded much