Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-05-23

- 'sH ~ ''' 49,
time making his way across The ON
tinent to Washington. whore he made
his report to the government. The pres
tdcnt. secretaries OF state, war and
navy were all interested in this report,
and II conference was held at the
White House The evening Cheney ar
rived. Briefly. but conciscly. Cheney
recited the results OF his years trip
u as he was about To SAIL from
Hong Kong for home he had received
"A message directing him TO make a trip
To Mnnila and report on fleet and for
titcatiOnS there. lie knew that meant
war with Spain. In making his report
he ctnpi'a:i.cd the weakness of the
SpaniardJ in the far east. The morale
OF their army was low, their navy was
little better than scrap iron. Cheney
was mildly aiken to task BY he acrc-
taries of war and navy for his conclu-
siOn3. but Subscuis mt events proved ne
was right. To Cheney destruction OF
M%OntOjO's fleet by Dewey was not such
u great event. because cheney had been
aboard every One of the Spanish slips;
he had seen rust aud decay. lack of dis
riplinc and inatteution. one real Sood
AiHcric an battlcship could blow the
whola Spanish tlcct out of the water.
Bat tho torpedoes: Sure. plenty OF
them, NEST of which had been down for
years and were worthless. And the forts
were in exactly the ann condition as
the feet. Az has been remarked. the
secretaries were IL little inclined to be
skepticai. but the calm. deep-think ing.
brown-eycd presideu. knew Colonel
Cheney was telling the truth. The pres
ldent did not say much At the confer
cncc: he smoked and listened. but the
next day. by special appointment. Col
Onel Cheney lunchcd at The White
House and again went over the most
Altar points OF his report. The prcsi-
dent knew and said there would be war,
md when IL did como Colonel Cheney
was to be in charge of the army secret
service.
I'm ut yeur eotrrrrr,h AIR. f'rcsi-
dent" quietly said Cheney.
y know II. colonel. and | thank you
replied the president. shaking his hand
at parting.
Cheney returned to his Office in Chi
CagO. and Guthrie and Loncrgan were
Ovcrjoyod 10 zee him. A quiet Inner
was discussed at the cclonel's apart
mcnts. after which Cheney listened to
their report. Everything was in ship
shape. as he knew it would be. The
business was being transacted as he
would have it done. and he said:
Now THAT you fellows have your
hands in so well. you can just keep
them there. I'm not going to resume
my Office he re and will be glad to on
suit with you. But my active days in
this concern are over
Guthrie looked solemn. but Lonergan
just grinned and said:
You mako me sini,c, Cheney. You'll
give up this work when you're dead.
and not before: us IN you blood
LonerEan ind Il pretty good faculty of
intuition end knew whereof he spoke.
Guthrie said nothing. but was doing Il
heap of thinking.
A right. boys. think as you like,
but wait and sec"
Public events moved apace; Spain
was getting more and more arrogant
In Cuba. people were cla.noring for
n government to act: but the great
man in the White House was not
rcndy. ne was getting ready. how
ever. AZ rapidly as he could. He knew
more than the people. and the people
must wait. Than cane that melnor-
able day In February. when come
Spanish bastard sent 2s0-odd Ameri-
can sailors TO their doom. That Was
the deciding straw; before hat there
was Il FONT hope that diplomacy might
avert the crisis; but with the blow
Ing up OF Tie Maine all hope of peace
He'd. The country was aiire from one
cad tp the other.
energy heard OF tho blowing I'D of
thc h'aine in his aDatt..cnis. He l.aew
wat that meant End packed his suit
case.
WAR 80 goin' now, kunael?" said
JET. rating the preparations.
washington. def, and then some
PIKE e..c. iii get Il telegram in the
lnornins." hnd he did.
n Gay later he again stood in the
prcrcncc of the president, and tina aft
erronn lie started for Havana. The
regular court of inquiry would meet
n ieiler 4 decision. hut the president
wanted quicker information than would
he allowed by red tupe.
CEcRey re3chcd Havana four days
after thc Maine was blown up and
quietly went to work. Only two men.
ti:iierdt Les. ccEsu! general. and Cap
hin iientily and for what pur-
pcar nc WAS there. One fact
WAS hrrriy Fixed in Cheney's mind aft
or he had his talk with sigseee, and
thrt was. that the Maine was blown up
Dy an c1I.os:on under her hull. She
core spanis.. or C.han had touched off
tSo Mlie. hut he wanted proof.
theoretically. he i.GeN something OF
chip construction as applied to modern
w-nrshtps. fhcre were two Gulls. an in
.'cr and an outer shell. and the space
:" them was filled with some sub
str nee. IN the Maine his substance
was tc.rent- II tho explosion came from
within the ship this cement fiilinu
would all be on tho bottom OF the bay'
II Inc explosion came from withou. the
shi? much of the cement wa blown In
tie cir. and as there were plenty OF
vcE.ess In the harbor. some OF it must
have alCyAted on their decks. Sailors
o. tiicsc ships had probably swept n
Ovs rscard. bu there was a chance that
cheney would find out. The Ward line
steamer City Of Washington was there
tho night Of The explosion. ard was still
Ia the harbor. Cheney boarded this
s.,'p nc found not one piece of this
cen cIt. but n dozen, some OF them os
large c8 u MINIS head.
CI.e piece he o with him. In his
On mind he wa satisfied; but he
wanted proot beyond pcradventure.
II tho Maine Ind been torpedoed