The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-05-05

| am indebted to Engineer NJ H Gray,
OF the Plant System, for copy of 1.-THE
APART News" of March Q, a neat little
paper devoted to local news and pub
lished at Aparri, in Luzon, one of the
Philippine islands. The editor of this
unique weekly is Allan Gray, Slider in
the Sixteenth United States Infantry, but
a son of Mr.. John Gray, an old and well
KNOWN Confederate soldier, who died in
Columbia S. c., some two years ago. Edi-
tor Gray seems to be cIear-headed, SEN
sible writer on general topics, as will be
seen from his editorial on the Washing
tons Birthday celebration at APART,
which is brief but comprehensive: Our
ing the American revolution, when a
mere handful of sturdy colonists, occu-
pying but small part of what Is now
the American Republic, were battling and
suffering untold hardships in their war
for human rights, against the worlds
greatest power. they little thought as they
bravely struggled under the leadership of
the immortal Washington, that the praise
and fame of their chieftain would one
day be sung by people of another race,
another color and another hemisphere,
who, accepted as their own, the same
starry banner under which the Father of
his Country, and his brave and noble fol-
lowers had fought. Those sturdy colonists
-llLll6 SuSU6Cl6O lHdl liiGlT StIuSShGS anu
battles would lay the foundations of ma
ton that would steadily flourish until it
covered a continent and crossed oceans
into other hemispheres. And as we cele-
brate the natal day Of our country's
Father we can fully realize the true
meaning of our occupation OF these ISL
ands."
One of the best and most versatile of
the English war correspondents at the
Tampa Bay Hotel during the famous
Rocking Chair Period of the Spanish
American War, was Mr.. Charles e.
Hands of the London Mall. Col. B. W.
Wrenn has very kindly loaned me set
of his letters, and have greatly enjoyed
reading them. In many respects they
simply touch upon topics discussed in
my war letters from the same place DUR
ing that critical % period in the history
of our country, but go more into detail
and are rather more spicy. Hands was
Jolly fellow and keen observer, and few
things escaped his critical glance. How
ever. he was an honest fellow and did not
hesitate to make fun of the seventy-hve
or eighty war correspondents, overloaded
with baggage, who sought transportation
to Cuba. He even wondered If there
would be any spare room for the army
after the correspondents were put on the
steamship
In one of his letters he speaks rather
sIIshtingly of the new volunteer troops
sent to Tampa to supplement the regu-
lars but the Savannah boys" he found
30. K" in every respect. II went down,
he SAYS, ''by the electric trolley car
through the desert of sand and fan-leaved
palmetto to the camp of the Georgia reg
iment. They had only arrived the night
before, but they had come as finished
article. They lacked training, of course
after all, they lacked nothing else; least
OF all did they lack intelligence. In pr1-
vate of the Savannah battalion i FOUND
one of the most successful criminal law
vers of the state In his company were
members of the leading families OF the
town. There were men of every trade,
business and profession serving In the
ranks-architects, sons of storekeepers,
farmers, bricklayers, doctors. The captain
of one company has his elder brother
serving under him as a recruit.
They pride themselves on their English
names and their English pedigrees, they
pride themselves on their fighting quail
ties. They were on the losing side in the
(CiviD War, but they were on the SIDE
which came out OF defeat with all the
glory of victory. And here they were' the