The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-11-08
Admiral CarYara at Home

after a shower: sea-Wau Al the back,
above which rises q collection OF low,
Arab-Iike houses, with here and there
/ beIfry. q tower, ana there a AIoslem min
aret such is Puerto Real, in Spain tIe
home Of Admiral Cervera, as 7 saw il
from the low deck Of g wabbling. nom
descript craft one winter af ernoon
soldier directed me 70 the AdmiraPs res
idence in Santo Domingo street. q mod
est, unpretenuous house, with plain
white walls rising from the edge Of the
narrow sidewalk.
come right IN, sir; you are welcome.
The Admiral Don Pascual is away, but
come in; I VIII 60 and fetch a light F"
and the figure Of young man hustled
away, and returning, held the light above
him
The youth then showed me into the
Admiral's study. a coy little room with
a hat-top desk at one end. a bookcase
filed with books. and pictures on the
walls, mostly photographs of ships and
naval officers, among them group Of
the Admiral and his officers, taken when
prisoners at Annapolis He brought
large, square box containing phOtogra Dhs
removing the cover, the first picture
was the familiar one Of Lieut.. Robson.
Holding it up. the boy laughed.
Funny, wasn't it2" he said. You fell
lows blew US out Of the water and then
rescued US, clothed and fed US, and
treated US royalty
spent a pleasant hour with the trust
ed servant. On my return several DAYS
later 7 was ushered into the study, where
the Admiral received me.
With an air that this settled the OBJ
Ject Of my visit, he began to ask me
questions as though we had been old
friends First ne wanted to know the
meaning of an English word he had
found in an English periodical, saying
that he read English, but did not speak
1t, for the pronunciation was too diff
cult. He asked me to recommend him a
good English dictionary. zone not too
heavy TO carry about" and then. turn
ing TO the desk. he reached for a red
covered book which shOne conspicuously
among his sonore brown and black vol
umes. BY tEe way he chuckled. enc
might have thought that it was one #
Mark Twaiu's stories. But It was only
COPY Of Senator Lodges History Of
the SDanish-American War He SAID
with another chuckle that the "history'
was full Of inaccuracies. and. ike Lieut.
Hobson's account of the sinking of the
Merrimac, must be to the American pe9-
pie pretty novel I asked him IL ne had
any idea of the prominence of the man
who wrote the book. He did not. nor did
he appear TO take any particular Of
fence at any of Senator lodges state
ments, simply conhning himself to aye
ing that the book was all wrong. and
worthless as history. I told him then
that that was a reason why he should
write an account of his personal expert
ences that we might get at the truth
but he shook his head.
Did the fact that Admiral Sampson
was away from the blockadng feet on
the morning Of July influence YOU IN
selecting the time to leave Santiago har-
bor?" I asked.
Nothing influenced me-" ne answered
My orders, telegraphed from Havana
were to leave Immediately. received
them on the ID and prepared 10 obey
them"
Referring to his treatment as a pris-
oner he said: "They were very kind to
me- they treated me very we'll indeed
but that Harvard affair-when your vol
unteers shot down some twenty OF my
poor fellows-that was bad"
He argued with me that such events
were common in war, especially where
there We're volunteer troops. but he
seemed to blame our authorities for not
making any kind Of an attempt to pun
ism the men responsible for this act
As for my own treatment" said he
I'VE who were sent to Annapolis were
treated more as comrades than as Or
oners, while those who were sent to
Norfolk were treated strictly as nris-
oners-Of-War. Then there were those WHO
were sent UP TO Portsmouth: they were
not treated at all. but put in woodA1
sheds and allowed to look ont for them
selves The American officer in command
there was lax, and evidently didn't IN
derstand his duty. 7 wa allowed to visit
the place, and when I saw the conditions
mildly called the attention of your
government tothem. and was very much
gratifed later 10 learn Of the removal
Of the officer"
When I told him that we didn't intend
to take Cuba he exclaimed, WHAT You
have been after Cuba for half century
You helped Lopez fit out his first expe-
dition, and nearly every man In his out
fit was an American. And what have
you got to say about the Maine disaster
and that farce Of an Investigations If
your president did not want the war
why did he allow that as an excuse?
You tried rs by your own court your
own witnesses, and your own ATTORNEYS.
allowing Us no defence We wanted the
Investigation carried on by an interna-
tional board, neither Yankee nor Span
lard but you wouldn't allow It, and then
you condemned us
Evidently the Admiral ike all span
iards was earnest in his belIsf that The
Maine had not been blown Up bv the
hand IF his own people TIE scorne5
the idea that cuba would be anything
bur a part Of the United States and
agreed with me that Cuba would become
q second Hayd and Sant0 Domingo II
left to herself AS I ventured TO remark
that cuba would not have been lost to
Spain had st not been for General Wey-
Ter. he WINGED measily, saving
"Oh Eou would have had The island
sooner OF later. Wevler or no Wevler0
left the Admiral feeling that he was
indeed great and good man, hut poorly
appreciated by his coufempora II
slider him tn his trlie tight for Srauish
heroes are not heroes t!l loue after ther
death. Although exoneratcd bv the cou.t
which tried him for The destruction OF
his feet there is IN 0ld-tme heHf al
most ON uuwrfttan law with Saauiards.
that no commander should ever survive
the loss OF his ship II Admiral Cervera
had only sacrificed his life wl-h his
ships today he would lie hero, ana
memoir IS lt s. be- IS retired, n I've
Ia peace vth His family in ttte Moor
ish fishing village II Southern spaia.
Wen aud svemcn
Colonel 1TcGiuness the chief ~ orb
nance # the United STA as army in 'h
Philippines has aen exploring the q ri
~ ruzon uisa reference 10 finding te
haalrh.sst spat for 8 sanitzrum.
Queen vict1ria has received from The
KING 81 ftaIr a wel-eTecgtsd east ~
ire -1e8 column wa.c6 Yves dV
cred sst winter .n tte Fru ~ Rome
and c1 excited great interest among
an-.Saar al parks u ~