The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-06-07
WILLIAM TELL NOW HOME.
The Filipino Goat Mascot Back
From Havana.
From the New York Times.

william Tell arrived nome IrOu
Havana Friday afternoon, whittier he
went to witness the Inauguration of
President Palma. Mr.. Tell would not
discuss the impression he formed of
the Cubans or the way they usher
into office presidents, but from what
a few of his friends said, william"
did not enjoy his visit to the Pearl OF
the Antilles to any great extent, ana
showed in many ways during his short
stay that he was very anxious to get
back to his new home at the Brook
Ign Navy Yard.
William" who by the way is the
only genuine Filipino goat at present
connected with the American navy,
has very interesting history, and it
is from that standpoint that this story
is written. Born not far from the
naval station at Cavite, P. l., about
two years ago, it was Mr.. Tells fort
une or misfortune, it matters not
which, to be kidnapped some fourteen
months ago by a couple of jackies
from the gunboat Helena. The sail
ors were out for a good time, and the
thought of capturing a new mascot
had not entered their heads, when
all of a sudden they ran across lit
tie white. blackspotted animal peace
fully nibbling away at the grass that
grows in spots around CaVite. No
sooner was William sighted than the
two Americans forthwith decided that
his right place was in the navy and
aboard the Helena, which, at that
time, outside of a rather ancient par
rot was minus a real mascot. SO 1t
came about that the little goat was
soon captured and taken to the naval
anchorage off CaVite, where he was
with considerable ceremony enlisted
Of TTofk n6 Sfnf n- ~ WV
There are very few vessels in the
navy that do not carry mascots dur
ing their cruises, and of these pet
carrying men-Or-War, nearly every
one boasts of a goat as its chief of
staff in the mascot line. Most of these
goats are of American origin, so 1t
will be easily understood what
unique place civilian Tell occupies
at present. He arrived at New York
on board the Brooklyn, which had
been the flagship of the Asiatic Sta
ton for a long time, and it was from
one of the sailors aboard that IA
NOUS vessel that the following story
of the accomplishments, etc, of Mr..
Tell" was CLEANED.
when the goat was first brought on
board the Helena" said the sailor, "he
was a little lean, hungry-looking cuss,
and looked anything but the trim, we'll.
groomed little fellow he is at the pres
ent time. OF course, you know that
it isn't any easy matter to train
goat for service in the navy, and in the
case of this one the task was unusual
ly hard, owing to the fact he did not
understand a word of English. The
day following his kidnapping a COM
mittee of three of the oldest men in
the Helenas complement were ap-
pointed a commission to educate Will
liam. For a long time it was almost
impossible to make him understand a
thing that his teachers tried to impress
on him. Finally, though after he had
been in service some six or seven weeks
he began to see things in better light,
and then his education went along in
splendid shape, the goat catching on
to all the English words and Earnings
tricks so fast that his tutors soon found
out that they were running short of
tricks, and had to give him week s
vacation. At the end of ten months the
commission reported that the education
of the goat was complete, and that the
result was that the Helena had the
| smartest mascot in the service an
opinion that has been Verified by Will
| liam's career.
"To give you an idea of what Will
liam can do, it will be enough to give
you a fair idea of his abilities to say
that there is hardly a command given
aboard ship that he does not under
stand. For instance, there is the tar
get practice. William is mortally
afraid of the big guns. and he knows
exactly what is coming the minute the
officers give the orders that cause the
men to get the guns ready. No sooner
does he realize what is about to take
place than he whsks away down into
the engine room, where he will snug
gle away in the darkest corner until
| somebody tells him that there are to be
no more noises or uncomfortable re-
coils that day.
ION the other hand. the boat drills
are his especial delight, and he is new
er so happy as when sitting in a boat
watching the rhythmical swing of the
oars in the hands of the sail
ors Also he understands ex-
actly how to deport himself on board
ship, being as lively as a cat when in the
quarters of the enlisted men and as
dignified as Judge when visiting the
cabin of Admiral or Captain. He eats
Only navy food, and the tobacco that
he consents to chew every now and
then is the usual navy brand. We
have not learned him how to smoke
yet, but it is not a forlorn hope by any
means that he. may be prevailed on
eventually to smoke as well as chew
He knows the flag of every nation
that owns a ship, and he refuses abso-
lutely to salute any colors other than
the American. although he has on sew
eral occasions shown that he holds in
very high esteem the flag of England.
this fact being due probably to the
good times given him by English
| troops when we visited Australia dur
iEC the Duke of York's tour of the
British possessions, and also at Shang-
hal. where the Britishers treated him
more like some royal visitor than mas
| cot of an American warship. BY
the way, I might tell you how it was
| that William same to be transferred
from the Helena to the Brooklyn. 1t
| came about this way:
In the harbor of Shanghai during
the China trouble, the Helena and the
| Brooklyn met. and the sailors of our
ship saw William do few of his fav-
orite stunts. They were so impressed
that negotiations looking to his trans
fer to the Brooklyn were Immediately
opened. At first the Helena's men
would listen 10 no arguments whatever
about any transfer but the men OF the
| flagship persisted, and eventually sue
ceeded In convincing the Helena sail