The National tribune., 1902-03-27
its capture. though German vessels lay in

its capture. though German vessels lay in
the harb0r.
Thus alert, with steam up constantly,
the feet was ready for any emergency of
attack by torpedo boats or any other craft
or device, no matter how sudden or unex-
pected.
Over TO the east l saw the long line of
electric lights that marked the position of
Manila, lights blinking in the silent night
along the Luneta Driveway. How peace
full they looked, yet they shone upon
hostile army five times as large as our
own, with heavy Krupp guns, modern
ield-pieces and Mauser rifles waiting to
give us warm reception whenever we de-
cided to attack them.
Since then | have witnessed other scenes
as calm and peaceful break suddenly into
a hell Of noise and smoke and death. Such
is wnr. e.
Looking thus at the place where the
enemy lay, / was reminded of the recep-
ton awaiting the men pictured to them by
one of the Captains of our regiment before
leaving San Francisco. When we marched
from our camp in Portland TO take the
train, pushing our way slowly through n
great throng of cheering, laughing and
crying men, women and children, fathers,
mothers, children and sWcetheartS, we
were showered with bouquets, and We
found the seats of the cars loaded with
them and with picnic boxes of cake and
pie and fruit and sandwiches. 1t was war
in its holiday garb.
For two days the boys lived on cake and
pie and ignored the Government travel ra-
tion, and it was a blessing, so the Sur
geOn assured me, that the supply lasted no
longer.
Arrived in San Francisco, and again
greeted with huzzas and bouquets, we
marched to the Preside and went into
tr. l.I
our eyes with sand and dust and our diet
consisted of hardtack, bacon and coffee.
1t was then this Captain took occasion, as
he wiped the dust and water from his eyes
during a pause III the drill, to address his
company. He said:
Boys, you have had a good time going
to war. You have been showered with
flowers and made sick with cake and
cheered till you think war is cross be-
tween a County fair and a Sunday-school
excursion. But / want TO tell you that
this is ali over, and there is something
else ahead of you. When you get TO the
Philippines the Spaniards will not vel
come you with bouquets and picnic boxes.
They will hand you bunch of Mauser
| bullets. Now get down to business"
] Though this first night was our intro
/ duction to real war, we had not been en-
| tirely without wars alarms and mimic
strife in the long voyage across the sea.
| One day ont from Honolulu Capt. Glass,
of the Charleston, opened sealed instruc-
tiOns he had received there and learned
! that he was ordered to proceed to the
! Marianne Tor Ladronc) Islands and de-
stroy the Spanish power there and take
| possession of them for the United States
| incidentally sinking or capturing such
! Spanish gunboats as might be found in
/ the harbor of Agana, the capital.
1t was known that more than doZeI
gunboats We're somewhere among the va
rious islands belonging to Spain, and these
were an unknown hostile quantity which
even the presence of the Charleston did
not eliminate from our calculations. \
dash by half a dozen such boats upon oul
) feet of transports would be u serious mat
ter. 1t had been planned that in such m
event the transports would not be entirely
inactive. The troops would be sent be
low, with the exception of enough TO keeI
up CALLING rife fire, and the ships w0ult
then do their utmost to ram and sink theil
. assaillnts. How foolish all this worr,
and planning now seems, in view Of wha
we now know of the utter impOssibility OF
the Spaniards undertaking anything tha
!, involved dash and enterprise.
The day before we reached the Isanj
! of Guam the whole feet paused for abou
two hours while the Charleston indulget
in target practice, that custom Of tn,
American navy which has helped to max,
the man behind the gun" worth some
thing in battle, and which is now bein;
: copied by all the European navies tha
| formerly held the low opinion of us tha
:. always accompanies ignorance.
. 1t was early on the morning of June i.
that the Charleston pulled ahead of thu
J fleet and stuck her nose into the opeI
! rOadstead Of Agana, only to discover moth
ing there, and then moved around to tn,
south to enter the real harhor, that of Sar