The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-02-16
NEWS RND COMMENT


NEWS hND COMMENT
Lieutenant Calklns, navigating officer of
the Olympia when Dewey entered Manila
bay, now in this country, says: II haG
known Admiral Dewey for thirty Yeas,
and | cannot say that his demeanor that
morning was greatly different from what
1t always IS Always he impyesses one as
a man who knows himself, who knows
what he has to do, and who means to DO
1t. Such was Admiral Dewey then. lie
was cool, alert, intense and for the most
part silent. No, | cannot recall any par
ticular immortal words on his part. lie
observed closely the movements of the
feet from the light compass platform
where we stood. Much has been made
about the attire of the admiral that morn
ing. A popular monthly pictured him IN a
long frOck coat twining about his legs
Another magazine FASTENED to correct
this by describing Admiral Dewey as
wearing shoulder straps, gold lace on his
sleeves and three-inch strips on his trous-
ers. Some of these latter items are cor
rect for the occasion of full dress, but
as "A matter of fact the admiral mounts
them once or twice year At the battle
of Manila he wore a white duck uniform
and "A gold cap. His manner did not no.
ticeably change all through that morn
ing. He showed the strain, perhaps, but
very slightly. 1t was, however, more like
a stroll than one of the battles of his
tory. The shots did not come near enough
TO worry u.s. or when they did come near
we were too busy TO pay them much at
tentiOn. Swear? Well, no; not exactly, al
though know that he is capable of using
strong language where it is absolutely
necessary. There is one story, by the
way, that I would like well enough to run
down. 1t was that we had an English
pilot 10 take our fleet into Cavite. That
story Is of a piece with the one that
popped up in London that we had English
gunners. One was Just as true as the
other. We had no English pilot and our
gunners We're Americans. Then / may
say there was no truth in the reports
that we got information about the hydro
graphy and the defences of the harbor
from the consul there"
AS showing how wortbily the United
States is taking up the white mans bur-
den," the following dispatch from San
tiago, printed in the Sun, is worthy of
note: Captain r. S. Woodson, a sur
geon in the regular army, returned here
today and reported to General Wood
that the smallpox epidemic in the HOl-
guin district has been totally eXtermiaat-
ed. The disease had prevailed there for
twelve years under the Spanish admins
tration, but was vanquished in three
months by the scientific methods of the
Americans. Over 10000 persons We're vac
Cinatcd and 1900 smallpox cases were
cured. The smallpox commission estab-
lished seven isolation hospitals and a
number of other hospitals for less con-
taglouS diseases. During January the
rate of mortality from all diseases in the
district was unusually high, being IL per
! IL. iii. N
died, but not one from smallpox. The
territory that was affected by the epi-
damic extended from the boundary of
Puerto Principe 70 the Mayari river on
the east and to the CautO river to the
south comprising about half of the prov
ince OF Santiago de Cuba. The sanitary
condition Of the district is now almost
perfect.
Things are progressing even in old
Mexico. The Mexican government has
| Just closed a contract with Pittsburg
! firm for supplying the entire city Of
| Mexico with sewer pipe for drainage and
! sewerage purposes. The total cost of the
| contract will approximate between $6OU, 900
| and 100000. Ii is one of the largest con-
| tracts of the kind ever secured by any
| firm in the United States. A better idea
| of the immensity of the contract can he
secured by stating that a shipment of six
| Il
! of two years will be required TO fill the
| order. The freight charges alone on the
| sewer pipe from the point of manufac-
| ture to the City of Mexico will reach fully
| 100000 or more, perhaps, than the total
purchase cost of the pipe. The City of
! Mexico has total population of over
100000 and never has had any under
ground drainage system. Its sewerage
/ heretofore has been omptied into the
street cutters and surface drainage
| bitches, like Havana and other large
| Mexican, Cuban and Southern cities The
present contract for the drainage work
has been secured by a French syndicate.
and the work is being conducted by them.
Theodore Roosevelt has the courage of
his philosophy. There are" says he,
social reformers who tell us that when
this world reaches ideal conditions no
man will have to fight, just as there are
| other social reformers who tell us that
then no man will have TO work, or al
least to do hard and painful work. How
ever this may be in the future, at present
great deeds are done and the highest
though perhaps the steTnest happiness
won only at the cost of strenuous effort
which must always take the form OF
work, and which sometimes must take
the form of war. Remember that peace
itself, after which all men crave comes
only as the result of such strenuous ef.
fort as in the past, II cannot perpetuate
itself. 1t is an end, not a means; ana in
the present condition of the world il Is
only a temporary end If we ever grow
to regard peace as a permanent cOndi'
tion and feel that we can afford TO lei
the keen, fearless, virilc qualities of
heart and mind and body sink into dis
use, we will prepare the way for newt,
| able and shameful disaster in the future